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Fulbright Journals
U.S. Fulbright students in Brazil, France, India, Malawi, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, and Uganda are sharing their experiences as part of the Fulbright-mtvU Fellowships. Through a partnership with mtvU, MTV’s 24-hour college network, the Fulbright-mtvU program promotes “the power of music” as a global force for mutual understanding. Recipients were chosen through a multi-tiered, merit-based selection process beginning with field and discipline merit review by U.S. and overseas academic leaders and area experts. mtvU and musical icons Serj Tankian, Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio, Wyclef Jean, and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (for the 2008 students) and Vampire Weekend, Santigold, Death Cab For Cutie and Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance (for the 2009 students) reviewed and nominated candidates. Final selection was made by the Presidentially appointed Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Winners are sharing their experiences during their Fulbright year via video reports, blogs and podcasts as showcased on mtvU and mtvU.com. See their lastest entries below.
2009-2010 Fellows:
 Andrew Magill, Malawi
Michael Silvers, Brazil
Rod Solaimani, Morocco
Tina Wadhwa, India
2008-2009 Fellows:
Alexis Tucker, France
Katie Day Good, Mexico
Spencer Orey, Mali
Ainsley Breault, New Zealand
Melissa Adams, Uganda
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Andrew Magill, Malawi
Two Weeks Before Heading Off to Malawi
Posted Friday, November 13, 2009 by Andrew Magill - in Malawi, Fulbright-mtvU Fellow
It’s two weeks before I head off to Malawi and I am buzzing. I am currently trying to read everything ever written about HIV/AIDS in preparation and the reading list just seems to be getting longer and longer. I am definitely “hooked” on this subject.
I recently got a CD of Peter Mawanga’s “Zanga Zo zama,” the primary musician who I plan to collaborate with in Malawi. Peter’s music is hard to get in the states and he actually arranged an inter-continental rendez-vous between myself and a mutual friend who gave me his CD. I closed my eyes yesterday and listening to the whole thing from start to finish and was left salivating at this guy’s breadth of musical knowledge. He rocks.
This friend of Peter’s also gave me an awesome CD “Vingoma NA Visekese,” a UNICEF-sponsored project orchestrated by Peter. It is really worth checking out for anyone reading this blog. Call UNICEF if you have to! All of this has got the musical gears turning..I immediately went to my computer after listening to Zanga Zo Zama and started working on some riffs and compositions that I can maybe throw at Peter when we finally meet in person in a few months. I think Peter and I have some pretty stellar jam sessions to look forward to. I mentioned I played violin awhile back and he got so excited “what?! Andrew, do you know how hard it is to find a violin player here?” If he wants to jam with a violin player I can already tell we’re going to get along.
Comment on this post and read more of Andrew's blog posts on the Fulbright-mtvU website.
About Andrew
School: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Major: Cultural Studies
Country Visiting: Malawi
Email: Fulbright_Andrew@mtvu.com
Andrew Magill, who graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) with a B.A. in Cultural Studies in May 2009, will travel to Malawi to work with the UNC Malawi Project and AIDS organizations to video-record narratives of Malawian families and communities affected by HIV/AIDS. These narratives will explore how issues such as stigma of infection, Western versus traditional medicine and other cultural factors define the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Malawi. He will collaborate with Peter Mawanga, a well-known musician and social activist, to develop a concept album whose sales will benefit AIDS social service networks. Each song’s lyrics will capture a pre-recorded narrative by using words inspired and quoted from the narratives. He will use the narrative film footage for a documentary about the process which will also serve as a means of fundraising.
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Michael Silvers, Brazil
A Delayed Departure
Posted Friday, November 13, 2009 by Michael Silvers - in Brazil, Fulbright-mtvU Fellow
I thought I was leaving for Brazil on October 10th. But I had trouble getting my visa—for reasons too complicated and too boring to explain— and I’ve been stuck in Los Angeles. After three long weeks, my passport finally came in the mail, and I’m hoping to be in Fortaleza by next week. So for my first blog entry, I figured I’d tell you a little bit about myself and my relationship with Brazil and the state of Ceará.
