While Senegal’s daily news papers praise the government’s action – new roads being built for a recent summit, urban renovations — Waterflow denounces the corruption and the poverty that plague his country. “Most people,” he said, “the masses, don’t have everything they [need] to live a normal life. They don’t have running water, often they don’t have electricity.”  

With more than 2,500 groups that enjoy increasing popularity, the hip-hop scene has gained exceptional political influence. Many political observers agree that hip-hop artists influenced voters to oust President Abdou Diouf in 2000, who had been in power for almost 20 years, and elect President Abdulaye Wade.

“The election of 2000,” said DJ Magee, “is the only known case in the world in which hip-hop has been seen as one of the main reasons behind the change of regime.” Wade’s election prompted great hope in Senegal, especially among young people who thought that poverty would finally be reduced.

But according to Waterflow, with Wade at the helm, the country’s economic and social situation has not improved. Waterflow, along with other hip-hop artists, have lost faith in the politicians they helped get into power. “There was so much hope that Wade would bring hope,” said DJ Magee, “and that was crushed.”

So now, Waterflow and others see hip-hop artists as the only new political force able to drive the country and defend the deprived. He says the hip-hop community has a mission to cheer up the Senegalese people and help them stand up for their rights.  “We need to wake up,” said Waterflow, “Senegal, please stand up.” “I believe it’s the people who can change the Senegal,” he said, “not the political leaders.”

Poverty and unemployment are endemic in Senegal. Every year, young people flee the country and put their lives in jeopardy just to try their luck in Europe. They often spend fortunes in trying to reach the Canary Islands illegally onboard fishing boats. Some are found washed-up dead on the Senegalese coast after their small vessels were overturned by raging seas. “For them, it’s an attempt to escape,” said DJ Magee, “very much like the people who flee Cuba for the U.S.”

But even for the Senegalese who make it safely to Spain, Italy or France, Europe is no dreamland. According to Waterflow, many Senegalese who emigrated to Europe now wish they could go back, but they don’t, simply because they are ashamed not to have established themselves in the West.

Like many young people in Senegal from a modest upbringing, Waterflow and his crew Wageble had a dream. But instead of giving up, or trying their luck in foreign lands, they stayed in their home country to show that they could make their dreams come true in Senegal. “Wageble is an amazing group,” said DJ Magee. “They really walk the walk. They practice what they preach. It is amazing to see how much they have done for their neighborhood, Thiaroye Azur.”

“We want to show to the Senegalese youth,” said Waterflow, “that even when you come from a very like poor place in Africa, you can be someone else, you know, you can like, travel around the world and do your music.”

Despite his numerous business trips to Europe and America – a privilege usually reserved to the elite in his country — and the fact that he speaks fluent English, which is also rare in Senegal, Waterflow says he feels 100 percent Senegalese, and he would not trade either his roots nor his identity for any other.

“Senegal, it’s me, me I am Senegal,” he said, “so of course I love Senegal, it’s my country, it’s my soul, you know.”

Source:
ABC News

[See post to listen to audio]
I saw this cat open up for Kweli once, and he ripped it. Soobax, (pronounced “sohbah”) the first single from K’naan’s upcoming album “The Dusty Foot Philosopher Deluxe Edition,” is percussion-fuelled protest music at its finest. Set in K’naan’s native Somalia, the song is a fervent look at life in a war-torn country ruled by competeing warlords and their gangs.  

Says K’naan, “The term ‘soobax’ actually means to ‘come out’ so when I recorded it, I imagined myself being in front of gunmen and I’m communicating directly to them.” He adds, “Sixty-year-old women in Canada jam to that song because it says things they couldn’t say. When my brother heard the song he said that it’s the first song he’d heard of mine that could get me killed.”

Emphasizing the message behind his music, K’naan sees “Soobax” as an anthem to lift the spirits and minds of his fellow people out of surrounding violence. On the chorus, K’naan speaks directly to the warlords and provokes them to leave the country. Sung in Somali, K’naan says, “You have exasperated the people so come out with it/ The troubles have increased so come out with it/ You’ve spilled the blood so that it drains on the roads so come out with it/ You’ve burnt the root of the earth so come out with it.”

