With Hip Hop Drawing Roots From West Africa & Jamaica, Global MC’s Don’t Need US Acceptance
An opinion piece on ignorance concerning global participation within Hip Hop culture
By Orion Anakaris
Before I get into this, please watch the Estelle Interview on VladTV and read at least part of the comments section.
Traditional West African Kingdoms had highly trained storytellers “Griots”(pronounced Gree-ohs) that would recount tales of local heroics and adventures around camp fires to subjects. This was acknowleged as an oral art; arguably the very first appearance of rap (rap being one of the elements of Hip Hop culture). Griots were very skilled orators (MC’s) trained to memorize and recite large amounts of information concerning family tree’s, historical events etc. through rhythm and repetition.
Fast forward to several decades ago, innovation on the Griot’s art by way of Jamaican toasting (e.g. U-Roy and Count Matchuki) lead to further development of the rap element. I can continue to cite as much history as possible but I feel Its information that can be googled and read up on at anytime. If you want to know more about MC’s from my own city that I consider skilled in the artform, feel free to read here. I can’t force anyone to accept accents or dialects but I can inform people that seek to know.
In the VladTV interview, Estelle talks about having practically quit rapping when she moved to the States. For those unaware, In the UK, she was originally known (enjoyed chart success) for her rapping and started doing more singing as her career moved towards mainstream trajectory. On her settling in the US, she sought to discard her rapping due to reactions from new peers and a new target market. Her rapping in an English accent (with West London dialect) was considered discomforting to this new audience. She sought acceptance through authenticity and she feels she was not given It.
Slick Rick and his 3 in 1 (New Yorkian, Jamaican and English) rap accent are also brought into the discussion to make a case for UK rappers that enjoyed transatlantic success. Having spent much of their earlier years in the UK, It could be argued that MC’s like Slick Rick and Monie Love would not have been accepted had they not rapped in dialects and accents that were “comforting”.
Current US Billboard Single Chart topper, Iggy Azealea would not have had as much success rapping in the same tongue in which she speaks in. New Jersey MC, Rah Digga highlighted this in an interview some months back and received heavy backlash from Iggy supporters. If the wider US market refused to accept/support her, she simply would not be able to generate income or acclaim off rap. The voices against her caricature of a Dirty South rapper can be considered as a minority as they don’t have the ability to stop her from selling units.
I do not believe MC’s foreign to the US need the US’ acceptance (or validation of their authentic accents and dialects in rap) because the entire US population is not one person or one hive mind. The ignorant views of Youtube commenters should not reflect a whole countries perception of an ideal.
With Hip Hop being founded upon authenticity, the idea that an MC foreign to the United States should have to portray anything less than that is ridiculous. The “tea and crumpet” and “England isnt hard” stereotypes placed on rappers from here has no true harm, but the neglect of history that points to an oral artform passed down from other foreign lands is harmful. Neglect of Jamaican culture, DJ Kool Herc brought to the United States is harmful.
Without the West African and Jamaican blueprints, advancements of elements like rap and DJ’ing within Hip Hop culture would cease to exist. In light of that, foreign MC’s shouldn’t be seeking acceptance, instead Its for the wider US audience to acknowledge and respect heritage. This heritage allows for people other than themselves to participate in the culture as long as they are true to themselves.
