African hip hop

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Hip-hop has been known in Africa since the early 1980s due to the strong influence of the USA . While early productions were still heavily influenced by the US, the various regions of Africa developed their own style early on. The groups began to pick up on local musical traditions. Among other things, they were able to build on the widespread oral history in Africa, the importance of spoken language and recitations in everyday life. Compared to the USA, African hip-hop is usually much more political and addresses social problems more directly.

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Particularly influential styles are Bongo Flava from Tanzania , Hiplife in Ghana and the Senegalese Senerap . In Dakar alone there are an estimated 2,000 hip-hop crews. The South African kwaito is also considered to be influenced by hip-hop.

Only the DJing is hardly developed, since the necessary technical equipment is far too expensive for most Africans. Direct connections to Europe and especially to the French scene are much better than to the USA.

The first known hip-hop band was Black Noise from Cape Town , South Africa , which started out as a graffiti and breakdance group and made music around 1989. The Prophets Of Da City, also from South Africa, became internationally successful at an early stage . The South African apartheid government banned hip-hop. It wasn't until 1993 that music was legalized and allowed to be played on the radio. A contemporary, internationally known hip-hop band is Die Antwoord from Cape Town.

Daara J in Berlin

Around 1985 hip-hop became known in Senegal , where it was popularized in French mainly by MC Lida , MC Solaar and Positive Black Soul . They mixed hip-hop with the traditional music of the Mbalax . At the beginning of the 1990s, hip-hop spread across the entire African continent and very different forms of music emerged from region to region. Early pioneers were Reggie Rockstone from Ghana , Tata Pound from Mali and Kalamashaka from Kenya . The private radio and television stations that have spread since the early 1990s contributed significantly to the spread of hip-hop. In the beginning it was still a phenomenon of the African city youth, but hip-hop soon spread across the country. This also contributed to the fact that the bands began to pick up on African musical traditions and instruments and to integrate them into their tracks.

In the 1990s the necessary technical equipment became at least somewhat more affordable, so that it was easier for individual musicians to equip themselves. The often more liberal climate in many African countries made it possible to produce critical texts and make them public more easily than was possible in earlier African pop music. Before the elections in South Africa, Kenya and Senegal, rappers were influential figures in public discourse.

Although the style originally came from the USA, the French hip-hop scene in particular has encouraged the development and international diffusion of the music. Artists originally from Africa such as Manu Dibango and MC Solaar promoted African rappers. The French film La haine brought African hip-hop to a wide audience.

African hip hop by country

Egyptian hip hop

Egyptian hip-hop is hip-hop music produced in Egypt and / or performed in Egyptian Arabic and / or English. The main artists of Egyptian hip-hop are MTM. Egyptian hip hop caters to the daily life of young Egyptians, fear of the future, relationship with girls and risks of drug addiction. There is a second hip-hop band in Egypt that has stayed underground: Y-Crew. Since they have remained true to themselves in their texts, they are hated by the adults there for disobedience, but viewed by the youth as an initiative.

Algerian hip hop

Algerian hip-hop includes both the ethnic Algerians living in France (also part of French hip-hop ), a number of whom became famous rappers, as well as a lesser-known Algerian scene. The 1999 compilation album Algerap helped introduce some artists to the international audience. B. Intik and Double Canon . MBS is also mostly well known .

Angolan hip hop

The African nation of Angola has a vibrant hip-hop scene with popular groups like SSP, which is the most influential hip-hop group in the country, and Army Squad , which was formed and started with some outside, in Cape Town , South Africa South African hip-hoppers working together. Mutu Moxy is also known, for example .

Acts like the Angolan-Portuguese band Buraka Som Sistema added hip-hop elements to the Kuduro, originally created in Angola , and made it known in Europe and North America. MIA also used this style in a collaboration with the band.

Botswana hip hop

Botswana never had a big pop music industry as most of its pop music came from South Africa or further afield. Since 1999 , hip-hop artists in Botswana began to gain mainstream acceptance; the record label Phat Boy did much to Botswana Hip Hop advance. Well-known groups, rappers and DJs from Botswana are Peter Mathambo , P-Side Crew , Slim , Draztik and DJ Sid .