The Background:
K’naan, an award-winning singer and musician, was born in Somalia, a country that has not had a functioning government since 1991. K’naan’s family moved to Harlem after catching the last domestic flight out of Somalia and eventually settled in Ontario, Canada. Using his ability to blend Western and African influences, K’naan’s music is a fusion of world music and hip-hop that borrows from the protest songs of Bob Marley, the hip-hop lyricism of Mos Def, and the storytelling traditions of Somalia.

Despite the violence K’naan has experienced, his lyrics address the possibilities for positive change and peace. His album, “The Dusty Foot Philosopher Deluxe Edition,” will be released for the first time in the U.S. by the Bay Area-based record label, Interdependent Media on June 24, 2008.

From Audible Treats

Jal, who was forced to fight in the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army from the time he was about six years old until he dramatically escaped the rebel army when he was about 13, sees hip-hop as one avenue to peace, tolerance and literacy for millions of African youth.  

A practitioner of what he calls “conscious” hip-hop, Jal told the conference, “American hip-hop is still entwined with gang culture, drugs, sexual violence and greed.” “It’s a battleground,” he said of the music style’s opposing images.

Former prime minister of Tanzania Frederick Sumaye, who also attended the conference, agrees with Jal, stating, “Hip-hop can help [Africa]. A music group is not an army, but it can get social messages out before trouble starts.”

Jal will see his new album, “Warchild,” released on May 13, and on one of the CD’s songs, “50 Cent,” he calls out to the successful U.S. rapper to take care with his violent messages exemplified by his “Bulletproof” videogame, and how they influence young people.

You have done enough damage selling crack cocaine now you got a kill a black man video game/
There ain’t a Jewish or a white man Chinese or an Indian blowing up the brain of their own fellow man/
We have lost a whole generation through this lifestyle now you want to put it in the game for a little child to play/
Bugga bun 50 Cent/

– From the song “50 Cent” on the album “Warchild”

“I am a great fan of 50 Cent,” confessed Jal, “but can’t help thinking that the generation that has grown up to respect and love him are not being given the right message. I feel that he could be professing more of a positive influence with his young fans.”

Jal’s first single, “Gua” – which means “peace” in his native Nuer dialect – became an international hit in 2005 when it was broadcast on the BBC and disseminated across Africa. “Gua” appeared on the the fundraising album “Warchild – Help a Day in the Life,” and Jal’s music has also been incorporated into Leonardo DiCaprio’s feature film “Blood Diamond,” and on season seven of “ER” “Out of Africa” episodes.

Jal, who doesn’t know when he was born or exactly how old he is, learned how to fire a machine gun before he could ride a bike, and lives with the nightmares of the unspeakable things he had to do as a child soldier. When he was about 13, he, along with some 400 other “child soldiers,” courageously deserted the rebel lines. Only sixteen made it to the relative freedom of a refugee camp. Jal was one of them.

Source:
AntiMusic

Along with other hip-hop artists – including 23-year-old Tim Mwaura, who mops floors by day in a fast-food restaurant, and performs fast-flowing poetry by night in the Kenyan capital’s ghetto clubs – they have formed the Hip Hop Parliament, a collective determined to denounce, through rap, the violence engulfing their communities.

At least 1,000 people have been killed in Kenya and 300,000 left homeless in the violence that erupted after the disputed election victory of Mwai Kibaki in December. A fragile power-sharing deal between he and opposition leader Raila Odinga may have been brokered last week by Kofi Annan, but Mberam and Rich have witnessed, and continue to witness, horrific violence in the Nairobi slum that is their home. Now they’re taking action.

At the centre of this is what they call “conscious hip-hop”. Roje Otieno, Hip Hop Parliament member and presenter on Nairobi’s Ghetto Radio, defines the term: “We don’t play traditional drums like our fathers, nor do we depend on western culture. We don’t care what your tribe is: our hip-hop is about love.” When Annan arrived in Kenya, the Hip Hop Parliament presented him with a written declaration of peace. “We’re not MPs,” explains rapper Judge Franklin Milan, “but MCs, members of the community.”