Each of my family members has deep connections to Brazil. If I wanted to, I could start the family history about forty years ago—when the Silvers’ love affair with the land of Pelé, Xuxa, and Lula began—but instead I’ll just clarify that my parents aren’t Brazilian. My brother, who is a Brazilian citizen by birth, married a woman from Ceará this past summer.
I decided about a year ago that their Brazilian wedding (they had two: a small Jewish one in Arizona and a medium-sized Catholic one in Ceará) would provide the basis for a chapter of my dissertation. It probably won’t, but it will be the subject of the rest of this blog post.
 They got married in June during the festas juninas, the June festivals, a period that’s become a symbol of the Brazilian Northeast. Even though the three holidays, São Pedro (St. Peter’s Day), Santo Antônio (St. Anthony’s Day), and São João (St. John’s Day), were once Catholic holidays, they’re now generally secular holidays where people drink, dance, and dress up in hickface. In the big cities throughout the Northeast, the festas juninas poke fun at rural backwardness. In the Southeast, the festas juninas poke fun at the Northeast. People roast corn over bonfires and eat a sticky cake made of cornmeal. Women paint freckles on their faces, tie their hair in pigtails, and wear patchwork skirts, outfits more reminiscent of Dorothy from Kansas than any Brazilian I’ve met, while the men wear straw hats and plaid shirts and blacken their teeth. Bands fill the cities with forró music, a jaunty rhythm played on the accordion, triangle, and zabumba bass drum, and couples do the typical side-to-side shuffle, described in a 2006 New York Times article as “a dance that is at once sensual and herky-jerky, a combination that could have emerged only from Brazilian cowboy culture.” In plazas, performing ensembles spend the month of June competing with elaborate square dances, accompanied by a forró trio. Quadrilhas, as these dance routines are known, come from an upper-class French tradition, but are danced in Brazil as part of this pseudo-celebration of rural poverty. Most quadrilhas include the reenactment of a wedding. A man in a top hat and a woman in a white dress dance through the aisle of brightly costumed square dancers. They’re sometimes met by a man in a priest costume who marries them, and then the music and dancers join in.
My brother and his wife planned a wedding within a wedding. They invited a quadrilha to perform after the ceremony. They asked a forró trio to play. Their wedding melded the ceremony with a typical São João party, an unheard of combination in Orós, my sister-in-law’s hometown, famous for its reservoir—once Brazil’s biggest—and for a well-known singer named Raimundo Fagner who grew up there and mentions the town whenever he wants some rural cred. With the quadrilha and the possibility of hickface costumes, I expected it to be life imitating art imitating life. Or something to that effect. A wedding that included a reenactment of a wedding, and a party of rural townspeople dressed up as urban stereotypes of rural townspeople. It was sure to be rich.
But when June came, the wedding was simply beautiful. It offered my sister-in-law’s family an opportunity to share their local traditions with foreign guests. During the day, her family took us to the dam and on a boat ride around the impressive reservoir. We ate lunch at a restaurant surrounded by banana trees and farmland, and we dined on a hearty peixada, a fish stew. The wedding, held at a community center supported by the musician Fagner, was a huge success, and I heard people in Orós call it the “wedding of the year.” The forró trio kept me captivated and smiley. The quadrilha dancers got my parents and their friends out on the dance floor. And the flowing caipirinhas, the official mixed drink of Brazil, the endless grilled steak and chicken hearts, and the sweet cornmeal wedding cake helped me forget about any lingering desire to view my brother’s wedding through the lens of social theory. I’ll save that for this coming year.
Here’s a slideshow of some of my photos from the wedding and of Orós.
Comment on this post and read more of Michael's blog posts on the Fulbright-mtvU website.
