“HATUCHEKI NA WATU”: KENYAN HIP-HOP ARTISTS’ THEORIES OF MULTILINGUALISM, IDENTITY AND DECOLONIALITY By Esther Milu A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Rhetoric and Writing - Doctor of Philosophy 2016 ABSTRACT “HATUCHEKI NA WATU”: KENYAN HIP-HOP ARTISTS’ THEORIES OF MULTILINGUALISM, IDENTITY AND DECOLONIALITY By Esther Milu This is a qualitative research study that constellates several theoretical and methodological approaches to understand why and how three Kenyan Hip-hop artists, Jua Cali, Nazizi Hirji and Abbas Kubbaff, engage in translingual communicative practices. A variety of data types including in-depth phenomenologial interviews, lyrical content and multimodal compositions were evaluated to understand how and why the artists used particular linguistic and semiotic resources in composing their texts and in their everyday communication. A translingual analytical framework was applied to examine these resources across various modalities of communication: verbal, written, audio, visual, performative and embodied. Findings from the study indicate that the artists translingual practices are aimed at : 1) constructing various ethnicities and indentities based on their everyday language use and not on dominant language ideologies or theories of race and ethnicity in the country; 2) engaging in language activism work by raising critical language awareness within dominant institutions, and by actively participating in the preservation of youth languages and cultures; 3) theozing and practicing diverse options for cultural and linguistic decolonization. The study concludes by proposing a translingual pedagogy that challenges students to demonstrate critical awareness of the “linguistic culture” surrounding the languages, codes and symbolic practices they use in their translingual composing. The study also pushes back on the current prescriptive theories of multilingualism and instead proposes a theory of multilingualism that is always emergent and negotiated. Copyright by ESTHER MILU 2016 For the Mwanzias iv ACKNOWLEGEMENTS Nguma na ng’atho nikusyokee we Yeova nũndũ wa kwaĩlya kyalo kyakwa kĩasa kya kĩsomo. Teka ti nũndũ wa ũtonyi and wendo waku, nĩtethya wĩa mana. To God be the glory. I want to thank my advisor Dr. Trixe Smith for the almost eight years of advising, mentoring and friendship. I remember the first time we met in early 2009 during my M.A recruitment and how clueless I was about the field of Rhetoric and Composition or what I wanted to do in the academia. You helped me make sense of everything, believed in me, pushed me to do good work, encouraged me tell stories and be myself. You have not only been the best advisor and academic mentor I could have ever asked for, but also a friend who cared, laughed and hurt with me. To my guidance committee, Drs. Julie Lindquist, Django Paris, Candace Epps-Robertson and Malea Powell, thank you for the numerous hours I spent in your offices individually discussing my work and your feedback at various stages of this dissertation project. I am also thankful for the course work I took with Drs. Paris, Lindquist and Malea coz it helped me have a multifaceted and interdisciplinary approach to my schorlaship. To Jua Cali, Nazizi Hirji and Abbas Kubbaff hata sijui niseme! Asanteni sana kwa kukubali kuparticipate in my research. Kama si nyinyi, this project wouldn’t be possible. You found time in your busy schedules to talk to me, inviting me in your homes, studios and performances. I hope I represented your stories and theories of language well. Kama sikuwawakilisha vizuri, wa kulaumiwa ni mimi. You are the G.O.A.T! Endeleeni kuwakilisha. v I want to thank my sista schola, Docta E. (Dr. Elaine Richardson), for agreeing to be my “un-official” outside reader for my project. I am so grateful for always finding time to listen to my ideas face2face and over the phone. To Dr. Samy Alim, thank you for being so generous with your ideas at the AUYL conference and continuing to offer me feedback beyond this project. And to Dr. David Kirkland, thanks for your feedback during the early stages of this project. Thank you Drs. April Baker-Bell, Steve Freiberg, Bill Hart-Davidson and Jeff Grabill for the wonderful conversations which in very significant ways shaped this dissertation project and my research in general. To my wonderful colleagues Victor Del Hierro, Laura Gonzales, Matt Gomes, Becca Hayes, Heather Turner, Roni(sha) Browdy, Shenika Hankerson, Lami Fofana, Maria Novotny, Suban Cooley, Rachel Ayieko and Emilie Diouf, thank you for your intellectual and emotional support throughout this process. Oh man, I am so lucky to have