The violence has been depicted as tribal in origin. Kibaki depends on the support of the Kikuyu, the country’s largest ethnic group, while Odinga is of the Luo tribe. But these rappers insist they grew up unaware of the differences between them. “I didn’t know he was Kikuyu,” says Otieno, a Luo, gesturing towards Mwaura. “We’re paying the price for what happened at independence.” The Republic of Kenya was formed in 1964 with Jomo Kenyatta as president; a Kikuyu, he redistributed land that belonged to other tribes. “Our parents lived in different parts of Kenya but came to Nairobi, where we grew up,” adds Otieno. “It was only later, when our parents told us to marry according to our tribe, that we realised it mattered to them. Today, we are the victims of the situation.”

Mwaura feels that young people are being provoked – when their families are attacked, they are the ones who feel the need to respond with violence. The statistics bear this out: aid agencies estimate around 80% of the dead are men aged 15 to 30. “As a hip-hop artist,” Mwaura says, “I have a duty to my country and young people like me.” Otieno agrees. “We don’t want to be part of the problem; we want to be part of the solution,” he says.

We are talking just before the Hip Hop Parliament’s first official gig at the Laikipia nature reserve on the edge of the Rift Valley, under a vast African sky. This is the setting for the 2008 Earth Festival, a sort of African Womad, attended largely by well-heeled white Kenyans. Initially, the Hip Hop Parliament weren’t scheduled. When performers and punters began cancelling after the violence broke out, the producers, Sveva Gallmann and her mother Kuki, were advised to cancel the event, but they were undeterred. “I had to mark what was happening,” Sveva says. With musician Oneko Arika, she trawled Nairobi’s ghetto clubs looking for the Hip Hop Parliament; when she found them, she offered them two weeks in Laikipia to create a show. “Sveva paid for us to be creative,” says Judge Franklin, “and we’ve bonded in a miraculous way.”

Performed in “sheng”, a mix of Swahili, English and tribal languages, the Hip Hop Parliament’s show is edgy and mesmerising. Purring into the microphone, Mwaura is an original voice. “I used to complain too much about the ghetto,” he raps, “I had dreams of moving out, get a wife and settle/ The thought of another Rwandan genocide/ Leaves us petrified/ Listen to the politicians talking about revolution/ They don’t know we’ve gone through evolution.” The show climaxes with the group chanting: “Upendo kote; amani” (“Love everywhere and peace”). British hip-hop artist Dieter Straub, who shares the stage with them at one point, hopes to bring them to the UK. “These guys had so much soul,” he says. “British hip-hop is all about dissing fellow men; these guys had nothing, yet they come together for peace. In hip-hop, we say ‘keep it real’; well, these guys really kept it real”.

Source:
Guardian

According to the head of PIN, Zdenka Haukova, hip-hop artists Snazzy from Namibia and Tina from the Czech Republic will perform at an open-air concert scheduled for March 3 at Keetmanshoop’s J Stephanus Stadium. Other local artists will also perform.

“The hip-hop tour will bring better understanding of the widespread impact of HIV-AIDS in Namibia and what steps are being taken to address the pandemic,” Haukova said.

Tina and Snazzy are expected to arrive in Keetmanshoop today. They will be taken on a tour of PIN’s Wake Centre, the local hospital, ARV Clinic and the Quiver-tree Forest tomorrow.

On Sunday and Monday the artists will attend a workshop on how to use hip-hop as a tool for fighting HIV-AIDS.

Source:
All Africa

This was an excellent opportunity for a young democracy to grow in a part of the world where the common people often have little if any voice at all. It was a chance for Kenya to become an example for other African nations in the transformation to democracy. However, it was not to be and it now appears that Kenya, a once promising African nation, may be taking a dangerous turn for the worse.

The Politics of Kenya
Without question, Kenya has many serious problems to deal with on a national level – from corruption scandals and tribal tensions to disease and poverty, just to name a few. That being said, Kenya has become one of the budding bright spots in sub-Saharan Africa – a region of the world that has a history of dictators, terrorism, genocide, and other human rights catastrophes. 