About Michael
School: UCLA
Major: Ethnomusicology
Country Visiting: Brazil
Email: Fulbright_Michael@mtvu.com
Michael Silvers, a doctoral student in Ethnomusicology at UCLA, will travel to Brazil to study the relationship between the culture of forró, a kind of popular dance music, and the climate of northeastern Brazil. Working with Vila Estúdio, a recording studio in Fortaleza, Ceará; accordionists from around the state; and a quadrilha square dance ensemble, he will explore the ways in which climate change and drought have impacted how and why people make music. He will produce a doctoral dissertation and a documentary film based on his research.
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Rod Solaimani, Morocco
in media res
Posted Sunday, October 11, 2009 by Rod Solaimani - in Morocco, Fulbright-mtvU Fellow
In 10th grade Lit, Mr. Carson taught us that the best way to sleep covertly while standing upright is to lean stomach-first against a cabinet in the back of the classroom, and place a chalkboard eraser
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| My Friends And Me With Huey Lewis |
between your chin and chest. This technique is best employed when your students are giving 15-minute oral presentations on Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
In his waking hours Mr. Carson rewrote the example sentences in our vocabulary books so that they provided context within the scope of 70’s pop culture. I learned that the word “avarice” is a synonym for “greed”, and that many consider Avarice Films Inc.’s undisputed masterpiece to be Debbie Does Dallas. I thought it was a Western, and my dad worshiped John Wayne, so I asked him if he’d heard of it. He had, but to the best of his knowledge it was not a John Wayne movie. We then had a father-son moment. Mr. Carson also taught me that all epics begin in media res and that the adventures that shape our lives are no exception.
Comment on this post and read more of Rod's blog posts on the Fulbright-mtvU website.
About Rod
School: Georgetown University
Major: Foreign Policy
Country Visiting: Morocco
Email: Fulbright_Rod@mtvu.com
Rod Solaimani, who graduated from Georgetown University with a B.S. in Foreign Policy in 2008, will travel to Morocco to study and participate in the Afro-Arab-Gnawa-Western musical exchange. A skilled percussionist, he will research the impact of U.S.-Moroccan musical partnerships in 3 cities, use his findings in local high school music curricula and promote East-West collaboration with a student concert.
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 Tina Wadhwa, India
Be the Change
Posted Friday, October 16, 2009 by Tina Wadhwa - in India, Fulbright-mtvU Fellow
It was the Oscar winning movie that couldn’t help but make the world fall in love. Given the success of Slumdog Millionaire, Dharavi was naturally my first foray into the vast slum life of this grand city. Even though I had already been working with slum kids at the Akanksha Centers, I thought it was important to explore their lives in the slum itself, to see firsthand where they came from and to understand their worlds. The Dharavi slum remains the largest slum in Asia, and with over 1 million people clustered in 1 square mile, it is the only slum that you can see from the moon. There are numerous tourist agencies that operate there and offer guided walks through the area. The tour guides explain that their mission is to show visitors that the slum is not filled with a lazy and apathetic people, but rather a hard-working community that collaborates to live another day. There are over 10,000 different industries in the slum, from the traditional pottery and textile industries to an increasingly large recycling industry that processes recyclable waste from other parts of Mumbai. Dharavi exports goods around the world, with the total turnover estimated to be around 650 million US Dollars per year. The men in the slums work 10 hour days, melting aluminum and plastic, without even masks to protect against the fumes. The women wash empty kerosene cans in boiling hot water from dawn until dusk, without gloves to shield them from burn. And they do this for a mere 150 to 200 rupees a day. To give you a first-hand sense of the disparity in Bombay, I was at a friend’s birthday party on Marine Drive where her Indian boyfriend bought the table a 21,000 rupee bottle of champagne. The bill for 6, which he covered, was over 100,000 rupees. In 2 hours. Sans food. Most people wouldn’t see that amount in their lives.
View a slideshow of Tina's pictures.