Ivorian hip hop

Hip-hop is a significant part of Ivory Coast pop music and has been mixed with many of the national styles, such as: B. Zouglou . From around 1998 hip-hop became a main component of Ivorian music. Some time later the scene became even more popular with the rise of a publicly feuding duo of two band leaders : Stezo from Flotte Imperiale and Almighty from Ministère Authentik . There is also a type of gangsta rap- influenced hip-hop called Rap Dogba . Other well-known groups and MCs include Baby Joe , Angelo & Les Dogbas , MAM , a kids rap group, MC Claver , Negromuffin , Parlement Supreme , one of the earliest groups in the country, and RAS , a Zouglou hip-hop group.

Cape Verdean hip-hop

Cape Verdean hip-hop includes a scene among immigrants in the Netherlands , where they are a significant part of the Dutch hip-hop scene. These are The Real Vibe , Cabo Funk Alliance and E-Life . Well-known artists from the island are Black Side , who use a fusion of hip-hop and Antillian Zouk music, and Lod Escur .

Congolese hip-hop

The capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , Kinshasa , was a significant home to pan-African styles of pop music such as rumba , soukous, and kwassa kwassa for a long time before hip-hop emerged. Artists of the rap scene in Kinshasa are Profetzion (formerly Holockaust , later Les Guérisseurs ), Fatima CIA and the rapper Passi .

Tanzanian hip hop

The Tanzanian hip-hop scene, detached from the music metropolis Dar es Salaam , is trying to establish a center for Tanzanian hip-hop in Mbeya . In the songs and videos, topics from everyday life in Tanzania (corruption, HIV / AIDS , future prospects for young people) are taken up and brought up in Kiswahili . What began as an underground movement in the 1980s established itself as an important movement in the bongo flava by the 1990s at the latest . Tanzanian hip-hop finds its way to Germany partly through youth encounters and international work camps.

Ugandan hip hop

In Uganda the first beginnings of a scene developed through students at Makerere University in the early 1990s. The Bataka Squad in particular developed its own style using the indigenous Luganda language. This style is called Lugaflow and is still present in the scene today. Other representatives during this time were Young Vibrations, MC Afrik, DJ Berry, and Kaddo. One of the most important places for Ugandan hip-hop in the 1990s was the Pulsations club in Kampala .

Since the 2000s, groups such as Klear Kut, Milestone or Chain Thought Reaction have increasingly been formed. In 2002 Klear Kut was nominated for the Kora All Africa Music Awards in the categories “Most Promising African Group” and “Discovery of the Year”. In 2003 the Uganda Hip-Hop Foundation was founded, which organized the first Uganda Hip-Hop meeting including a concert in Kampala. Founding members included Geoffrey Ekongot, Saba Saba aka Krazy Native (Bataka Squad), Francis Agaba, Paul Mwandha and Xenson. Due to the success, the meeting was held again in the following four years.

In 2005 the Bavubuka All Starz was founded, which mainly campaigns for social issues and identifies grievances with their projects. The head of the group is Silas aka Babaluku from the Bataka Squad. Another social project, the Breakdance Project Uganda, was founded in 2006 by Abraham “ Abramz ” Tekya in Kampala. Weekly free workshops bring children and young people from poor backgrounds and different religions together. In 2010, Australian filmmaker Nabil Elderkin directed the documentary Bouncing Cats about the project. In 2013 the Ugandan scene received some attention in Germany through a project by the organization Viva con Agua . The German rappers Marteria and Maeckes visited Uganda and recorded the track Blue Uganda with Lady Slyke, Bris Jean, Abramz and Sylvester . The proceeds from the sale of the track will benefit the Viva con Agua project, which is building drinking water wells in Uganda.

Jocelyne Tracey Keko is currently one of the most promising rappers in Uganda.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Erik Leijon: Die Antwoord Are The New Standard For Internet Age Bands (Help Us All). In: chartattack.com. July 21, 2010, archived from the original on July 31, 2010 ; accessed on April 17, 2014 (English).
  2. ↑ Blogg: An insight into Tanzania's hip-hop scene
  3. ↑ Gabriele Gollnick: Bongo Flava - language change in Tanzanian hip-hop songs . Bod Third Party Titles / GRIN Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-656-19779-9 ( Google Books ).
  4. ↑ AfricanHipHop.com: Video announcement by the Luga Flow Army on August 30, 2012
  5. ^ Die Zeit: Hip Hop in Uganda: "Bouncing Cats" from March 16, 2013
  6. ↑ HipHop.de: Documentary about Maeckes and Merteria in Uganda from May 10, 2013; Retrieved June 1, 2013