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Hausa Rap and Hip Hop Music

Started by Abdalla, October 16, 2006, 01:10:46 AM

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dan kauye

I didn't read the bulk of what was  being posted in here,nonetheless I'd like to add my 2 cents ..


I understand that the contemporary Hausa music scene is trying to incorporate eclectic sounds & sampling to make for the enrichment of the Art,which,by the way I thought  is a great notion.However,the idea of ''hausa hip hop/rap''  just doesn't appeal to me.Why? 1. Rap music,unlike other genres of music is NOT  just another art medium:It's the manifestation of a kind of evolution of the African American youth.It evolved as the only  medium for the Black youth to get heard and I'm not refering to the ''f***k you b***tch '' or ''n*gga this n*gga that '' kind of  rap.I'm refering to the Lauryn Hill,Common,Talib Kweli,Mos Def,Nas etc kind of rap.The type of hip-hop that carries a social,political substance & still retain it's fun.In essence,I don't see how one can hop on a horse with little understanding of leash-handling & then expect to make a superb ride,if that makes any sense.  It's like swagger-jacking something which one has very little understanding of ..and doing it in a mediocre,tacky fashion!


What makes a great music is :great lyrics,original sound,versatility,the passion/soul with which ones sings/raps,swagger,uniqueness.I dont know if my standards are preposteriously high or that my ears are bad but I don't hear any of the aformentioned in the contemporary hausa songs.I mean like,can't we do better than ''ruwan zuma a cikin zuciya'' bla bla bla??? C'mon..

If  the Hausa rappers/singers are trying to appeal to ONLY female teenage audience ,then I'd say they are on thier way to success..As for Dan-Kauye? Give me Shata,Dan Kwairo,Dan Maraya etc anyday..

That said,keep doing ya thing people...kudos for effort! :wink:
Dan-Kauye's Artist Of The Week;Robin Thicke

Abdalla

Thank you Dan Kauye for your rich and lucid comments. You are perfectly right in your perception of the evolution of rap as a social phenomenon rooted among young, disenfranchised urban African Americans. And as you correctly pointed out, there are many variants of rap -- from the standard, to aggressively sexualised and to gansta rap. At the base core of rap, though, is the poetic matrix that carries with it lyrical power of verbal expression.

And that is PRECISELY what is happening with Hausa rap. The genre itself has leapt from its New York and Los Angeles environment to other climes across the world -- performing the SAME function of social messaging. From the UK to France, Germany, Sweden, Italy and even Russia, rap has emerged as a lyrical soapbox where the malcontents of youth are dischraged. Even "conservative" climes acknowledge the vehicular power of rap -- Lebanon, Iran, Malaysia, etc. In Burma rap was banned, and an underground rap movement was created and shifted to the Internet.

At first it looks odd that rap -- a Black voice medium -- finds a ready niche in a White world. And hence lies its power -- a medium of expression regardless of color.

Now to Kano. In the city alone I know of about 8 rap groups. It is very easy to dismiss them as copycats -- DIY clones of DMX, Jay-Z, etc. But LISTEN to their lyrics, and you can appreciate what Grand Master Flash was all about those centuries when Sugar Hll Gang started out in NY. The Kano rappers -- just like their brethren in Niger Republic -- are inceasingly getting adept at using their poetic license in communicating about social issues. I wish you could listen to Kano Ryders's BAN CIN KWANTAN TSIRE -- a sharp indictment of the disparities in social wealth distribution among urbanites. Absolutely brilliant. And real Old Skool (and I am mired to the East Coast sound!). These kids do not sing to appeal to squealing girls -- they sing to communicate to fellow youngters about the disparities of life; or if it gets too much, make light hearted comments about life in general (DO download Billy Tibani from our Dandali site and give it a go to see what I mean).

Your observation about the love themes of Hausa modern music are perfectly valid. However, I want to point out that there are FOUR types of Hausa modern music.

1. Hausa Soundtrack Music. This is pioneered by Alee Baba Yakasai and his Yamaha PSR series of soft synthesizer. It is the sound you hear in ANY Hausa video film, usually with either Sadi Sidi Sharifai, Mudassir Kassim, or Nura Yakub and Sani Danja on vocals. This is the one you are referrng to about zuma etc. Its motif is fundamentally a love story.

2. Hausa GLOCAL music. Pioneered by Sadi Sidi Sharifai. This relies on Alee Baba's synthesizer to APPROPRIATE music from other national or transnational sources and reproduce them with Hausa lyrics, often with a gambara-like intention. For intance:

Jalof, jalof
Jalof sai da rice


to the tune of

Get up, stand up
Stand up for your rights


(try singing it and you get the picture -- go on, try, no one is listening!!!)

Sadi has done such "treatment" to over 30 songs (which cost me lots of time and money to collect for documentation).

3. Hausa Techno. This is a straightfoward Hausa vocals with a computer music background, usually FruityLoops or Cakewalk Pro. A strong proponent of this is Abdullahi Mighty in Kano, while in Kaduna it is Soultan Abdul. Check out TAKA and AMARYA DA ANGO. And a female entrant, Menne 710.

