Negotiating Globalization through Hybridization: Hip Hop, Language Use and the Creation of Cross-Over Culture in Nigerian Popular Music.
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Date
2014-06-01
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Language in India
Abstract
The process of globalization has been of a tremendous impact on African societies
while the status-quo of expressive cultures have obviously not remained the same due
to this factor with popular music gradually becoming homogenized to fit into the
western stereotypes. The Nigerian popular music has been greatly influenced by the
dictates and progression in the international scene due to global communication and
cultural flows as exemplified by the popularity and proliferation of hip hop culture
among the youths from the 1990s. It is quite evident that English is more or less the
official language of popular music while the glorification and promotion of foreign
music styles especially hip hop and its cultural expressions is almost making the local
music practices less fashionable. This paper explores the Nigerian popular music
practice through the current mainstream hip hop and identifies how its practitioners
have successfully formulated a sub-genre dubbed 'Afro hip hop' through hybridization
whereby African identity is portrayed and maintained by asserting linguistic
independence with the use of Nigerian languages as medium of delivery through codeswitching. This is also followed by appropriating indigenous popular music style
especially fújì and highlife to create a fusion that appeals to home-grown sensibilities
while still subscribing to the global hip hop community. This paper reveals the
effectiveness of 'Afro hip hop' as hybrid music and how it is being used as a strategy
of resistance towards seemingly popular music homogenization brought about by
globalization.
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Keywords
Hybridization, Negotiating Globalization, Hip Hop, Language Use, Creation of Cross-Over Culture, Nigerian Popular Music
Citation
Adedeji, W. (2014). Negotiating Globalization through Hybridization: Hip Hop, Language Use and the Creation of Cross-Over Culture in Nigerian Popular Music. Language in India, 14(6).