The Africanist Aesthetic In Global Hip Hop

Asserting that hip hop culture has become another locus of postmodernity, Osumare explores the intricacies of this phenomenon from the beginning of the Twenty-First century, tracing the aesthetic and socio-political path of the currency of hip hop across the globe.

"2008 US-Battle of the Year, Hollywood, CA This is my second time at US-Battle of the Year, held at the same club in Hollywood, and full of breakers I admire. [See Pic 1.1] When I arrive, the mood is casual. Some stretch in corners, and others converse with friends. I seek out familiar faces as I walk the perimeter of the room trying to decide where I'm going to focus my attention. I see b-boy Viazeen and head toward his circle, which is nearest the stage. When I get there, I see struggle on his furrowed brow. I have seen break Viazeen before. At his best, he brings a combination of intellectual curiosity and creative intensity to the floor, attacking it with a clean diligence as he crafts new angles and shapes with the traces of his footwork. A transplant to Los Angeles from Philadelphia, his fans and friends multiply with each event. Viazeen is a thoughtful breaker, but when he cannot quite get into his groove, he tends to look increasingly pensive if not outright frustrated. He stands slightly removed from this circle, watching others dance while making only the occasional effort to join in"--

In the case of hip-hop, the forces of top-down corporatization and bottom-up globalization are inextricably woven. This volume takes the view that hip-hop should not be viewed with this dichotomous dynamic in mind and that this dynamic does not arise solely outside of the continental US. Close analysis of the facts reveals a much more complex situation in which market pressures, local (musical) traditions, linguistic and semiotic intelligibility, as well as each country's particular historico-political past conspire to yield new hybrid expressive genres. This exciting collection looks at linguistic, cultural and economic aspects of hip-hop in parallel and showcases a global scope. It engages with questions of code-switching, code-mixing, the minority language/regional dialect vs. standard dynamic, the discourse of political resistance, immigrant ideologies, youth and new language varieties and will be essential reading for graduates and researchers in sociolinguistics and discourse analysis.

The Hiplife in Ghana explores one international site - Ghana, West Africa - where hip-hop music and culture have morphed over two decades into the hiplife genre of world music. It investigates hiplife music not merely as an imitation and adaptation of hip-hop, but as a reinvention of Ghana's century-old highlife popular music tradition. Author Halifu Osumare traces the process by which local hiplife artists have evolved a five-phased indigenization process that has facilitated a youth-driven transformation of Ghanaian society. She also reveals how Ghana's social shifts, facilitated by hiplife, have occurred within the country's 'corporate recolonization,' serving as another example of the neoliberal free market agenda as a new form of colonialism. Hiplife artists, we discover, are complicit with these global socio-economic forces even as they create counter-narratives that push aesthetic limits and challenge the neoliberal order.

Hip Hop Africa explores a new generation of Africans who are not only consumers of global musical currents, but also active and creative participants. Eric Charry and an international group of contributors look carefully at youth culture and the explosion of hip hop in Africa, the embrace of other contemporary genres, including reggae, ragga, and gospel music, and the continued vitality of drumming. Covering Senegal, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and South Africa, this volume offers unique perspectives on the presence and development of hip hop and other music in Africa and their place in global music culture.

This handbook brings together genres, aesthetics, cultural practices and historical movements that provide insight into humanist concerns at the crossroads of dance and theatre, broadening the horizons of scholarship in the performing arts and moving the fields closer together.

"Hip Hop Africa explores a new generation of Africans who are not only consumers of global musical currents, but also active and creative participants. Eric Charry and an international group of contributors look carefully at youth culture and the explosion of hip hop in Africa, the embrace of other contemporary genres, including reggae, ragga, and gospel music, and the continued vitality of drumming. Covering Senegal, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and South Africa, this volume offers unique perspectives on the presence and development of hip hop and other music in Africa and their place in global music culture."--Publisher description.

The Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice contains over 300 entries alphabetically arranged for straightforward and convenient use by scholars and general readers alike. This reference is a comprehensive and systematic collection of designated entries that describe, in detail, important diversity and social justice themes. Thompson, assisted by a network of contributors and consultants, provides a centralized source and convenient way to discover the modern meaning, richness, and significance of diversity and social justice language, while offering a balanced viewpoint. This book reveals the unique nature of the language of diversity and social justice and makes the connection between how this language influences—negatively and positively—institutions and society. The terms have been carefully chosen in order to present the common usage of words and themes that dominate our daily conversations about these topics. Entries range from original research to synopses of existing scholarship. These discussions provide alternative views to popular doctrines and philosophical truths, and include many of the most popular terms used in current conversations on the topic, from ageism to xenophobia. This reference covers cultural, social, and political vernacular to offer an historical perspective as well. With contributions from experts in various fields, the entries consist of topics that represent a wider context among a diverse community of people from every walk of life.