I heard whiffs of Arabic pop played in west afrique, and I always thought it was a Muslim Maghreb cultural connection. But this song is Tanzanian, and suggests perhaps a wider sub-saharan influence / linkages of Arabic pop in the continent. or perhaps a specifically tanzanian (&somali?) concoction? Im interested in how these links play out on the east coast.
I love the bubbling flustered girlishness jumping around these vocals. Nancy sings:
"yay, the charm of his eyes, his looks, once our eyes met ... I forgot my name"
also this:
Although this video's basic premise could beget major analyses, I'm less interested in what snoop is doing in the punjab (or australia?) and that now classic bhangra / hip-hop mix than I am in what hes wearing on his neck @ 1:38. After reading too many Hawgblawg posts Ive become a kuffiya hawk and was totally surprised to see one show up here on a Sikh character of a bollywood film.
Is this just the crazy aimless spreading of international fashion? Was it adopted obliviously for more 'punjabi' flair? Are kufiya so linked with edgy hip-hop culture its adopted as a signifier here? or is this a delibrate mashing of a new urban third/forth-world/global south pride chic? After all, with its sparta references and sarcasm it seems pretty u.s. culture saavy..
3 comments:
Love that Snoop/Singh video! (Does Dogg actually rhyme "boom bye" with Mumbai?) & I'm sure Ted will appreciate yet another interesting instance of the kuffiyah turning up in a hip-hop-ish video.
as a lebanese-american music journo/fan who studied kiswahili in college, i thank you for this post. dope.
I can't believe I missed this post last time around, I love re-reading your blog.
I'm wondering whether it could have any connection to the seemingly ebbed-out trend of "Bongo Bhangra", which includes stuff like this Rishi Rich cover. A common aspect of the two videos is the presence of South Asians, I'm thinking it may be related to that (in Tanzania significant) ethnic group somehow.
Post a Comment