Djoloff: Senegalese rappers in France

Let’s all get together and speak about the motherland It’s easy to forget. When the signs before your eyes flash dollar discounts, and the wonders your heart aches for are the latest technologies bragged about by glimmity glammity MCs. That ten years ago our consciousness was imprinted with an outline, worn round necks, proudly bouncing off chests and breasts in black leather or occasionally gold. A long lozenge, with a thick bulge on the left handside and a smaller thumblike jutting protrusion in the top right hand corner. The outline...Africa...the fashion for pendants reflecting a tendency to mention that continent, the father and mother of Hip Hop, in most things Hip Hop. Then came the gun toters to chase away the thinkers and we forgot. Now it’s back in fashion. Dead Prez have a few folks thinking. Chuck D is as vocal as ever. Mostly about the internet, but there’s a strong subplot in that it links the wholeworld, not just the U.S with us. That means Africa of course, and what do we really know about how the second greatest twentieth century cultural form of African America (Nelson George ranks Jazz as more significant, after consideration I defer to his verdict) is accepted in Africa itself? How African is Hip Hop in the UK? Artists like Taipanic, DJ Kofi and Sir Prestige are African, yet how many people know that? Does anyone care? And how do the experiences of Africans outside Africa differ within Europe, specifically relating to Hip Hop? How tough is it to emigrate to Africa if born here?, Old school London DJ Paul Steer has recently done just that, but DJ Pete Adarkwah of BBE maintains the transport and utility infrastructures in Ghana would hamper his business efforts compared to London. After gathering for a colourful and uplifting concert by Djoloff at the Institut Francais in South Kensington, we initiated a discussion to find out more: QUARTZ: Thank you everyone for taking part, please introduce yourselves and what you represent. TY: I’m a UK Hip Hop MC, a Nigerian, [LP out later this year on Big Dada], one of the first people to represent from this country and say I was African. Other artists came out but didn’t say that. I’m proud of it. MBEGANE: I’m Mbegane from Djoloff [French-Senegalese Hip Hop/Ragga crew, debut LP out summer 2000]. I’m here for opening my mind, to meet African Diaspora, to join our vision and experience of Africa. I hope we will build together a new civilisation, a big one, all around the world, with more humanity, more freedom, more justice, is our aim, the aim of our band. MOGHY: Hi, I’m Moghy, a/k/a Samoury Toure, represent Sankofa Squad [Based in London but all come via France, rap in English, French, Italian and various African languages, debut LP out late 2000], from the Diaspora, Sankofa means ‘back to the roots’, so that’s what I’m representing, my culture, from the Ivory Coast. SLY: I’m Sly, Sankofa’s manager. Our aim is to make black people be aware of the Diaspora around the world. Having said that, we try to bring African Hip Hop, to the culture which is already there. EST’ELLE: I’m representing UK Hip Hop like Ty, just a newcomer [debut single out summer 2000], doing my thing for UK females, also representing Senegal and Grenada. AUMAR: Aumar Abdel-Rahman, representing the group Djoloff. DOUDOU: I’m also from Djoloff, from Senegal. BAB: Bab from Sankofa, representing Congo. QUARTZ: I know Djoloff use traditional instruments in their music, such as the Kora, does anyone else use these or even sample them? SLY: We did use African drums, plus the Kora. We sample mostly African music. Ismael Lo, Salif Keita, Manu Dibango, using the Tamma (Senegalese Talking Drums). TY: We’ve used certain samples but it’s not the theme. The major instrument is the way I talk. People say "what’s that?". What it is, is pidgin English. EST’ELLE: Things that I listen to influence my rapping flow, i.e. Youssou N’Dour. Plus the way I sing or write. TY: I think it comes across in my physicality on stage, I use my hands a lot. MBEGANE: I don’t know if you know original African flows, like Tassou (what Busta Rhymes uses) or Tahora. If you hear the griots in Africa they’ve got an original style of flow. The way DMX flows, and some reggae DJ’s, you know where that comes from. TY: The staggered flow? Yeah, that’s what they [US rappers] would attribute to being a West Indian ragga influence, but it is further proof to show that what they do is an echo of what was before, and what they lost, but it’s come back in that form. I found that when I