Keeping it real

Reality and representation in Maasai Hip-Hop

Bibliographic Data

ID2172889
AuthorsKatrina Daly Thompson (0000-0002-4526-9869, a African Studies Center, University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA))
Year2008
Volume20
Issue1
Pages33-44
Publication date2008-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of African Cultural Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-6815 • E-ISSN: 1469-9346
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13696810802159248
OpenAlexW2074911550
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited9

The article examines images and discourses produced by and circulating around X Plastaz, an internationally-successful Tanzanian hip-hop crew with one Maasai member which draws heavily on Maasai imagery in its publicity materials and performances, and uses Maasai chanting in its music. The analysis demonstrates that the interplay between local and international success is at the centre of the images the crew projects. By examining the different ways the crew and its foreign manager address local and international audiences, and play on these diverse audiences' expectations of what it means to be Maasai, Tanzanian and African, on the one hand, and to be internationally successful, on the other, we can better understand the tropes of African traditionalism, authenticity and hybridity they employ

Art · Crew · Ethnology · Hybridity · Maasai · Political science · Politics · Publicity · Representation (politics · Sociology · Tanzania · Visual arts · Anthropology · Cultural Identity and Heritage · Diversity and Impact of Dance · Tourism, Volunteerism, and Development · Gender Studies · Law

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