The hope for Kenya has been solely based on its democratic political system. For more than 40 years of independence, there have been many changes to the political structure and numerous regional crises, but Kenya has remained extraordinarily stable and fully dedicated to a representative government. 

Despite long-running claims of corruption in the voting process, Kenya has conducted numerous elections that were deemed free and fair by international watch groups. After Jomo Kenyatta, the country’s first president, died in ‘78, Daniel arap Moi took over power from his Vice President position. Moi led Kenya for many years, winning re-elections in ‘92 and ‘97, until constitutional term limits forbid him from running again. In ‘02, Mwai Kibaki was voted into office by a large margin over Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of Kenya’s first president. 

As a result of constitutional changes over the years, the current term of a Kenyan president is five years, with a maximum of a two term limit. The president is simply decided by the largest number of votes among all participants throughout the country, as Kenya has universal suffrage to all who are at least 18 years of age. Leading into the ‘07 election, it was looking as if Kibaki would struggle to find the majority vote needed to secure his second term in office. 

The Incumbent – Kibaki
Mwai Kibaki has been the president of Kenya since being freely and peacefully elected in 2002. Kibaki is now the leader of the Party of National Unity (PNU), which was just formed in September as a coalition of many long-standing Kenyan political parties, including the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) – the party that Kibaki was originally with when first being elected president. After taking power in ’02, Kibaki pledged a platform for NARC to improve education, generate economic growth, rewrite the Kenyan constitution, and battle the deep-rooted corruption that has been the catalyst for numerous problems throughout Kenya. 

For the most part, Kibaki has lived up to his side of the bargain over the past five years.  Kenyans have seen great advancements in their educational system, as primary education is now free throughout the entire nation. By next year, the government will also be paying the tuition for all secondary education as well. 

Kibaki’s administration has also been making great economic strides for Kenya. This is clearly evident with Kenya’s annual economic growth rate of nearly 5% since Kibaki took office. The people of Kenya now enjoy a great amount of freedoms that they did not have before; including personal freedoms of speech, as well as press and media freedoms. 

However, the administration has failed at its attempts to update the constitution and, most importantly, Kibaki has done very little to rein in the rampant corruption at many levels of government throughout the country. Despite his progress in other areas, Kibaki’s inability to crack down on this corruption was a primary concern of the Kenyan people leading up to this latest election. The environment was ripe for an anti-corruption candidate to oppose the re-election of President Kibaki. 

The Challenger – Odinga
In September, Raila Odinga won the presidential nomination for the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) – the leading opposition party to Kibaki’s PNU. Odinga has had a long political career in Kenya, which includes many years of opposition to the government before rising to an official position within it. 

Odinga has spent a great deal of time in jail as a political prisoner, as he was accused of many crimes including being involved in an assassination plot against President Moi in ’82 and being involved with the Kenya Revolutionary Movement (KRM) in ’88, which was a movement to change Kenya’s one-party political structure to a multi-party representation. Odinga was a prisoner from ‘82 to ‘88, ‘88 to ‘89, and ’90 to ’91. 

Since ‘92, Odinga has served as a Member of Parliament and has held various influential positions, including Minister of Energy and Minister of Roads, Public Works and Housing. His most recent fallout with the Kibaki administration began in ‘05 when the government-backed constitutional committee tried to put through a referendum to strengthen the powers of the presidency, all while weakening the power of local governments. Odinga stepped in as a strong opponent against the move and ultimately led politicians to a successful “no” vote on the constitutional referendum. 

The orange symbol for the “no” vote was the foundation for the beginnings of the ODM, which provided the framework for Odinga’s presidential run to begin on a platform of ending corruption. Despite assassination threats, Odinga announced his candidacy in June to tens of thousands of his supporters, only to step up the campaign in October in front of a record-setting estimated half-million person crowd in Nairobi. It clearly looked as if the Kenyan people were motivated for a change. 