Many of the young girls and boys of the slum seemed dressed as if prepared for their starring role in Bollywood, with the girls in glittery costume jewelry feeling like Ashwairya Rai and the boys in plastic sunglasses like Salman Khan. These slum children grew up on Bollywood, and while originally I had explored the positive impacts that the music and cinema had on their lives, a social worker offered me a different point of view. He explained to me that as many movies glorify the villain, depicting him as a cool, young stud that gets the girls and makes the money through his manipulative ways, many slum kids try to emulate that stereotype. In fact, crime in the slums actually correlates with the current releases and their glorification of the Bollywood villain. The boys want to be the next tough hero that makes it big, no matter the means. Another interesting observation was how Bollywood affects the treatment of women in these communities. In movies, “no” often means “yes,” as male relentlessly pursues female even as she rejects his advances. In the movie, she really does like him, but her reticent nature bars her from accepting his love. He never gives up however and uses every means possible to win over his lady – and the triumph is eventually his. While movies the world over often glorify the villain and depict the romantic chase, their impact on slum children seem more potent as Bollywood is of one the few things the children are exposed to outside of the slum. In a way, it constitutes their only world outside of the community.
The interesting thing about Dharavi is how self-contained it is. You could be my age, 25, and not ever have left the confines of the slum, because, well, you just don’t need to. As we walked past the different industries, barbershops, food stores, and goats, we finally arrived at the residences, a maze of narrow walkways with open drains and exposed wires. Here, entire families of 4, 5, 6, or more, live in one room, containing a bed, basic cooking utensils and surprisingly, a television, with some old bootleg copies of Bollywood stashed to the side. Walking past the rooms, one can hear popular Bollywood tunes playing from an old cassette player or radio and see children dancing to the songs. I was surprised to learn that Dharavi is actually supposed to be one of the nicer slums in Mumbai, as the government ensures basic electricity and sets up municipal schools, however dire the quality. Our last stop at the slum was to the slum cinema, where tickets cost 10 rupees– a mere 22 cents. I knew it wouldn’t be luxurious, but I was at least expecting some kind of theatre. The “cinema” was actually a room, with a tiny television displaying a bootleg copy of a Bollywood movie. There were no seats, and the people lay sans blankets on the hard floor. It was packed however, and the people crowded together to experience one of the few escapes available in an otherwise trying world.
Within the grand city of Mumbai, there exists a not so tiny society of people that work together to get by. They hold their families close and their loyalties closer, for what they don’t have in wealth, they make up in spirit, and its not possessions but pride that makes them heroes.
Comment on this post and read more of Tina's blog posts on the Fulbright-mtvU website.
About Tina
School: Columbia University
Major: Political Science and Economics
Country Visiting: India
Email: Fulbright_Tina@mtvu.com
Tina Wadhwa, who graduated from Columbia University in 2007 with a BA in Political Science and Economics, has traveled to India to create a documentary exploring the impact and influence of Bollywood music on underprivileged youth in Mumbai. She is also developing the music and drama center of the Akanksha Foundation while focusing on the role of music as a vehicle for collective expression and understanding among the children. Exploring the paradoxes and interactions between the Indian film industry’s intentions and the perceptions of the people, she bridges these divides by coordinating with entertainment professionals at Rohit Roy Productions and the youth of the Akansha Foundation, culminating in a Bollywood performance by the youth, as well as a documentary film, CD recording and website depicting their journey. The documentary will be screened at a fundraising gala that marks the 20th anniversary of the Akanksha Foundation’s efforts.
