African hip-hop

The tradition & historical record

Hip-hop music has been popular in Africa since the early 1980s due to widespread African American influence. In 1985, hip-hop reached Senegal, a French-speaking country in West Africa. Some of the first Senegalese rappers were Munyaradzi Nhidza Lida, M.C. Solaar, and Positive Black Soul. There also have been groups in Tanzania and other countries that emceed before 1989, that knows as Kwanza Unit although it is not very well known. During the late 1980s to mid 1990s, Stevano UGO, Lagos, Nigeria hit "Earthquaking African MC" became the first Afrobeat rap Artist playing on radio Ray Power FM released via Kennis Music founder, Kenny Ogungbe "African Diddy, this sparked more awareness of bilingual rappers started to escalate all over Africa. Each region had a new hip hop style. Rap elements are also found in kwaito, a subgenre of house music which was developed in South Africa in the 1980s. Hip-Hop the genre itself was created by African Americans during the early 1970s in The Bronx, New York. African Hip-hop and Rap has also women or girls like rapper. They began Rap in 1980 in South Africa and West Africa. While the consensus is that hip-hop originated in the Bronx, many scholars and enthusiasts argue that the genre's artistic roots can be traced back to Africa. Dating back to the 13th century, griots were prominent figures in West African kingdoms and empires. ¹

Algerian hip-hop music, as a genre, includes the hip-hop music of both native Algerians and Algerians abroad. Algerians living abroad have contributed much to this genre, especially in France, where they are also considered part of the French hip-hop scene. Some of these Algerians have become prominent. Algeria also has a hip-hop scene, which, while less well known internationally, is among the most developed in Africa and the Arab world. Raï is a genre of music that developed in Algeria during the 1920s as rural migrants incorporated their native musical styles into the culture of the growing urban centers of western Algeria. ¹

Angola has a lively hip-hop scene, including popular and influential crews like Conciencia da Africa, Atitude violenta, Pobres Sem Culpa, Filhos Da Ala Este, Mutu Moxy (Intelektu) Based in Cape Town, South Africa, and have begun to work with some South African hip-hop musicians. Angolan hip-hop is characterized by the influence of American hip-hop beats with a special flavor of Portuguese flow, mixed with African rhythm and some Caribbean influence. SSP, Mutu Moxy (Intelektu) Political Rap, Kool Kleva, Nelboy Dastha Burda are credited for being the pioneers of the hip-hop in Angola from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. Hip-hop in Angola can be very censored. In order for artists to perform in large arenas where they can get a lot of exposure and recognition, their music has to be reviewed by a board. Because of this, oftentimes artists who tend to speak out on politics in their music have trouble blowing up. Instead of getting to perform at certain events such as festivals and actual concerts, they are forced to perform to small groups in underground areas. This has made the underground hip-hop music scene in Angola very lively. MCK is one of the most popular underground rappers in Angola. He is known for constantly getting in trouble with the law about his lyrics, in which he constantly criticizes and calls out the government. Other rappers in Angola known for this include Brigadeiro 10 Pacotes and Dioniso Casimiro. Luanda is the music capital of Angola. Many new sounds have came from this city, including a popular one called Kuduro. Legends like DJ Amado and Buraka Som Systema helped to spread this sound quick internationally by performing across the globe. ¹

Beninese hip-hop traces its roots to a 1992 concert by Senegalese-French rapper MC Solaar in Cotonou. Several music groups presented in this concert, such as Ardiess, Sakpata Boys and H2O, later produced hip-hop style music on their own. Beninese hip-hop features lyrics in French, English and local languages such as Fon and Yoruba. ¹

Botswana has never had a large popular music industry, with most of its recorded music coming from South Africa or further abroad. However, since about 1999, Botswana hip-hop performers have begun to gain mainstream acceptance; the record labels such as Dagee Records, Phat Boy etc. has done a lot to promote Botswana hip-hop. The hip-hop movement in Botswana has grown over the years as evidenced by the release over the years of albums and songs from artists such as Mr Doe, Zeus, Touch Motswak Tswak, Ignition, S.C.A.R, Awesomore.aka Gaddamit, Cashless Society, Nitro, Konkrete, HT, Flex, Dice, Dj Dagizus, 3rd Mind, Kast, Nomadic, Slaine John and Draztik to name a few. The release of hip-hop albums is slow because of the small market and competition from other genres of mostly dance-oriented music. Since 2000 hip-hop has achieved more prominence in Botswana, with rappers like Scar Kast and Third Mind releasing relatively successful albums. In 2006, Scar released his sophomore offering, "Happy Hour". The same year Kast released "Dazzit". S.C.A.R has since won a Channel O Spirit of Africa Award 2007 for best hip-hop. New Hip-Hop Musicians such as William Last KRM, Ban T, DoubleUp(Ambitiouz Entertainment) and AbtheActivist have found mainstream success in the neighboring South Africa. ¹

After hip-hop reached Cameroon, it took two years to actually become popular. This was because when the genre of music first reached the country, it was associated with angry youth and rebellious behavior. The hip-hop scene of Cameroon includes pioneers like Manhitoo and Negrissim' who broke new ground in the early 1990s. Other hip-hop artists from Cameroon are Les Nubians. Stanley Enow and Jovi continue to build the industry. Krotal, also known as Paul Edouard Etoundi Onambele, is one of the most legendary pioneer rappers to come out of Cameroon. He also founded the popular record label Ndabott Prod in 2007. The label has worked and continues to work with artists such as Abaracadabra, JaHel MineliH, Cyrille Nkono. Krotal himself also works under the label. Evindi and Sundjah formed one of the most influential rap groups out of Cameroon, Evindi and Sundjah in 1995. Rap in Cameroon has continued to evolve since then. For example, Cameroon was not used to sampling beats. Jovi, who also goes by Ndukong Godlove, was one of the first artist to do this in the country and make it popular. Now many artists in Cameroon follow in his footsteps. Today the most viewed song and video out of Cameroon is Stanley Enow's 'Hein Pere', which was released in 2013. Rap in Cameroon is also no longer associated with angry youth. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “African hip-hop”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

African hip-hop is group of music genres of scenes, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 3 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²