The (Rigged) Election
Coming off of the previous 2002 election in Kenya, which was internationally accepted as a free and fair contest, there was a great amount of optimism leading into this latest 2007 election. The African democratic republic looked to be taking the next step towards solidifying their position as a political model and leader for other nations in the region.   

Early opinion polls showed Odinga with a considerable eleven point lead on Kibaki in October, but later polls showed the lead shrink to three points in November, and it was a dead heat going into the election. In an amazing turnout on December 27th, roughly 14 million citizens freely casted their votes for the next president of Kenya and then eagerly waited to hear the results in the coming days. That is when everything went wrong. 

The early voting returns reported that the challenger, Raila Odinga, had a favorable lead over President Mwai Kibaki – and it looked as if Kenya would have a new president. The foundations of a true democracy provide a framework for just this type of political movement – an incumbent leader being peacefully replaced by a free and fair vote from the people. 

However, days into the vote-counting process, Kibaki miraculously closed the gap on Odinga and ultimately surpassed him. When the official final election results were announced this past Sunday, the election commission reported that President Kibaki was the winner by a slim margin of only 2% – roughly just 230,000 votes. Kibaki was once again sworn into office and the calls of fraud came immediately. 

Many independent election monitors have sounded the alarms about widespread vote-rigging and strongly disagree with the results reported by the Kenyan national government. International election observers from both Europe and the United States are questioning the results from many precincts that reported turnout results of up to 99% – far above what could be considered reasonably accurate. 

Additionally, European Union (EU) observers reported great disparities between the voting totals announced by local districts and the totals that the government officially reported. In one district, Kibaki’s vote total allegedly grew from roughly 50,000 votes, as reported by the local precinct, to 75,000 votes when the Kenyan government released their figures. 

The Bloody Aftermath
Sunday’s announcement of the election results setoff a violent reaction by the Kenyan people, which has yet to end. Most of the violence has been divided by tribal affiliations, as the Luos, who support the opposition candidate Odinga, have been primarily responsible for most of the initial violence directed at the Kikuyus, who belong to the same ethnic group as President Kibaki.   

Thousands of Odinga supporters took to the streets at daybreak in protest against corruption in the electoral system. Most of the violence has been centered around Kisumu, a stronghold of Odinga, and the Kibera slums of Nairobi, the nation’s capital. Riots began as streets were blocked, while buildings, stores, and cars were set on fire. The police banned protestors from holding a mock inauguration ceremony for Odinga and there were reports that they fired upon the crowd. 

Throughout the week, it only got worse. Odinga supporters set fire to a church that was protecting over 200 Kikuyus, of which, 50 people were burned to death. As the violence continued, the bodies of famous Kenyans began turning up; including the riot-related death of Lucas Sang, an Olympic athlete, as well as the hacking to death of G.G. Njuguna Ngengi, a well-known politician. 

The numbers vary depending on the source, but the BBC has reported mass casualties, including over 300 deaths and over 180,000 people displaced. Although government-backed armed policemen and soldiers are using deadly force under the excuse of law and order, it is clear who they are shooting at. 

At the same time, machete wielding supporters of each candidate have been attacking each other, leaving piles of dead bodies in the streets. New video clips of these horrible killings from both sides of this crisis are now being released and aired regularly in international news coverage – finally bringing some much needed attention to this horrible disaster. 

The Future of a Young Democracy in Trouble
While Kibaki’s government is making claims that Odinga’s supporters are “engaging in ethnic cleansing,” Odinga has fired back with accusations that Kibaki’s administration is “guilty, directly, of genocide.” It is clear that a compromise at this point will be extremely difficult to achieve and the future of Kenya – and indirectly, the future of democracy in Africa – now sits in the balance. 

On Wednesday, South African Nobel Peace Prize recipient Desmond Tutu arrived in Kenya in an effort to reach out to Kibaki and Odinga with the hope to get both sides to talk and put an end to the violence. Although Tutu has met with each leader, Kibaki says he will not open a dialogue until the violence stops and Odinga says he will not negotiate until Kibaki steps down.