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Alexis Tucker, France
France goes to Hip-Hop International World Championship + Interview with Vicelow
Posted Monday, July 27, 2009 by Alexis Tucker - in France, Fulbright-mtvU Fellow
View video "Hip-Hop International - Paris Interview"
At the end of July, France will be represented for the first time at the Hip-Hop International World Championship in Las Vegas. The three French dance crews to go to the U.S. (categorized by age group: Junior (7-12) Varsity (12-18) and Adult (18+)) were selected at the Hip-Hop International France Championship held at the Casino de Paris this past May. Despite being the first year for the French tournament, all of the competing crews were really strong and the event was a huge success thanks to passionate dancers, a great audience and a lot of hard work put in by the HHIF organizers Jean Pierre Chandler and Sabrina Bouhanik. During the competition, I interviewed J.P. and Sabrina backstage about the challenges of putting together the event and what lessons and opportunities HHIF has to offer young people in France. You can check out a portion of our interview above.
View video "Interview with Vicelow"
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Vicelow (center in white hood) posing with his good friends
from the R.A.F. Crew— winners of the Hip-Hop International
France Championship (Adult category 2009) |
In addition to the dance crews, well-known French hip-hop rappers also performed at the event including Freeman (formerly of IAM), Philemon, Vicelow (formerly of Saïan Supa Crew) and Pit Baccardi. Having interviewed dancer-turned-rapper Freeman the previous week (in fact, he was the one who first told me about HHIF), I was also interested in interviewing Vicelow about his decision to make dance a big part of his current solo project The Blue Tape. Above, you can watch a portion of our interview to learn why Vicelow considers it both “natural” and important for him to work closely with dancers and how he was first inspired by Michael Jackson to be a true performer.
Comment on this post and read more of Alexis' blog posts on the Fulbright-mtvU website.
About Alexis
Alexis Tucker is in France to study how socially engaged French rap music and hip-hop culture have addressed the aftermath of the 2005 riots and the 2007 French Presidential election. She will produce a multimedia presentation and a documentary that reflect the political role of hip-hop in France. Alexis graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in French and African Studies in May 2008.
http://fulbright.mtvu.com/author/alexistucker/
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Katherine Good, Mexico
The Grand Tour
Posted Wednesday, July 8, 2009 by Katie Day Good - in Mexico, Fulbright-mtvU Fellow
For my final post, I'll leave you with this audio flipbook that sums up my year. In previous posts, I tried to explore the diversity of Mexican music by zooming in on individual sounds and people. I wanted to compare a variety of styles (Mariachi, Son Jarocho, Danzón, Villancicos, La Chilena, Son Huasteco, and Tropical were just a few that I got hooked on), while also considering how this music has been affected by emerging issues in Mexico, like emigration, urbanization, and the cultural gap between generations.
This audio flipbook takes a wider view. I hope it lives up to its name—It's a “grand tour” of the School of Mexican Music, classroom by classroom, genre by genre. For the musician in me, traveling from one “room” of Mexican music to another over the course of this year was an awe-inspiring lesson in new sounds. But more importantly, it gave me a taste of the complexity of Mexican history. And every day, I'm happy to report, that history is still being sung and played out by young people who want to live in a 21st century Mexico that doesn't forget where it came from.
View and listen to the audio flipbook.
Sincere thanks to IIE, the State Department, COMEXUS, and mtvU for their continued support during this year. I also want to thank the School of Mexican Music in Mexico City, and the Centro de Documentación del Son Jarocho in Jáltipan, Veracruz for opening their doors to my research (and elementary music skills).
I also want to individually thank my mentors and music teachers, without whose patience and knowledge this project would not have been possible—Jorge Luís Aquino Gómez, José Luís Ceron Mireles, and Pedro Gutiérrez in Mexico City; Ramón Gutiérrez of Son de Madera in Xalapa; Benito Cortés Padua of Los Cojolites at Rancho Luna (….Negra!); my fellow Fulbright grantee Phillip Quercia; Thomas Stanford and the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia; and Randall Kohl of the Universidad Veracruzana. A todos Uds., ¡Mil gracias!
