January 13, 2005
Hip-Hop is Dead (in Kenya)
How does this here factor into the current debate? Probably in more ways than I have time to ponder right now. (I resisted the urge to call it "Tate-Gate," cuz I think we all agree that A) this dialogue is worth exploring further and B) it will be much more fruitful if we move on from just reacting to that text)
What’s wrong with Kenyan hip hop?
Kenyan hip hop artistes are yet to scale the same heights that their ‘kapuka’ counterparts are currently reaching. Is it the fans? Is it the quality of music, or is it the artistes’ own reticence? We let hip hop musicians fill us in on the situation.
In the US, former underground hip hop MCs, such as Snoop Doggy Dog, Jay Z, 50 Cent and Eminem, are millionaires. Their music is played in thousands of discos around the world. Their albums sell thousands of copies, too. But in Kenya, hip hop MCs are confined to a life of struggle and strife, while non-hip hop artistes, such as Nameless and Big Pin, attract corporate, fan and award-winning attention. In fact, it could be said that local hoppers are ‘foraging’ for a living. As one music critic puts it: "Wamesota mbaya!"
But then what could be the reason behind their stunted fortunes? K-South, who are undoubtedly Kenya’s first, and arguably best, hip hop MCs, blame the situation on the lack of knowledge that Kenyans display about the genre. The duo says that hip hop has failed to take off because most Kenyans consider it foreign, even though it originated in Africa. "One thing Kenyans don’t understand is that hip hop is a culture and lifestyle that is all African," says Jerry Doobiez, one half of K-South. Bandmate Bamboo echoes his sentiments, adding that they are saddened by the image the hip hop community in Kenya has cultivated.
"It’s unfortunate that Kenyans associate hip hop with rowdiness and nothing more," says Doobiez. "They think we are just a bunch of guys who jump up and down on stage. But hip hop is more educative than entertaining, and anybody who understands it knows this."
They blame the local media for its bias against hip hop music. "It’s unfair that one struggles so hard to make it in this game, yet some people just want to see your efforts go down the drain," says Bamboo. They also accuse local presenters of setting a kapuka trend at the expense of hip hop.
"You will always hear them play kapuka music, and if they must play hip hop, then it’s always foreign gangsta rap, that features messages about guns, and people hurling abuse at each other," says a furious Doobiez. "This gives Kenyans the wrong impression, making it hard for hip hop to grow locally....
Can someone lay down a Rough Guide to Kapuka, as it compares to the hip-hop these artists represent? Maybe benn loxo du tŕccu? (still the best mp3 blog out there in my book, btw)
Posted by jsmooth995 at January 13, 2005 03:56 PM
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I'm considerably more worried about Jay Smooth's own "Ad-gate" and it's implications for the integrity of hip hop blogging. I sense a new urgency -- and frequency -- in your posting since those ads went up. Is there a connection.
;)
Just lookin out for #1.
Posted by: hip hop charts 2004 at January 13, 2005 11:30 PM
I dunno about urgency, but it's definitely encouraging me to keep up the frequency.
Posted by: Jay Smooth at January 14, 2005 05:07 AM
oh whoops, i guess i can stop spamming now.
yeah, your traffic certainly warrants some ads. i got the google ad code, but haven't got the nerve to put it up. they won't tell you what the rate is. i have no idea how much i would make.
Posted by: eric at January 14, 2005 05:21 AM
I don't think there's any way to know in advance how much you'll make, cuz it all depends on what keywords they find on your site and which ads they then choose to show.. some keywords are worth way more than others, apparently. It has already varied widely for me in different spans of time.. and their lack of detailed tracking makes it hard to tell what causes the fluctuations. (i'm quite happy with it so far though.. i'd say try it out for a while, nothing to lose)
Posted by: Jay Smooth at January 14, 2005 05:41 AM
That Benn Loxo blog is amazing, I hadn't heard of it before. "Ad-gate"?...STFU... Let the man make some $ if he can. I'm just glad The Smoove is posting again after his December witness protection program enlistment. The 'Love Addiction' analogy was brilliant in regards to the TateGate (yeah, I said it) fiasco. I'm guessing DJ Dubb didn't attend Blaze's birthday bash...
Posted by: Jesse at January 14, 2005 02:07 PM
LOL. No "Ad-gate" issues on my site. I fully disclosed the fact that I was selling out and that advertisers were welcome. I also signed up for Google Ads program but also haven't installed the code yet.
As for the original topic of the post, it's interesting because a similar issue was discussed in the book Where You're At (which I reviewed a while back) about South Africa and how Kwaito, an indiginous form of urban pop there incorporating marimbas, house and disco rhythms and female singers and MC's rapping (haven't heard any myself but it sounds like it might be the South African equivalent to cheesy Euro disco from the early-mid 90's like 2 Unilimited and Dr. Alban), that also does far better than the local hip hop artists.
This seems to be an issue everywhere around the world except for the US and maybe France. Even in the UK, grime and eski MC's do better than traditional hip hop artists. I've no idea why this is but my theory, and I'm not sure I'm right on this, is that hip hop, as it's come to be known, seems to have developed the way it did because of the social, cultural and economic foces in play in the 70's in the US. Obviously those same forces are not in play in other places so whichever ones were have shaped how hip hop develops in other regions around the world. I would also guess that as much as people may like American hip hop, they're much more likely to embrace and relate to a hip hop-inspired sound that more directly reflects their own cultural and social experiences than something that is basically a copy of a foreign artform.
Posted by: ian at January 15, 2005 02:06 PM
its sad that in a country where hiphop helped bring the government to power the artform is now being neglected. it was only a few years ago that the whole nation was singing along to gidigidi-majimaji's "UNBWOGABLE". The then opposition leader, now president, was using this hiphop street slang term to show how down he and his party were with the youth yet now that they are in power they do very little for these artists and the music industry in general.
as for the Kwaito commentary, i live in South Africa and i can assure you that hiphop has certainly overtaken kwaito in popularity over the last few years. *how can you assume you know what it could sounds like if you have never heard it?!!
the problem with books is that by the time they get published they are already out of date which is why i love blogging.
Posted by: maluka at January 17, 2005 04:47 PM
I AM UNBWOGGABLE!
correct me if i'm wrong but i'm pretty sure the kapuka stlye is basically a mixture of dancehall rhythms and r&b. it's sounds very similar to reggaton. the songs are usually r&b themes lurv jams in a mixture of kiswahili and english. VERY popular in nairobi.
as compared to other "real" hiphop in kenya i would say that it's basically party music as opposed to listening music. but i wouldn't totally discredit it. living in a place like nairobi, i think it's great to see so much local talent making local, relevant music that makes locals go wild.
hiphop isn't dead in kenya, it's just very underground.
Posted by: ketan at January 19, 2005 02:04 PM
I don't believe that Hip Hop is really dead in Kenya, the main problem is that the media is doing very little to promote it, all they do is potraying kapuka as hip hop and hence create the wrong imprresion for hip hop. It's all up to the artistes and those who know what real hip hop is to promote it and differentiate it from kapuka, the media too should should stop forcing nomn hip hop artistes to be hip hop artistes
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