Odinga’s supporters organized a mass rally that was to take place on Thursday in Nairobi. Millions of people were expected to come and show their support, while Odinga was expected to declare himself the “people’s President.” However, the government intervened with military and police firing tear gas and warning shots to prevent the rally from taking place. Odinga’s supporters have rescheduled the rally for Tuesday, January 8th.

And now, one of Kibaki’s own, Attorney General Amos Wako has stated that an independent body needs to properly tally the votes, but added that only the constitutional court could nullify Kibaki’s presidency. In the wake of the continued violence, Wako called for a recount and full investigation on Friday, after stating that the Kenyan situation was “quickly degenerating into a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions.”

While the violence continues and the death toll rises, this has become an international crisis that needs international attention. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana have issued a call for a coalition government and urged Kibaki and Odinga to sit down for negotiations. Nevertheless, Kenyan government officials stated that while they are open to the opportunity of a dialogue, they do not see any need for outside mediators or peacekeepers. 

The future of a democratic Kenya is in jeopardy and there is a great deal on the line. As one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most promising young representative democratic nations, it is vital that an accurate and independent review of the Kenyan election results is conducted or, if necessary, a re-vote should be scheduled. 

Either way, the voices of the people of Kenya must be freely heard for the sake of the country and the region. Let us all hope that a fair resolution can be found and that the carnage on the streets of Kenya can be brought to an end quickly.

- Rapáil Eamon

“We don’t talk about the girls and the bling bling,” says Abdoulaye Aw, the founder of Propagand’Arts, a firm that introduces African artists to the American hip hop industry. “We use our music to educate the people and talk about the real issues.”

The artists say that their desire to educate is what sets Senegalese hip hop apart from its American counterpart. The musicians have a preference for substance over entertainment value.

“We are more focused on giving people information,” says Moussa Sall, a Senegalese rap artist who now lives in Washington D.C. “[In America] it’s all about clubbing and just doing party songs, but we are focused on the message.”

The message is that the country has not been doing so well under the current leadership of President Abdoulaye Wade, and that Senegal is in desperate need of a change.

“The hip hop movement is educating the people on the fact that we need to take this guy out!” says Aw. “The guy we put in power doesn’t really care about the people. He is there for his family and for himself. He is not really ruling the country right now.”

Abdulaye Wade is only the third president of Senegal. First elected in 2000, he won re-election in March of 2007, much to the dismay of many members of the hip-hop community.

Despite the ratification of a new constitution in 2001, and economic reforms that have resulted in a 5percent increase in GDP every year, the country is still highly dependent on outside donor support, and Wade has not been able to fight the high unemployment that ravages the country.

According to a 2001 estimate in the CIA World Fact Book, Senegal had an unemployment rate of 48 percent, with 40 percent being urban youth. A 2004 profile by the Institute for Security Studies, places the unemployment rate in Senegal’s urban sector at 23 percent. And 54 percent of the country’s population lives below the poverty line.

Many citizens choose to flee Senegal and immigrate to Europe or America in search of more job opportunities.

“It’s hard down there in [Senegal],” says Moussa Sall. “We don’t have many opportunities. They are pushing us to leave our country and go somewhere else.”

For the Senegalese, rhyming on the microphone over a hot beat is the only way to push back.

“It’s increasingly obvious that [hip hop] is an important political tool there,” says Magee McIlvaine, the co-director and co-producer of the independent documentary film, “Africa Underground: Democracy in Dakar.” McIlvane adds, “In Senegalese mainstream hip hop, the people appreciate positivity and political consciousness.”

The film, which won honors at the Bronx film festival and the Vibe Magazine Urban World Film Festival, documents the period up to and just after the recent 2007 election. It was that election that the hip hop community hoped would bring about change.

“When we got there for the 2007 elections, there was a lot of tension,” McIlvaine says. “We decided to go in and film the elections from the rapper’s perspective.”

2007 wasn’t the first time that rap would have had an effect on the outcome of a political election.

Ben Herson, the founder and director of Nomadic Wax, a record label that seeks to bring more west African hip hop to the American market, says that in 2000, rap music was a key factor in motivating the regime change. As a result, current president Abdoulye Wade took the place of former president Abdou Diouf.