Last but not least, if you like what you've heard on my blog, I urge you to check out some of these young Mexican musicians who have, at one point or another, knocked my socks off:
• Los Cojolites - Jálitpan, Veracruz
• Los Pájaros del Alba - Cosoleacaque, Veracruz
• Sonex - Xalapa, Veracruz
• Pasatono - Mexico City and Oaxaca
• Las Perlitas Tapatias - Guadalajara, Jalisco
Comment on this post and read more of Katherine's blog on the Fulbright-mtvU website.
About Katherine
Katherine Good is in Mexico to produce podcasts that anthropologically explore the Mexican youth renaissance of performing various pre-rock music styles. A folk musician and independent radio producer, Katherine works with the School of Mexican Music in Mexico City and the danzon and son jarocho circles of Veracruz to document this growing cultural trend. Katherine graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Loyola University Chicago with a B.S. in Anthropology and B. A. in International Studies. http://fulbright.mtvu.com/author/katiegood/
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Spencer Orey, Mali
Sanuya
Posted Friday, June 12, 2009 by Spencer Orey - in Mali, Fulbright-mtvU Fellow
“Sanuya”, written and performed by Modibo “Bastin” Diabate featuring Mah Bara Soumano and Konté B, arranged by Lamine Soumano, produced by Studio Mali, and filmed by Spencer Orey.
View the video here.
“Sanuya” is a song about about cleaning up the trash in Bamako that draws attention to trash and pollution in the city. It’s mostly in Bambara with some French, and it’s around six minutes long. Usually in Bamako I do my best to see through the pollution into the underlying beauty of the city, and trust me, there is a lot there that is beautiful. However, this time, I got to focus directly on trash and make things into a giant chaotic trash party, shooting all but one scene without my tripod while riding around on motorcycles with a big group of rappers in the Bamako neighborhood of Djicoroni Para. Unfortunately, it’s the hot season right now, so it’s nearly 115 degrees F every day, and the light is always incredibly strong, making filming especially difficult. However, with help, we found some dirty places to film: trash piles, burning trash piles, open sewers, meat markets, and more.
But you know, this is not to say that all of Bamako is like that. You see, in presenting this video, I don’t want to misrepresent Bamako or Mali as entirely dirty places: there IS a big problem with trash and trash collection (most trash collection is done by donkey-driven carts), and nobody will deny there. But there are ALSO beautiful trash-free places in the city, and not everything is trash. It’s important to remember that in making the video, we sought out the dirtiest places possible, meaning that there were many places that we passed up as too clean.
Bastin told me he hopes that his song will help people realize that they’re going to have to be more careful about trash, about how much they consume and how much they throw away, not to mention WHERE they throw it! He wants people to stop burning trash, especially tires and plastic bags, and to work together to find a better waste management solution. He hopes that his song will help the city transform into an even more beautiful place.
For the editing, I worked with Lamine Soumano, who was an invaluable help in sync’ing the video and helping me to know which images should go with which verses. People I’ve shown it to have commented that the finished version looks exactly how a Malian music video should, which is something that I am proud of. It certainly was a great experience and a lot of fun to make!
I hope you enjoy the video!
Comment on this post and read more of Spencer's blog on the Fulbright-mtvU website.
About Spencer
Spencer Orey is in Mali to study the rich tradition of griot musicians, who are considered living embodiments of cultural knowledge. He is researching the roles musicians played in the Malian transition to democracy and what roles they play currently. From his findings, he will create a compilation CD of music. Spencer graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Anthropology.
http://fulbright.mtvu.com/author/spencerorey/
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Ainsley Breault, New Zealand
Kommikal and Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori
Posted Friday, October 16, 2009 by Ainsley Breault - in New Zealand, Fulbright-mtvU Fellow
This is a bit of an overdue post, but at the end of July I flew to Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand, to meet and film one of my participants, Kommikal. I happened to catch him during Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, or Māori Language Week. This annual celebration of the Māori language started in 1975, and each year encompasses events all over New Zealand that support the use of Te Reo Māori. Even mainstream media outlets participate, as statements like “What’s next on TV2” were delivered solely in Māori, and New Zealand-made programming like the daily serial Shortland Street featured Māori language content. It’s an amazing achievement for proponents of the Māori language that the week has grown to such prominence, particularly when some older New Zealand residents can remember a time (the early 1900’s) when the Māori language was banned on playgrounds at schools and corporal punishment could be administered to children who disobeyed.
