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Hip-Hop in Africa Ohio University Research in International Studies HIP-HOPIN AFRICA prophets of the city and dustyfoot philosophers Msia Kibona CLARK Foreword by QUENTIN WILLIAMS Afterword by AKOSUA ADOMAKO AMPOFO Hip-Hop in Africa Ohio University Research in International Studies This series of publications on Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Global and Comparative Studies is designed to present significant research, translation, and opinion to area specialists and to a wide community of persons interested in world affairs. The series is distributed worldwide. For more information, con- sult the Ohio University Press website, ohioswallow.com. Books in the Ohio University Research in International Studies series are pub- lished by Ohio University Press in association with the Center for International Studies. The views expressed in individual volumes are those of the authors and should not be considered to represent the policies or beliefs of the Center for International Studies, Ohio University Press, or Ohio University. Executive Editor: Gillian Berchowitz Hip-Hop in Africa P ROPHETS of THE CITY AND DUSTYfooT PHILOSOPHERS Msia Kibona Clark Foreword by Quentin Williams Afterword by Akosua Adomako Ampofo Ohio University Research in International Studies Global and Comparative Studies Series No. 18 Athens, Ohio Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701 ohioswallow.com © 2018 by Ohio University Press All rights reserved To obtain permission to quote, reprint, or otherwise reproduce or distribute material from Ohio University Press publications, please contact our rights and permissions department at (740) 593-1154 or (740) 593-4536 (fax). Printed in the United States of America The books in the Ohio University Research in International Studies Series are printed on acid-free paper ƒ ™ 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 5 4 3 2 1 Cover: Kanyi Mavi at her home in Gugulethu Township, Cape Town, in 2016. Photo by author. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Clark, Msia Kibona, author. Title: Hip-hop in Africa : prophets of the city and dustyfoot philosophers / Msia Kibona Clark ; foreword by Quentin Williams ; afterword by Akosua Adomako Ampofo. Description: Athens, Ohio : Ohio University Press, [2018] | Series: Ohio University research in international studies. Global and comparative studies series ; No. 18 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018001344| ISBN 9780896803183 (hc : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780896803190 (pb : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780896805026 (pdf) Subjects: LCSH: Rap (Music)--Social aspects--Africa. | Rap (Music)--Africa--History and criticism. | Hip-hop--Africa. Classification: LCC ML3918.R37 C58 2018 | DDC 782.421649096--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018001344 This book is dedicated to Kekeli Kaselema Anthony Numadzi, ninakupenda sana wanangu. Contents List of Illustrations ix Foreword “African Hip-Hop Represent!” xi Acknowledgments xix chapter 1 “Boomerang” Hip-Hop and Pan-African Dialogues 1 chapter 2 “Understand Where I’m Coming From” The Growth of African Hip-Hop and Representations of African Culture 34 chapter 3 “Lettre à Mr le Président” Social and Political Representations 71 chapter 4 “Femme de Combat” Gendered Representations 118 vii chapter 5 “Make You No Forget” Representations of African Migrant Experiences in African Hip-Hop 148 chapter 6 “Brkn Lngwjz” Language, Identity, and Cultural Appropriation 183 Epilogue 206 By Way of an Afterword 210 appendix 1 Artist Interviews 217 appendix 2 Companion Website 221 Notes 223 References 229 Index 257 viii | Contents Illustrations Figure 1.1. Yugen Blakrok 23 Figure 1.2. Reggie Rockstone 27 Figure 1.3. Zavara Mponjika, aka MC Rhymson 31 Figure 2.1. Shaheen Ariefdien 44 Figure 2.2. Songa 47 Figure 2.3. Duke Gervalius 48 Figure 2.4. Wanaitwa Uhuru 48 Figure 2.5. Kenyan b-boys 54 Figure 2.6. Wachata Crew graffiti art, 2010 57 Figure 2.7. Wachata Crew graffiti art, 2014 57 Figure 2.8. Kibacha Singo, aka KBC 61 Figure 2.9. Guin Thieuss 63 Figure 2.10. Helena Nyerere 67 Figure 3.1. Albert Mangwair, aka Mangwea 79 Figure 3.2. President Kikwete’s campaign logo 80 Figure 3.3. Sarkodie 91 Figure 3.4. Daara J 94 Figure 3.5. Witnesz 97 Figure 3.6. Edem 102 Figure 3.7. Keur Gui 109 Figure 3.8. Nazlee 114 Figure 5.1. K’naan 153 Figure 5.2. Blitz the Ambassador 162 Figure 5.3. Wanlov the Kubolor 164 Figure 5.4. Ruyonga (formerly Krukid) 173 ix Foreword “African Hip-Hop Represent!” Quentin Williams There are few books written on African hip-hop that capture the form and function of the culture on the African continent. There are even fewer studies that make an authoritative statement on the linguistic and cultural diversity and practice of African hip-hop. And now and then a single study pushes the field of hip-hop studies into a critical direction so that it takes seriously the contribution of African hip-hop studies in not only expanding the field of hip-hop but better capturing the future of the culture on the African continent. Msia Clark’s Hip- Hop