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Into Africa
By Hua Hsu
'THEY THINK IT'S
all jungles and huts," a local DJ from Johannesburg, South
Africa, said with a laugh. The shock of travel nowadays is usually
one of recognition. Go nearly anywhere on the planet and you'll
likely find some familiar vestige of the Western comforts you thought
you'd left behind. Thousands of miles away, listening to stories
of famous rappers paying awkward visits to the motherland, I rediscovered
some of the nasty complexities of being American: you speak with
privilege, even if you reject it; the things you say travel, even
if they aren't thought out. Others follow your cultural lead, even
if your stuff is wack.
When scholar Edward Said
passed earlier this year, I was making preparations for a trip to
South Africa to observe an international academy for DJs and producers.
The night before I left, I revisited "Traveling Theories,"
his 1983 essay more or less concerned with what kinds of stories,
knowledge, or ideas are produced when one travels. I fell asleep
wondering what ideas I would acquire in the next two weeks.
There are stories going
around Johannesburg and Cape Town about Ja Rule. Earlier this year,
Ja (who's still very popular in other parts of the world) trekked
to the mother continent for some concerts. The highlights –
some exaggerated, some accurate – include Ja mistaking Soweto
for a bangin' club he wanted to check out, Ja accusing South African
blacks of not being tough enough, and Ja's cronies roughing up a
local DJ for dropping a 50 Cent song in his presence.
The point of conveying
this story isn't to poke fun at Ja's ignorance – though, if
you want to include his ambassadorial offenses with his long list
of musical ones, be my guest. The problem here was his arrogance
– the kind of fuck-you-pay-me self-assurance that comes with
the validation of sales and riches. It's interesting how the affinities
you imagine in your head look when you travel. Ja assumed Africa
would feel him unconditionally, and he wasn't the only one: agit-rappers
Dead Prez made a similar sojourn, and though they were far more
respectful of the conditions of black life there and, as a result,
far more loved, they also crashed the nation's tenuous postapartheid
landscape with their clunky, us-versus-them moralizing.
But Dead Prez's politics
at least allowed something for the kids to sink their teeth into.
It's troubling enough to see the trickle-down effect of hip-hop
materialism in the United States. It's downright depressing to see
it ripple outward to the poor cities globalization left behind.
The theatrics and play of Jay-Z don't travel as well as the swagger,
the ice, and the Reeboks. Hip-hop's obsession with its own success
may be excused as showy neighborhood pride here, but it's as good
as imperialism over there, anywhere.
But the music of those
modest videos was heartening. Local musicians say South Africa's
Kwaito scene is on the cusp of big things. It's a uniquely local
blend of the area's two favorite imports, house and hip-hop, and
many of those whom American hip-hop lost have turned to Kwaito.
They've picked through the hip-hop blueprint for the parts that
translate – self-worth, beats – and left behind the bits
that don't. Ditto the little scenes around the world no longer interested
in approval from the American specter: broken beat, garage, hip-life
(highlife plus hip-hop), etc. For these kids, out of the limelight
(for now) but verging on something really breathtaking, hip-hop
has become a point of departure rather than the destination.
The flight back to New
York City was intolerably long. At home nothing had changed: Jay-Z's
lackluster love-me-or-fuck-you Black Album was winning hearts
and minds. I looked around this unsatisfying landscape; it never
seemed so rife with possibilities.
Ten more things I
rediscovered
• Stone Roses,
The Stone Roses (Silvertone)
• Eddie Kendricks,
People ... Hold On (Motown)
• Roy Davis Jr.,
"I'm Here to Spread Love" (Strictly Rhythm)
• Donny Hathaway,
Live (Atlantic)
• Jungle Brothers,
Straight out the Jungle (Warlock)
• Hall and Oates,
"I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" (RCA)
• Ray Barretto,
"Acid" (Fania)
• Pastels, "Nothing
to Be Done" (Homestead)
• Nico, Chelsea
Girl (Polydor)
• Luomo, Vocal
City (Force Tracks)
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