Here are some clips from Kommikal’s performance at the Māori Film and Music Festival held at the University of Canterbury as part of their week of classes, workshops, and celebrations held in the Māori language.
To learn more about Kommikal, check out his MySpace.
And to learn a bit of Māori, go on to Kōrero Māori, an awesome online resource developed by the Māori Language Commission for people interested in picking up the Māori language. Kia toa!
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| P.S. To file under “New Zealand is beautiful”, I can’t help but include a photo from a day trip to Kaikoura during my South Island journey, where I took a whale and dolphin tour and happened upon a group of travelling dusky dolphins. Enjoy! |
Comment on this post and read more of Ainsley's blog posts on the Fulbright-mtvU website.
About Ainsley
Ainsley Breault is in New Zealand to research the role of music in perpetuating Maori culture. She will conclude the project by obtaining a one-year certificate in Maori music at Auckland University of Technology, and will chronicle two significant Maori music events, sharing her findings through two 30-minute rockumentary-style digital videos. Ainsley graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.A. in Communication and a minor in Cinema-Television.
http://fulbright.mtvu.com/author/ainsleybreault/
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Melissa Adams, Uganda
Why Hip Hop???
Posted Friday, November 13, 2009 by Melissa Adams - in Uganda, Fulbright-mtvU Fellow
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Hip Hop Hut.
©Melissa Adams 2005
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In addition to my focus on strengthening the Hip Hop Therapy Project, I was also interested in learning more about why young people in northern Uganda were drawn to Hip Hop music and culture. I informally interviewed approximately 20-25 youth participating in the Hip Hop Therapy Project. Most of the young people I spoke to were young men between the ages of 14 and 18. I asked each of them the following questions:
• What do you like about Hip Hop?
• What do you dislike about Hip Hop?
• How did you first hear about Hip Hop?
• Who is your favorite Hip Hop artist and why?
• What influence do you think Hip Hop has on young people in northern Uganda?
The main findings from these interviews are outlined in this blog. Please note that the young people I interviewed usually referred to Hip Hop dancing (i.e. breakdancing) when I would ask about “Hip Hop” unless I specifically asked them about Hip Hop music. In some cases they spoke about Hip Hop dance and music interchangeably.
Hip Hop Likes and Dislikes
The main reasons that were given for liking hip hop (i.e. dancing) was that it was good for physical fitness/exercise, it gives you something positive to do with your time, and it brings people together.
The quotes below illustrate these points:
“When I’m dancing, I feel at home and don’t go for bad behaviors like early sex.”
“It brings us together, rich and poor.”
“It makes your muscles strong.”
In reference to Hip Hop music specifically, most young people I spoke to said they like Hip Hop music because it is entertaining, easy to dance to, and that they can learn from some of the songs. In one instance, the popularity and wealth of Hip Hop artists was mentioned: “Hip Hop musicians are wealthy and popular. I want to be popular too.”
When asked about the things they did not like about Hip Hop most of the youth answered that there was nothing they didn’t like. A few, however, expressed disapproval at the type of language that is used in some Hip Hop music and the negative influence that Hip Hop can have on youth behavior. One person also added “Some Hip Hop artists commit crimes like fighting and killing. I don’t like that.”
First exposure to Hip Hop
When I asked the youth where they first learned about Hip Hop, the most popular responses included: the radio (particularly a local radio station called Mega FM), music videos, and movies (Stomp the Yard was mentioned specifically). Since the majority of people in northern Uganda do not own televisions, some pay to watch movies and videos at local places called entertainment halls. Several youth mentioned visiting these entertainment halls. Some also stated that they first learned about Hip Hop when they saw a performance by Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU). The barbershop and nightclubs were also mentioned as places of exposure to Hip Hop.