in Africa: Prophets of the City and Dustyfoot Philosophers is such a study. The question of the roots of African hip-hop starts with the use of local and European languages, representing the repressed and marginalized voices by enacting the principles of the fifth element of hip-hop, and projecting it as a culture that is inclusive, original, and diverse in genres and practices. In this excellent study by Clark, hip- hop in Africa is represented as multifarious, never as a monolith. The author challenges our perception that this culture in Africa is merely “imitating American culture.” But of course that is not the case be- cause African hip-hop artists draw on a variety of ways of being and doing African hip-hop. And where they do sample American hip-hop xi they do so for authenticity and to go against “locationists”, who seek to typify what they do. We cannot typify African hip-hop artists, Clark argues, because doing so “robs the African emcee of the power to self-identify as an African emcee.” Clark’s study is a statement for advancing the practice of knowl- edge of self, the fifth element of hip-hop. Her study argues that hip- hop in the African continent has always focused on politically and socially conscious music: from South Africa’s Prophets of da City to Kwanza Unit in Tanzania to Das Primeiro in Angola. For decades, hip- hop culture has represented the frictions and flows of all its elements: all over Africa we hear and see the embodiment of the culture and read the narratives of celebration and discontent that critically reflect on the history of colonialism, the political structures that have arisen with apartheid, the social reengineering of Pan-African identities for groups and individuals, and the economic restructuring of previously destitute countries. Hip-hop in Africa has always accounted for the flows and the frictions that have come to make it a culture on this beautiful continent, and with an increasingly technological world structure in clouds (Google Drive, Dropbox) and new forms of music- sharing platforms, the variations of the culture in Africa has come to earn its place in the global hip-hop community. This monograph by Clark powerfully demonstrates the strength of African hip-hop not only in how hip-hop artists represent the cul- ture, but how it codes language to draw in its audience, how it dis- courses and criticizes neoliberal economic policies that African states and nations often adopt wholesale, often to the detriment of the popu- lation, and that has lead to the politicization of hip-hop. As Clark puts it, “it is important to understand and further emphasize the historical and contemporary interconnectedness of the socioeconomic environ- ments throughout urban Africa, and how that has manifested into the emergence of hip-hop artists as potential agents of change.” The idea of hip-hop artists being agents of change has been around since the inception of the culture. And given this, there will always be friction when it comes to democracy for hip-hop artists in Africa. History has shown that African governments often treat their citizens with degrees of disdain, and hip-hop on the continent has xii | Quentin Williams always engaged governments, often taking losses in the process. From the banning of Prophets of da City in apartheid South Africa to the recent imprisonment of Luaty Beirão (aka Ikonoklasta) in Angola, the costs for hip-hop artists in Africa are often high and unfair. But hip-hop artists who draw on the Fifth Element acknowledge that en- gagement with repressive state apparatuses (à la Althusser) are done so for the sake of social and democratic change. This engagement, or the production of hip-hop music that engages with the state, Clark de- scribes, is also accomplished through “combat literature” (à la Fanon) or protest literature. That is, the production of hip-hop lyrics and rhymes that challenges the recolonization of social life by undemo- cratic means, such as corruption, violence, racialization, ethnic intol- erance, and the criminalization of homosexuality. This continues to be an admirable fight, but one often thwarted by hip-hop’s own hypocrisy. Consider for example that hip-hop has and will remain burdened by the gender and sexuality question, and it has yet to start an honest conversation about its gender roots and principles and about its future. It is obvious as hip-hop becomes more globalized it will need to be more inclusive about gender and sexual- ity, and assert its support for women and queer people marginalized by nations, governments, and states who legislate against their bodies and everyday lives. Clark’s study demonstrates that female African hip-hop artists know the rules of hip-hop and often “force a space for themselves in hip-hop communities” and at the same time “challenge prevailing ideas of femininity.” She argues throughout that while gen- der and sexual identity are represented differently in African hip-hop music, women who do hip-hop in Africa not only present their own “masculinities” but also open up a dialogue about gender and sex- uality that is often only held by men.
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