4. Hausa Rap. Rap as rap is. With the swagger, the chains, the gestures, the fake Nikes and trainers and the attitude. In Hausa language. IN perfect rhymth to a drumbeat (churned by FruityLoops or most commonly, Cakewalk Pro). Exponents are Billy-O, Kano Ryders, K-Boys, Shaba, Nani Yakasai and a host of others.

So as you can see it is not a monolithic mass -- but subtly differentiated. Give it a go and see what you can really think about it.

Shata, Dakwairo, Dan Anace are excellent repertoires of Hausa TRADITIONAL music. I love them. But then I am extremely eclectic, going into World Music while Peter Gabriel was still wearing foxhead customes  on stage in Japan and warbling about Lambs laying on broadway.

Arrival of modern music does not eclipse the existence of traditional music -- note how many different genres keep coming up. In London the Royal Albert Hall can play host to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra one night, and the next it is Snap! dishing out Madman Returns! That is why we call our concert (Saturday 28th October) Kukuma Rap -- to keep alive the beauty of kukuma instrument, and at the same time take it to a New World platform. Come along and be part of of the joy of life!

Abdalla

HUSNAA

You know Prof, nothing impresses me as to find a person with a depth of knowledge on any topic, no matter how light or weighty. You have tickled my interest in Hausa contemporary musicians and the technicalities of their art, which most of us are apt to readily dismiss bcos of some misconceived prejudgements. I think u really ought to organize a seminar also apart from the night of entertainment that u have planned for all and sundry. It should be interesting.
Ghafurallahi lana wa lakum

dan kauye

@ Abdallah..

Ah-kay,I see.I'm somewhat convinced,perhaps I've been way too presumptious.I'll definately give you the benefit of the doubt & throw in some songs in the mix..I'll get back to you after a listen.Thanx.
Dan-Kauye's Artist Of The Week;Robin Thicke

Muhsin

Have you attended the event? I hope you do if not you really missed a lot.
Get to know [and remember] Allah in prosperity & He will know  [and remember] you in adversity.

HUSNAA

Muhsin, Dan kauye lives in the United states of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld ( :lol: ) somewhere between kauyen kauye and kauyen kayayau (from cheatin' steven's billboard, i'm guessing its NYC). So unless his pockets are very deep or bottomless like billy the microsoft kid, i think a little night's entertainment at the BC in kano will be at the bottom of his to do list on that day :D  :D.
Ghafurallahi lana wa lakum

Muhsin

Quote from: "HUSNAA"Muhsin, Dan kauye lives in the United states of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld ( :lol: ) somewhere between kauyen kauye and kauyen kayayau (from cheatin' steven's billboard, i'm guessing its NYC). So unless his pockets are very deep or bottomless like billy the microsoft kid, i think a little night's entertainment at the BC in kano will be at the bottom of his to do list on that day :D  :D.

Teasing uh? I don't have to say a word since he'll read you. Fadan da babu ruwanka...........right? :roll:
Get to know [and remember] Allah in prosperity & He will know  [and remember] you in adversity.

HUSNAA

Ghafurallahi lana wa lakum

sdanyaro

HUSNAA how did you know that dan kauye lives in the United States?

dan kauye

Uh-huh Husnaa ..How did you know that Dee-Kay lives in the states  when his location reveals else where?????? Get to explaining..lol..
Dan-Kauye's Artist Of The Week;Robin Thicke

HUSNAA

Quote from: "sdanyaro"HUSNAA how did you know that dan kauye lives in the United States?

Lol by reading his posts on the forum of course....... :)

Quote from: "dan kauye"Uh-huh Husnaa ..How did you know that Dee-Kay lives in the states when his location reveals else where?????? Get to explaining..lol..

Yr location reveals nowhere,  but some of yr write ups plaster it all over the screen :lol:  :lol: . You and admin have doubly confirmed it. Admin by being curious and u by not outrightly denying it, and both of you by phrasing the que as 'how DID  u know?', instead of 'how DO u know?' :P  :lol:  :lol:
BTW do u live in NYC? at least that's the trickiest part to deduce.
Ghafurallahi lana wa lakum

Fateez



Hehe, Good Observations Husnaa, but me i know where

dan kauye lives and its definitely not in da USA.... :wink:  :wink:




"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect."    ~ Mark Twain


HUSNAA

Thanks for that info Fateez. Hmm.... I'm not the Sherlock Holmes I think I am then hehehehehe!!! :wink:
Ghafurallahi lana wa lakum

Muhsin

Quote from: "Fateez"

Hehe, Good Observations Husnaa, but me i know where

dan kauye lives and its definitely not in da USA.... :wink:  :wink:


Fateez tell us. Or you are afraid of him? :roll:
Koba hakaba Husna?
Get to know [and remember] Allah in prosperity & He will know  [and remember] you in adversity.

HUSNAA

No Ba haka ba, Muhsin. That is confidential information. If u want to know where dan kauye lives, he has to tell himself, not Fateez even if she knows.
Ghafurallahi lana wa lakum