went to Nigeria, and I saw certain movements, the way people danced, I was like, "OK, so West Indian people think they created this one!". So in a way it’s like a lost diatribe in a sense, and it basically belongs to African people, but everyone’s African but they don’t really realise it, so they might label it West Indian or Reggae but it’s the same thing. EST’ELLE: That goes for Timbaland’s style and all of them cats as well. MBEGANE: Take the French group the Neg’Marrons, in a tune he says, "Save the griots, and go back to the mountain". So far, to take the roots, and these griots give to us. In slavery, this culture stays. I hope we can now complete the circle, go back to the roots for all the African Diaspora. History is a cycle, we’ve lost our way for five hundred years, but everywhere it is full of hope. A child of five years old will speak about the Diaspora, it’s amazing. SLY: Something is present so it will be developed. MBEGANE: We must develop this consciousness with conscience. TY: The problem I’m finding growing up as an African child here, is that black people we don’t love ourselves enough. When I say love I don’t mean sex, or ‘I love you my brother", but one of the main things I harp on about is this whole West Indian - African divide, it’s major. It’s like that to me is where the love aspect is missing. You know people are scared of the word African. When you say, "You are African", they’re like "I’m not African, I’m Jamaican!" MOGHY: In a way you can’t really blame the people, because of the maxim, "Divide to conquer", they did that for a long time to put confusion in our minds. I’ve been called, "F*cking African" by the Jamaicans. SLY: Oh, that’s common in England. MOGHY: Yeah, but I don’t give a sh*t, because I see it’s not their fault. They’ll tell you, "We’re West Indian, you’re African", but the truth is we are all from the same continent, Africa. QUARTZ: Do you think that there’s more of this type of friction in England than France, because in France there are people from Guadeloupe and Martinique in the West Indies, but largely the black people are from Africa? Whereas in England it’s more of a balance, more Caribbean ex colonies and a lot of African people. MBEGANE: We see the same problem in France. It’s just a consequence of African history. ‘Divide to conquer’ is the plan, and this plan continues. The first corruption for us is the colonial schools after the independence of African states. They don’t care to change the system. The same way of teaching as before, administrative colonialism. The only solution is to know that liberty is an individual thing. Take a conscience that is alienation under slavery, but don’t let anybody enter your head. It’s each individual’s fight. Nobody can do it for you. This is the way hip Hop must go, to make a big contribution to tell people to free your minds. I don’t know about the UK, but in France Hip Hop is controlled by the system. SLY: There is a difference between blacks in France and those in England. If you ask a black man in France "Who are you?", he’s gonna tell you where his parent’s are from. In England he’ll say, "I’m British", before telling you where his parent’s are from. In the UK there is a barrier. In France, he wants you to come to him, he sees you are black or mixed race so he tells you, "I’m Congolese or I’m Senegalese", so he sees you as a friend or a brother. TY: It’s a lot colder here. SLY: The system is different. The way French people ruled Africa was different to the British. QUARTZ: Do you feel that the French colonies tried to make people have more of a French identity? SLY: That’s right. In France they used to say, "You can’t become English, you’ve got to be born English, whereas you can become French and part of the French people." We now have the effects of this. QUARTZ: Do you think that the fact the black man in France will express where his parents are from is a reaction to that rule? SLY: Exactly. What we live in now is a repercussion of what our parents lived in. It’s difficult for a Jamaican to tell you he’s African. TY: Very difficult. What I notice is that when I speak to Jamaican people, they’ve told me that back home, in Jamaican schools, they’re told that African people sold them. They believe it so much that when they come here, they’re the second generation now, their children are told the same thing, so they believe themselves to be superior, more European, Jamaican, but not African. That’s what I was up against. I was born here, and my parents showed me you are Igbo, you have to be proud, you