“In 2000, it’s like hip hop really changed the power.” Says Sall. “We were telling the people what they need to know about politics.”

Senegalese artists were first inspired by the politically conscious American hip-hop of the 1980′s.

“The first real hip hop artist that inspired them to do anything was Chuck D., with ‘Fight the Power’,” McIlvaine says. “It had a political consciousness that really appealed to the way Senegalese people were living.”

The art form may have taken such a strong hold in Senegal because in some form, it existed in Africa before it was discovered in America.

“Senegal has a lot of cultural and musical traditions that are very similar to hip hop,” Herson says. “The traditions go back 5000 years. They just evolved and continued. But more importantly, it’s a medium that is a separate social space that the youth can latch onto and convey their own struggles.”

In fact, youth makes up a large part the Senegalese populace. 70% of the population is under 30 years of age. The average age is only 18.7 years, compared to the U.S., where the average age is 36.6 years.

“It just comes naturally as a way to reach the young people,” Moussa Sall says. “In Senegal, we listen to more hip hop than any other music.

Since gaining its independence from France in 1960, Senegal has been one of the few African countries that has not had a coupe d’etat. But so far, the Senegalese democracy has been unable to produce a leader that can solve the country’s problems.

Under the increased threat of political upheaval, the current regime has kept a tight grip on the rights given to its people by the new constitution.

“I know that some people were exiled,” Aw says. “I know a few people died as well. The climate is not like it used to be, a lot of people are wondering what’s going to happen.”

According to Aw, the government uses violence, exile, and the threat of tax increases to deter young Senegalese artists from speaking out against the regime.

But in the eyes of many that are involved with the Senegalese hip-hop industry, the need to speak out against corruption in government has never been stronger.

“Hip-hop is a form of Fighting,” Aw says. “It came from the ghetto and it gave young African Americas a way to raise their voice. It’s the same in Africa.”

The next step is to bring their fight to the world stage.

“It’s time for Senegalese hip hop to extend itself,” Sall explains. “We need to focus on it, and push it more for people to really listen to what we have to say.”

“I think Senegalese hip hop is going to become more popular,” Abdoulye says, “We are going to get more and more artists holding the government accountable.”

Source:
Black College Wire

Sixty percent of our population is under 18,” said rapper Didier Awadi. “So as a rap artist this is my target, all these boys under 18.”

Well known rappers and singers joined together to create the album, which carries messages about condoms, and how to protect yourself from the deadly disease, which has hit Africa especially hard.

Dakar is an AIDS success story of sorts, with the rate of new infections dropping to only 1 percent.

Source:
KCBS

Watching Jal’s performance on stage, it is hard to imagine his life as a child soldier in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army.

“Left home, don’t even know the day I will ever return. My country is war-torn. The music I used to hear were bombs and fire of guns. So many people die (and) I don’t even cry no more,” said Jal.

Having swapped an assault rifle for a microphone, he now uses the stage to seek help for his troubled country. Among those who came to hear Jal perform in Washington, DC were activists concerned about the Sudanese region of Darfur, including Meghan Ragany.

“When people can see someone like Emmanuel Jal, who’s an amazing person and has gone through all of this, it’s just a really powerful way to get the message across,” said Ragany, a university student.

It’s a testament to Jal’s star power that he was introduced at Georgetown University by the US government’s special envoy for Sudan, Andrew Natsios.

“To have a Sudanese, who’s also a famous person – a legendary figure in the pop world – to speak about these issues, I think is very important to educate the American people and the rest of the world about what the true reality is in Sudan. Because unless we do that, we are not going to solve the problem,” said Natsios, US Special Envoy for Sudan.

Jal does not sugar-coat that reality, talking openly about combat and the horrors of his escape through the bush.

“I was sleeping next to a friend of mine and he died that night. And I said, okay fine, I am going to eat you tomorrow my friend because I have nothing to eat. So, the whole night I was battling because I was saying, it’s okay, if there’s nothing to eat, then I will eat him,” said Jal.

