Senegal Rappers: What It Means To Fit Their Culture

This paper is an analysis of the political and social aspects of hip-hop and reggae, as well as, addressing the commonalities of the music itself as they have developed and changed over time. This analysis produces the holistic view reflecting the interconnectedness of these two genres of music.

1. Keyes points out that rap music derives from what she refers to as the “West African bardic tradition.” What is this tradition? What is the role of the griot in this tradition? What parallels do you see between the groit and a hip hop MC (the rapper, often the main writer of lyrics for a group)?

From the 1500s to the 1700s, African blacks, mainly from the area of West Africa (today's Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Dahomey, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon) were shipped as slaves to North America, Brazil, and the West Indies. For them, local and tribal differences, and even varying cultural backgrounds, soon melded into one common concern for the suffering they all endured. Music, songs, and dances as well as remembered traditional food, helped not only to uplift them but also quite unintentionally added immeasurably to the culture around them. In the approximately 300 years that blacks have made their homes in North America, the West Indies, and Brazil, their highly honed art

African influence is evident in African secular and religious practices, in instruments modeled after African instruments, and in the use of musical traits associated with Africa’s ethnic groups.

entertainment categories and Africa’s music, is and has always been one of the most treasurable

Authenticity has been connected to hip-hop since the genre’s inception in the late 1970s. Claims to authenticity are widespread to an unparalleled degree throughout all types of hip-hop music, from “gangsta”, lyrical, and party. Why is hip-hop preoccupied to such a large extent with the notion of authenticity? What qualities creates authentic hip-hop? Despite the previous absence of scholarly attention given to hip-hop, there has been a recent growth in hip-hop academia as the genre has solidated its position as a major market and cultural force within not only the United States, but also all over the world.

Haitian descent rappers in Montreal and rap Kreyol artists from Haiti were both introduced to rap music the same way listening to imported, bootleg tapes made in America. Although, both groups located at different areas around the globe, they produce their music using American hip-hop beats. The Haitian people blend it with customary Kreyol language while the artist in Montreal rap in French and mix in “their own language codes” (Vertus 2016). Both groups rapping about the socioeconomic challenges faced every day like poverty, ghetto life, and the drug culture. Haiti’s more lenient when it comes to accepting hip-hop into their culture and has grown considerably and undergone many changes over the past years. In comparison with the people

In an industry, mainly controlled by high society white men, African-American musical artists are frequently regarded as commodities, not as artists. They must adjust a requirement for artistic control and "keeping" it real" with the impediments and weights from record organizations inspired by producing deals and massive appeal. Often the message and artistic integrity of rappers can be lost amidst national marketing campaigns and concern for approval by important commercial allies. Musicians have struggled to maintain rap's potency as a form of resistance and empowerment. It is doubly injuring for dark ladies who are now plagued by assaults from outside their groups to feel the push of musical knifes to their respect from inside. Apart

In the movie Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, the audience is transported through time to the creation of hip hop music, where Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammed, Q tip and Jarobi started a snowball rolling to the place at which music is today.

I was born in Port-Au-prince, Haiti. I arrived in the U.S at the age of ten. However, due to financial situations, I was unable to travel back to visit my family. Now that I am living in the United States, I love to listen to the music that I remembered listening to in Haiti. One of my favorite genre of Haitian music is Twoubadou. This genre of music has many names in different countries such as Cuba and France. Twoubadou has interesting aspects due to its origins unique to Haiti and its connections to the country’s history. My long lasting interest in Haitian music is influenced by the people I spend my time with. I know many Haitian producers and musicians and have heard new and old music, which gives me an understanding of the evolution of Haitian music.

Africa is a vast and complex content that is home to over 200 different languages being spoken. Just as the people of Africa are diverse, so is their music, but they are still used for the same reasons. The music they perform is tediously learned and artfully performed. They have songs specifically for one person, like “Magonde” which is a song for the chief played and sung in the Zimbabwe culture (Sinyoro, n.d.). It is an old, traditional song that is played on an mbira-type instrument (also known as “thumb piano”) called a Njari dza MaNjanja (Willoughby, 2010). Much of the music performed is for spiritual rituals, various celebrations, whether joyful or sorrowful, and even occasionally for healing.

In this essay, I will be examining the musical genre of Afrobeat which was created by Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Afrobeat first came to be in the late 1960’s during the Civil Rights Movement in America. Fela Kuti a Nigerian, was able to create a genre that has change the way we view music today. Afrobeat is made up of two different words, “Afro” and “Beat”. “Afro” correlates with “African organized sound while beat is a rhythmic counting pattern in relation to such music” (Oikelome, 2013). Therefore, the meaning of Afrobeat is the unique African rhythmic patterns of such music. The coming of this genre is very interesting since the man behind it has quite a story.

In this course we have learned about all of the different cultures and their musical traditions. My favorite so far has had to be the west African music culture. They have a variety of different music, instruments, and dances to contribute to the reasons I liked this music culture so much. So, I have taken it upon myself to further my research on this particular musical group. I will compare and contrast a variety of different videos from the west African music culture and I will analyze how they connect to this culture.

Found in West Africa, griots are musicians, praise-singers, storytellers and historians who are known for their spoken word. They specialize in using various musical instruments, such as the drum and kora. There is a sharp connection between the rap music today and the griot traditions in West Africa. Historically, the griot’s job was solely to assist the king in his daily activities and as well to use their art and music to tell the story about their history. They were feared and envied because they had an impact on the individuals they praised or critiqued. They were an opportunistic group as they would often would ask for money in return for their praises. Their music was not reminiscent of music today as griot music is not about sex, drugs

Using rap music produced by African Americans in the United States and rap music produced by the youth in Senegal as case studies, rap music at best, contributed no tangible positive effects on the public’s impression of the African American community in the United States. In contrast, rap music did revolutionize Senegal’s public awareness of its youth and helped demonstrate their essential role in Senegal. Socioeconomically, rap also did not improve the standing of African Americans. Likewise in Senegal, it did not bolster the socioeconomics of the youth.