have to maintain Nigerian roots. I come from Brixton, soon as I went outside, you have to deal with the West Indian lifestyle, you have to talk, fight, behave in a certain way. A lot of African children get lost, because as soon as you come out your house you have to fit in to black British culture, which is more black West Indian British culture. But it is changing. QUARTZ: To me, the way a young black Londoner speaks, is heavily tinged by a Jamaican accent, or at least their interpretation of a Jamaican accent. SLY: In England, we call it a ‘Black British accent’, which is more influenced by the Jamaican way of talking [switches to mock Frank Bruno voice] "do ya know what I mean?" EST’ELLE: For me, I’ve got Jamaican friends but the people I move with mainly are African people, just because I know them, and circumstance, no prejudice, but for me I’m very proud, we’re out on road and we’re talking Creole. MOGHY: The Rastafarians will talk about Africa and African culture, but the younger generation... For me, it comes from home, from your parents. AUMAR: It’s changing, nowadays people think about the struggle, rather than the differences. MBEGANE: I hope it’s simply a generation problem. Our grandparents were told that they’re ancestors were Gauls! but this generation is disappearing. We have the Rastafarian movement, Bob Marley, comes with African vibes, Sizzla, Capleton, Anthony B. We must teach our fans the same. EST’ELLE: Hip Hop’s getting better. In America, they talk about being African American. Mos Def and KRS 1 are positive, and it’s coming round again. The generation now is hearing it. TY: When I talk to people here, we often compare to America. They’ve had four hundred years to build up to that scenario, we’ve had forty. My parents have been here how long? Your parents have been here how long? We’re the first generation. The hope is we recognise we’ve got to keep our African awareness in our hearts because they’re trying to pull it in a lot of ways and we realise that and its good. The problem that I have is that we and the Rastas are realising but the youth are not listening. They’re DMX, Jay Z that’s it! If DMX starts saying he’s African then they will. MBEGANE: Babylon made the rules of business, divide and conquer. Give a lot of promotion money for these artists without a positive message. Hip Hop is dangerous, a key of freedom, with nothing but a hand clap and a microphone we can do things. AUMAR: But if a kid listens to hip Hop at home, whatever happens it’s the artist’s obligation to educate, because Sizzla can do it. TY: The new Common Sense album. MOGHY: But check the difference between the promotion of Mos Def and DMX. TY: Mos didn’t help himself by only doing shows where no alcohol is sold. His message is so important he should do the show and influence people not to drink liquor. SLY: At a certain age I thought the Black Muslims were good for Black Americans, to solve drunkenness, murder and so on. But watch it closely and it’s a big business, and I myself don’t see myself as a Black Muslim because Islam comes from Arabs, so how can you be a ‘Black Muslim?’ Either you are a Muslim or you are not. You are bringing a certain mentality to this community, that’s the problem too. TY: You can’t be African Irish. SLY: Exactly. MOGHY: On Hajj, Malcolm X saw Moslems from all ethnic groups. QUARTZ: If you hear a debate between orthodox Moslems and Black Muslims, they’ll all chant "Allah U Akhbar" at the end of the debate, in unity. But the Black Muslims will say that in the Koran it points to an inequality between Moslems who are Black and those who aren’t, so there is a need to separate for a period of time to rectify this. AUMAR: We should love each other, because G-d brought many faiths. SLY: If you don’t know where you are from, you don’t know where you are going. you even find racists among blacks. I was reading about a guy who worked for Louis the fourteenth who saw a fresco of a black angel in his village church and so disagreed with slavery. He started a petition but the king overlooked it. The power and the system prevents change. So we should try to get togetherness. CHLOE: Many people are of mixed race. TY: For me, it’s important that the people who read this article are aware of these problems. Because they are looking for articles on the latest LPs and then they see this, it’s good to state our problems, but let’s move on and not dwell on our problems. It’s obvious that all of us are moving in the same direction. QUARTZ: It was recently announced by a charity called