Cultural Alienation in SA Hip Hop

[Dpleezy]

The AG curse strikes again,,, i only managed to save this reply from the original post...

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i hear you SIN,,, i don't think anything in life is as simple as two or three paragraphs could ever adequately explain.

however, i do see signs of what they call 'cultural alienation' in some areas of our local hip hop culture - the easy adoption of foreign slang, accent, dress code, production style etc.

slang and fashion originate in a specific area for many complex cultural reasons - to blindly copy them from the other side of the world makes no sense at all, and to me, is indicative of a lack of pride in where a person comes from.

you asked 'what is CULTURE?', which made me think. One definition i found is that it's 'the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another'.

this does not imply any kind of longing for an ancestral past, but recognises that certain groups of people share collective experiences and traditions formed over many generations that are specific to where they come from.

whilst those of us involved in hip hop culture may share many experiences in common (oppression, injustice, love of a certain style of music etc), we all come from different backgrounds with unique sets of experiences.

hip hop may be a global culture, but it's not a monoculture. we should be confident enough to express our commitment to that culture in our own way, without feeling that we are somehow removed from its centre (and therefore inferior) because we are not american.

[Dpleezy]

Here's my original post:

the process of devaluing or abandoning one's own culture or cultural background. A person who is culturally alienated places little value on their own or host culture, and instead hungers for that of a - sometimes imposed - colonising nation.  The post-colonial theorists Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin link alienation with a sense of dislocation or displacement some peoples (especially those from immigrant cultures) will feel when they look to a distant nation for their values.

Culturally alienated societies often exhibit a weak sense of cultural self-identity and place little worth on themselves. The most common manifestation of this alienation among peoples from post-colonial nations at present is an appetite for all things American, from television and music, to clothing, slang, even names. Culturally alienated individuals will also exhibit little knowledge or interest in the history of their host society, placing no real value on such matters.

The issue of Cultural alienation has led the Australian sociologists Brian Head and James Walter to interpret the cultural cringe as the belief that one's own country occupies a "subordinate cultural place on the periphery", and that "intellectual standards are set and innovations occur elsewhere". As a consequence, a person who holds this belief is inclined to devalue their own country's cultural, academic and artistic life, and to venerate the "superior" culture of another (colonising) country.

A more sophisticated approach to the issues raised by the cultural cringe, as felt by artistic practitioners in former colonies around the world, was developed and advanced by the Australian art historian Terry Smith in his essay 'The Provincialism Problem'.

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_cringe)

[TATEguru v.2K9]

ROB & MY Responses:

I think the direct link between this and SA hip-hop needs to be made more clearly. Just how much of the rap that is being made in this country depends explicitly - as in copies, not just is influenced by - American rap culture? How many rap artists are affected by this cultural alienation?

If I'm honest I'd have to say quite a few but I think this is changing - slowly.

   

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There are certainly lots of 'Cultural Alienation' issues plagueing SA Hip Hop.
This is most clearly visible in what some of us have termed 'clone rappers'.
They make music that closely resembles their western idols (Dipset/ G-Unit/ Def Jux/ BCC/ Canibus/ Jay-Z/ Nas etc).
They mimmick everything down to the "musical augmentations" - language, jewelry; "swagger", attitude, 'hustle" etc.
SA Hip Hop is littered with these types. Some I like. Some I don't.
We are all influenced.

This is nothing new. SA Hip Hop in its current incarnation is an adopted cultural phenomenon.
Ergo there will inevitably be an "age of mimmicry".
It happened with Jazz & Beebop in the 1960's pre SA Jazz finding its distinct identity. It happened (& continues to happen) with hip hop in France/ Germany/ Nigeria/ Australia etc.
It is a necessary evil in the maturity of SA Hip Hop.

We need to recognize it for what it is & continue to push artists that are able to make music beyond this box.
There is a "South African frame of reference" ((c) Bexter). SA Hip Hop should reflect this.

[SIN]

Dplanet, It would be idiotic on ma part to simply deny that there is mimicry of 'American' hip hop out here. I however, make a qualitative dichotomy between identification and mimicry. Ma ancestors lived in a pre-industrial society, wit no McDonalds, Theatres, Internet, Skyscrappers German engineered vehicles(which I have fetish for and are only have to a**imilate to ma "culture"), logic dictates that my lexistence, culture, would be different from theres. But I'm glad that u applied ur mind to some of my contentions. In ur response could u paste my original post.

[Dpleezy]

Dplanet, It would be idiotic on ma part to simply deny that there is mimicry of 'American' hip hop out here. I however, make a qualitative dichotomy between identification and mimicry. Ma ancestors lived in a pre-industrial society, wit no McDonalds, Theatres, Internet, Skyscrappers German engineered vehicles(which I have fetish for and are only have to a**imilate to ma "culture"), logic dictates that my lexistence, culture, would be different from theres. But I'm glad that u applied ur mind to some of my contentions. In ur response could u paste my original post.

i wish i could SIN. i didn't keep the window open so i was unable to copy it - i only had my response. it's very annoying as your response is pretty key to the whole point of this thread.

i really hope when this 'all new AG' come into existence, that bug is fixed.

[TATEguru v.2K9]

Apparently saying yo ma man, nahmean, represent & keep it real authenticates you as "hip Hop" more than Skawarra (sp), ndeipi, mara and yazeni...

Some would argue Kwaito keeps it "realer" than hip hop in SA.