Hip hop in Africa

1 Aug 2018 - 16:00

According to a Nielsen Music report(link is external) released early this year, hip hop became the most dominant genre in the US in 2017, surpassing rock for the first time in history. The statistical discovery wasn’t too surprising; in 2015, streaming service Spotify analysed 20 billion tracks and found that hip hop songs had appeared on more playlists than any other genre around the world.

South African motswako rapper Fifi Cooper.

This success of hip hop is owed to the accessible nature of the genre. Whereas many other music styles – the most obvious of them being jazz and classical – require extensive training and expensive equipment, all that hip hop asks for is a human voice and a creative mind. This is best illustrated by cyphers and rap battles where rappers often go a capella and in the process add a layer of purism to the art form.

In Africa, hip hop is just as appealing as anywhere else in the world, with many young people still looking up to the American masters of yesteryear for inspiration. More often than not, Africa is defined by persistent socio-economic problems that are impossible to ignore, especially if one has a deep sense of justice. Combine poverty, war and corruption with Africa's rich oral traditions and what you get is some of the most powerful lyrics delivered through the medium of hip hop. Today, some of the most profound criticism of power structures that have gone awry is meted out through hip hop, which in many instances has been effective in changing opinions and driving change.

On the creative front, many African musicians are fusing traditional music from their backyards with the modern approaches of hip hop production, the result of which is a original take on the genre and one that rappers around the world have begun to take note of. This can only spell success for the future of African hip hop.

Music In Africa has commissioned and published original Overview Texts that cover the historical development of the genre in various African countries, with more still to come. We have also compiled a selection of hip hop-related features, news articles and reviews from our magazine section, which will be updated as the month progresses.

Overview Texts