Fihankra International that the Ghanaian government has allocated thirty thousand acres of land in Ghana for Black people from the Diaspora to settle in Ghana regardless if one’s heritage is from Ghana. The thing is that the settlers will live in specially designated villages, not especially mixed in with Ghanaian people. There may be a logistical reason for that though. MOGHY: We don’t need to go back to Africa, we need to sort things here. MBEGANE: We must see any view. Ask if the African people are ready to accept us. We must prepare all minds. A man who is not free can’t liberate another man, and Africa is oppressed. Africa must solve her own problem. When you are free, then it can work. MOGHY: After staying here for a time it’s no good to go back to anywhere in Africa. You are either here or there. If you go back home, you have to go to the real home. African people are always open, that’s why they got messed up. But it’s only open to people from overseas, between themselves they are not open. TY: I don’t want to be negative but for people to go back home, they’ve got to realise that home is not easy. I say this as a black UK person, people think they know what they’ve got to deal with here, but the mental strength needed over there is double. If everyone upsets you there and you have a European mindstate, you will want to manipulate people, and that’s not gonna happen, and that’s dangerous. MOGHY: At home our politicians, they use this European mentality to control the people, fifty percent of whom are not educated. SLY: In Liberia, the problem is between African American and Liberians. The slaves returned form the USA, but because they knew how to read etc. they took over. So people must know why they are going back, what they want to do, because it could be a mess. MBEGANE: We have a chance. We have two chairs apart, but if they come together we can sit on them. From hundreds of years of oppression we can find a solution, because we know the system that oppresses. We know our own culture, values and roots. We can build a nice way of being for a future for Africa. MOGHY: It will take a long time because black people are oppressed. We have to change our mentality, it will take time. MBEGANE: The first move is to wake the people to the fact freedom is not collective, it is individual. Now we have the Nigger versus the African. The Nigger is so strong. TY: In Hip Hop too. QUARTZ: How can the world learn from Africa, and how can Africa learn from the world? MBEGANE: I hope we have the original values of humanity, which have been lost in the west i.e. solidarity and fraternity. In Europe the system oppresses, modern slavery is on everyone. QUARTZ: But where’s the solidarity in Africa? There are civil wars, border wars... SLY: Civil wars are too deep, we can’t talk about them. MBEGANE: We can talk about family. The respect of old age, it’s not apparent in Europe. TY: The African thing we must take is the family. It is not just the mother and the father, but wider relatives. There your next door neighbour can beat you like he’s your father, if you are wrong. That for me, is the thing that an African person I am most losing here. SLY: An example, on the tube or bus in England or France, as a black man of African origin, you can give your seat to an old person but everyone will look at you strangely. TY: We’ve let that go. Look at the person who is white and old and think that somewhere along the line that person’s son is not giving me a job, so let them stand. SLY: We loose a social way of living, worse in England than in France. As for Africa learning from the world, we can learn a lot because we lost a lot, how to govern a country. MOGHY: For me, learning is individual. Whatever you are, if you see me as an individual, a human being, we can learn from each other. EST’ELLE: In Hip Hop, artists should talk in between tunes. Talk like MC D does, he gives messages at shows. Some guy dissed that at a show, I was like, "You should listen". I thought that when he grows up he’ll be in trouble when his mum doesn’t defend him. Music is powerful, kids will listen to it more than they listen to their parents. MOGHY: In Hip Hop, we should be saying it as we see it. SLY: What Africa can take from Europe is a hazy question. TY: For me it’s technology. And give us the opportunity to make our own technology and we’ll do the same for you.

::: c r e d i t s ::: Text: Howard "Quartz" Lucas. Printed by permission www.fatboss.com. French Translation: Chloe Special thanks to Marie-Agnes Beau, French Music Bureau, London.