known you. To the entire Muyanga family, thank you for the various ways in which your have supported me in this journey. Special thanks to my mother in law, Jemimah Mũyanga, for your prayers and encouragement to see me succeed in my studies and career. Nĩmũvea ĩng’ĩ nũndũ wa kunzũũvĩa musyĩ ni kũasa. Ndyosaa ũndu ũsũ ta wa kawainda. To my ũkũlũ, Ngala, for always checking on me and genuinely showing interest in my studies. Nota kĩla kĩveti na yĩla ĩvung’o; veĩ kaũ ĩndĩ nayo noyambĩw’a. To the Mwanzia family, thank you for being my rock throughout this journey. This PhD is for you. To my parents Benjamin Kavale and Susan Nzingili, you are my everything. You encouraged me to dream but always reminded me to work hard for it. Thanks for teaching me to vi be humble, to put others first and always be part of the community. To my siblings Mwende, Mbale, Munanie, Nduvu, Muema and Konge, thanks for your unconditional love, friendship and support. In a world full of makelany’a, you remind me how special our family is. To my best friend, Mwende, thanks for holding me down in 2014 when my whole world turned upside down and I wanted to give up this process. You taught me the importance of self-love and reminded me this PhD thing is not just for me but for the family, na kana kĩĩ nĩkyo kyambetie America. Nĩlilikana uimbĩa, “onetha vomĩte ata, you have to get it done.” I got it sis! To the two most important people in my life, my kids, Annette and Tedd, thank you for your love and patience throughout this journey. I know I said “no” so many times compared to other “normal” moms but I know you understand. Thanks for teaching me to forgive, be less angry and finding happiness within myself. Thanks for helping me deal with different kinds of pain in this process. We laughed and cried together. It is because of you two that I earned my PhD and still have my family. To my husband, Milu, thank you for the different ways you have supported me in this journey; the struggle has been real, but we survived. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ x LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... xi INTRODUCTION: ENTERING THE RHETORIC AND COMPOSITION LANGUAGE WARS ...................... 1 CHAPTER 1: HISTORY OF HIP-HOP IN KENYA: SOCIO-ECONOMIC, POLITICAL AND SOCIOLINGUISTIC CONTEXT ............................................................................................. 18 Socio-economic and political context ....................................................................................... 19 Hip-Hop routes to Africa .......................................................................................................... 23 Early Hip-hop in Kenya: From the suburbs to the inner city .................................................... 27 Mapping the Nairobi urban space ............................................................................................. 28 The pioneers of Kenyan Hip-hop .............................................................................................. 30 Kenyan Hip-hop and language Use: In the beginnings ............................................................ 32 Kenyan media and its role in Spreading of Hip-hop culture in early 1990s ............................. 36 CHAPTER 2: METHODS AND METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................... 39 In-depth phenomenological interviewing ................................................................................. 40 Interview one: focused life history ....................................................................................... 41 Interview Two: The details of experience ............................................................................ 42 Interview Three: reflection on the meaning .......................................................................... 43 Building a translingual analytical framework ........................................................................... 44 CHAPTER 3: RAPPIN LIKE A MKENYA: TRANSLINGUALISM AS A CONSTRUCTION OF NEW ETHNICITIES ............................................................................................................................ 47 Resisting Ethnic Identification .................................................................................................. 50 Jua Cali’s Story: Neither a Mtaita nor a Mluhya .................................................................. 53 Abbas Kubaff’s Story: A Kenyan but mostly a Pan-African ................................................ 63 Nazizi Hirji’s Story: A Combination of six different races and things. ................................ 68