Jal said he never actually resorted to cannibalism, though others did. He clearly sees reliving the painful past as a duty.

“There are a lot of young children who were my age who have gone through (a) tough life, worse than my situation, but they have no chance to be heard. And the only thing I can do is sacrifice my pride… and talk about the story to represent them,” said Jal.

A new documentary by 18th Street Films tells that story. There is also a music album in the works. Jal uses his high profile to promote Gua Africa – a charity he founded. He also campaigns for peace in his native Sudan.

“The higher you go, the bigger the responsibility, the more the pressure and the higher the demand for people to expect you to do things,” said Jal.

He said he hopes that his music will motivate a young and international audience with the energy and passion to make a difference.

Source:
Channel NewsAsia

The documentary, due to be released by Christmas, focuses on the role of the youth hip-hop movement in the Senegalese elections of 2000 and 2007.

During the 2000 elections, the western-influenced, politically driven music became the voice for a young, frustrated population and, according to the film’s producers, the driving force behind the country’s first party shift since its democratic beginnings 40 years earlier. The hip-hop movement was such an influence that one of the first tasks the new president, Abdoulaye Wade, completed in office was publicly thanking the youth hip-hop movement for its support and his success.

The surge of youth activism in the 2000 elections was caused by the reduction of the minimum voting age from 21 to 18, high levels of unemployment, and poor education in a nation where the majority of citizens are below 25, according to the film’s director, Magee Mcllvaine.

“It was the closest the country could have come to massive rebellion, but it was carried out peacefully,” said Mcllvaine.

Within a few years, however, the success of the 2000 elections was shadowed by disappointment in the new president’s inability to reform the policies and conditions that led to the political activism in 2000.

Today, nearly one quarter of the population still lives on less than $1 a day, the average adult literacy rate is under 40 percent, and the enrollment rate for primary, secondary, and tertiary school is just 38 percent, according to the United Nations.

And to make matters worse, in addition to failing in his development promises, the new president began to restrict free speech to the point of threatening and jailing political opponents and journalists.

Even the rappers who helped put Wade into power received threats to their families and were denied airtime, the film explains.

The rappers who were once the voice of the people of Senegal are now limited to two options, according to Mcllvaine. “The government will completely fund you if you support the government. But if you don’t, you’re banned from TV and radio, and you can’t make a living.”

And government censorship is not limited to music. Dissenting journalists are often threatened, arrested, or even jailed, explained Ben Herson, the film’s producer, describing a recent police attack on a Senegalese newspaper editor.

The hardships of the Senegalese people have become most evident in the large number of emigrants to Europe and the United States, many of whom face death at sea. Many of those who do survive the long trips in tiny boats are turned back when they reach shore.

Wade’s administration has not been all bad, though. His business-friendly approach to government has led to a surge in infrastructure, a large amount of private, foreign investment, and “the kind of industry that Senegal has never seen,” according to Herson.

The combination of economic hardships and the crackdown on free speech led to a dramatically different election in 2007. The rappers who once spoke for a nation were silenced by a corrupt government. The nation that thrived on political energy seven years earlier elected the unpopular Wade for a second term in 2007 out of fear of the other candidates.

At first the election raised widespread concerns of corruption, but soon people began to realize that Wade had won a second term fairly.

“Nobody trusted any of these politicians. At least with Wade people knew what they were getting,” said Mcllvaine.

As Wade continues his second term, many Senegalese have become tired of politics. “Nobody wants anything to do with politics in Senegal,” said Mcllvaine. “They’ve lost all faith in democracy.” This in the country that was once seen as a model for democracy in West Africa.

As for the future of hip-hop in Senegal, many rappers have moved to other countries, though some have stayed in Senegal despite the pressures from the government. Many of the rappers who were once at the forefront of a political movement have now turned to an international audience.

“They’re beginning to realize that the world is actually interested in what they have to say,” said Herson.

“Hip-hop is not dead in Africa,” said one of the film’s stars and Senegalese rapper Abdoulaye Aw. “Hip-hop is a fight in Africa.”

Source:
OneWorld.net