instead of looking at self and being proud regardless they are needing things like the music to do so cos ‘now its cool’ and its something to be proud of…like ‘that’s me I’ve contributed to something’
as much as that is good it’s a par cos your not looking at yourself…your looking at yourself through something – you get me?
so like our accents used to be a joke ting especially to ourselves…but stuff like ‘Congo Jam’ now make it ok
I’m not inculding myself in any of this. I love me and my people standard
Thanks Tactics, that was really interesting to read, and a good attitude to have on your part.
I find this difficult to comment on, because (a) from up here I can't really observe the scene evolving on a first-hand basis, so I can't be 100% certain about the people involved, in terms of producers, audience, promoters etc. I just have to go on what I hear through sites like this, and (b) as stated before, I am very far from an expert on modern African music. So there's a great risk of me talking out of my arse here, but:
It does seem to me that the Afro influence in funky often has less to do with specific current styles of African pop/house/techno etc, and more to do with a generic idea of 'African-sounding' music that has sort of built up in people's imaginations over a long time. (And I would include in this some tracks that I really love, like Inflation and African Warrior, so I'm not dissing it on a musical level, but culturally it's prob not the best way forward). So if people from the African diaspora over here are identifying with it and getting kudos out of it, then I think you're right to say that they're associating themselves with a distant, maybe cliched idea of Africa that they can't own themselves and maybe can't really contribute to. (This is one of the reasons I'm glad that the Soca thing is an equally if not more important factor at play, because there we have a very specific cultural exchange going on).
What I would like to see is funky draw more on specific, contemporary African sounds. Not only would this be musically really interesting, but it would provide a way for Africans and people of African descent to enter the scene as producers etc, drawing on music they know closely and that is a genuine cultural expression of their current experience. Again, for all I know in my position of relative ignorance, this could already be happening. I think Kwaito could be a style that integrates well with funky, as it has already evolved to be quite housey in its indigenous form.
Once again, I should say that these are all very tentative thoughts on my part.
