Is the popularisation and growing consumption of hip hop causing moral panic in Kenya?
By George Nyabuga The globalisation and popularisation of ‘Western’, particularly American music, film and other texts have caused significant consternation among African moralists, and ‘right thinking’ members of society. Although these ‘moralists’ and ‘right thinking’ members of the African society are themselves consumers of Western, and American texts, hip hop music is considered corrosive to “African ways of life”, and especially a threat to African morals because of its apparent influence on youth culture. The southward flow and subsequent (over) consumption of films, music, and information products have caused what moralist would term cultural imperialism, eroding the fabric that holds the African society together. This erosion is manifested in living, dressing, walking, talking styles, and behaviour some consider foreign and unAfrican. The rising popularity of hip hop in Kenya, and the production and consumption of local versions of this music genre have effectively ‘colonised’
