RAP, RAGGA AND REGGAE
IN NAIROBI, DAR ES SALAAM AND LUSAKA IN 1997

This site is about the scenes and the people in rap, ragga and reggae in three African capital cities as it was in 1997.

It is also part of the story of musics on a roundtrip in time and space. From Africa to the Americas and back to Africa. From the local to the global and back to the local again.

This site has been prepared by Krister Malm and Monika Sarstad. We made a journey to Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Lusaka in October - November 1997. Our mission was to look for local versions of global music as part of the research project Music - Media - Multiculture, today and tomorrow.

We didn't find much rock or pop and no techno music. Most people never heard the word rave. But we found gospel, r&b, rap, ragga and reggae. Gospel is a big thing in all these places and deserves it's own site. Here we have confined ourselves to the music of the hip hop and ragga/reggae people. Those musics have ardent followers in all three cities.

It is very hard to buy Western instruments, amplifiers etc. in all the cities. Instruments are classified as luxury items and heavily taxed. There are few recording studios and even fewer record companies, but a wealth of musical talent.

We present the scenes in the three cities and some of the performers we met with quotes from interviews, photos, sound and video samples. This is not a complete presentation in, just a taste of what's happening.

A heap of thanks to all the people who helped us out, especially our great guides Sammy Oyando and John Obongo Jr. in Nairobi, Bernie Hewett in Dar and Mike Tabor in Lusaka.

The roots of rap have been revealed at our site Respekt Nu (Respect Now), so far only in Swedish, but an English version is being prepared. Respect Now, however, has a lot of pictures, sound files and video clips that can be enjoyed also by an English speaking audience.

For information on the situation right now check RUMBA-KALI - A Pan-African site for hip hop.