Favorite Artists and Why
In response to the question “Who is your favorite Hip Hop artist?” the names that were most frequently mentioned were American rappers Lil Wayne, 50 cent and Akon, and a Nigerian group called P-Square. Other artists that were mentioned include: Snoop Dog, Fabulous, Rick Ross, Tupac, Kanye West, Ne-Yo, Chris Brown, Usher, R Kelly and Michael Jackson.
The most popular reasons for likely a particular artist were “he sings well” or “he dances well”. Some youth spoke of enjoying the lyrics of an artist’s music and respecting artists that write their own rap lyrics. In reference to Kanye West, one young person said “I like him because he puts black people in his music videos and his videos aren’t pornographic.”
Understanding Lyrics
I asked the young people I spoke to if they understood the lyrics of their favorite Hip Hop artists. Most said that they did understand, but admitted to not understanding all of the lyrics. In two instances I found the interpretation of the Hip Hop lyrics to be particularly
interesting.
In the first instance, a young person said his favorite song was “Make it Rain” by Fat Joe featuring Lil Wayne. I asked him what the song was about and he said: “He’s talking about money. If you have money you can do what you want.” That is essentially what
the song is about and it was interesting to me that he understood the lyrics despite English
being his second language and the heavy slang that is used throughout the lyrics. The second instance that I found interesting was a young person who said that his favorite song was “Homecoming” by Kanye West. When I asked what that song was about he told me “it’s about coming home, like when you’ve been away in the bush.” I thought that this interpretation was interesting because this young person was applying his reality to the lyrics of his favorite Hip Hop artist. This youth lives in a place where children were regularly abducted by rebels and made to live in the bush and fight against their will. Therefore, while “Homecoming” would mean something completely different to a young person in North America, to him it makes sense that it’s a song about coming home from the bush or from war.
Hip Hop’s Influence
The last question I asked was about the perceived influence that Hip Hop has on young people in northern Uganda. The youth I spoke to listed mostly positive influences of Hip Hop but also listed some negative influences. The positive influences they mentioned were:
“It makes people in Gulu happy”
“It’s good for leisure, it makes you active in music and dance”
“Hip Hop can be a source of income” (i.e. through breakdance performances or teaching)
“It helps young people to stay healthy and fit”
“You get to go to other towns and districts” (i.e. through breakdancing performances)
“Instead of watching bad movies and doing bad things, I go to Hip Hop class”
“Breakdancing helps to forget problems from the war”
The negative influences that were mentioned include:
“Some people imitate what they see in videos and movies so they smoke, wear big clothes, pull down their pants and act like n***as”
“It can sometimes promote drinking, smoking, stealing, and gambling.”
In conclusion, I think that these interviews and my interactions with youth living in northern Uganda gave me a better understanding of the role that Hip Hop plays in their lives. I got the sense that involvement in Hip Hop culture (particularly dance) allows them to feel connected with other young people; gives them the opportunity to do something different and positive with their free time, and provides them with an emotional outlet. Through my involvement with the Hip Hop Therapy project, I hope to continue strengthening the positive influences that Hip Hop can have on young people while working to reduce the negative ones.
Comment on this post and read more of Melissa's blog posts on the Fulbright-mtvU website.
About Melissa
Melissa Adams's Fulbright project in Uganda is working on a hip-hop therapy project in which youth affected by war and by AIDS in Northern Uganda learn to beatbox, break dance, compose positive rap songs and create hip-hop beats with local instruments. She is conducting an assessment of the children's needs and available resources and will use the data to determine how best to further meet their psychosocial needs through these therapeutic resources. Melissa graduated from Emory University with a Masters in Public Health. http://fulbright.mtvu.com/author/melissaadams/
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