Objective fedback on the BBC article.
By OkoDrammeh

In my book, Rap Music originated from Brookyln in New York as a musical
art form, complimented by the free style poetry similar to the poetry
styles of the last poets who have their unique style of progressive
poetry derived and inspired by the 60's Black Panther activist Hubert "
Rap" Brown. Later made popular by Grandmaster Flash and the furios
five,Kurtis Blow,Run DMC and Public Enemy.In Africa there are
griote,Moaners,Oral histrorians, narrators, Jalis, fight innovators, and
sometimes poets and magical witch doctors.None of this can be claimed as
the direct decendant of The Rap Music which is trendy and associated
with US $$$

Funny how the English change sides /Africa has it's own Music
Since the successful revolutionary career of Fela Kuti (sold millions of
records) the funding of the Arts in English speaking music declined.It
was E.T.Mensah who first sang Ghana-Guinea-Mali, Africa is now a
Republic".An Athen tune composed for all of Africa.This band was called
The Ramblers.It was founded by Kwame Nkumarah,he also founded Osibisa by
sending Teddy Osie on a musical scholarship to England.They were singing
songs of unifications and even in The Gambia we had our own brand of
Viva "President Kaunda"(Gambia -Zambia).The contienent was on the move
of progession.African unity was no the agenda of every African
country.The were continental festivals in Tunis, throughout the
continent,Manding conference of Culture with Lalo Kebba at Royal Albert
hall in England,Alhagi Bye Conteh at The Smithsonian,the annual US tours
of a cast of 40 or more Gambian artists touring state to state.The
African spirit was speaking African. Not black skin white music. It was
all African and spirited.The musicians of today have to learn a lot from
the ones of the past.The music of Africa is the spirit of the peoples
struggle.Africa is a continent of myth and folkore and cannot be reduce
to a product market imitating the the colonisers and waiting for their
assistance to move on.

 The Lead will not last forever
.The Fernch army have been a occupying army in Daker.They decided on
what goes on in Dakar (Peti Paris) and there was assimilation,think
white and act white(we call it false- life).There were no bands in Ivory
Coast.There were two famous Gambians Artists who started all the music
in Ivory Coast and Senegal and they were The great Vicky Blain and
MaestroLaba Sosseh. Vicky Blaine joined Manu Dibango and they went to
Paris and settled in the early 60's.Vicky Blain was the first African to
have a hit in Europe with "Black as night" on  Pathe Maconi Recorsd.The
only countries that had bands were Kenya,Congo,Ghana and Guinea.They
were also the only countries with recording studios.In the Gambia we
listened to Swahali tunes like Jullietta (in all clubs dances and
cinemas as well) and and later it was Highlife from Ghana.Ghana music
was so big that the legendary America musican musician Lousi Amstrong
came to Ghana and performed with E.T,Mensah.If you are a good listerner
of Highlife you will recognise the Jazz layers in it.This musdic is
still rooted there in Ghana.For all of Africa Senegal is in chasrge.They
got the pad on the back and an open cheque.With this you can build an
industry. But as in Music and in life nothing is permanent.Things will
change again soon.

What has Music got to do with this
The Europeans have once called the Unity of Africa a communist move but
how about The European union? Since Nkumarah, Lumumba,Kenyatta and Sekou
Toure (the cultural capitals of Africa) all demanded ecomonic
independance.The master told us "After independance will be like before
independance"and with all the different tribes and langauges we cannot
unite.That we will kill each other and they have stopped exposing
English speaking Artists.They start to say that we know freedom and we
are exposing I think that the level of Rap in Afric is so low especially
with the technology at hand.I often travel between Africa and The US in
search of new bands.Africa do not have bands since the coming of
CNN.Yoroba Rap, Susu rAp Wollof Rap,Zulu Rap, Masia Rap (A wele wele )
like Mfufu.They are joking. They do not know the music and African do
not take care or get paid when their culture is being schreed,schattered
and sole ,labelled and sold to Europeans by Europeans.

Bands to topple puppet Regimes in Africa.
The Queen of England is the biggest investor in music business.She
invested heavely in a brand and would not see her money or anyother rich
European to spend money on OPINIONATED ARTISTS. They have currupt frieds
in one product countries,like Banana Island,peanut Inland,gold
coast,Coffee coast which was later mapped out as countries renamed by
tHe empired to define the folk of thoes lands.They seem to know us and
own us and they have to approve what we sing. No revolution,no freedom
songs,no ancertral glorification,no glorification of and African claims
to Egypt,the missing pages of the religious books,the ark,
Where is Hugh Masekela, Femi Kuti ,Miriam Makeba,Jonas,Chaiphus,King
Sunny Ade,Ladysmith Black Mambazo,Leta Mbulu,Thomas Mapfumo,Stella
Cheweschi,Kojo Antwi,Osibisa, The Moye Band of Seirra Leone, Philip
Tabane, Basil Coetzee,Abdoulah Ibrahim"Dollar Brand.Wasiyu Ayede,Lucky
Dube.Some African bands have the power and the humble wisedom to topple
puppet goverments.This Ex-colonial master claims our people,his
properity. boom boom boom !

African band are bribed with titles.
Many Europeans companies are subsidesed by the state.The foreign policy
of these givernment is to always colonise and to undermine foreign
policy.Be it France England,Canada,Australia and the US. They controll
our culture and we can't do nothing about it.They pay our bands and
organise tours. They are well advise who to enrich for the envy of the
others to join in.They used this to subjg the artist

Since President Senghore organised the world Festival of Negro Arts he
helped catalogue the African Culture and make recommendation to France
Canada,qand some countries on who to tour who is high risk and who is
non-trearthening.Many Artist git this nmessage and went with it and
their govenments are happy to geta piece of the cake and to spend this
money on other thing while the artists has to know the sieze of his
coat.No political songs.It is only now that Mali,Senegal,Burkina
Faso,Benin, Mobutu -Congo, Guniea Bissaau,Cape Verde,and former
Apartheid South African music has come to recognisation.Toothless!

Who get paid
The french side of Africa is still like Dick Cheney told John Kerry "
the softer side ".The Europeans still see music as a source of amusement
that must generate profit dating back to the rise of the Empire in
the1600 AD.They export music score-sheets across the oceans and took
month and somtimes years for the music score-sheets to reach the public
and street performers.Music was only for the rich in caberet
house,Opera  houses that made mozart and Beethoven famous.From here on
you have companies like EMI,Paraphone and RCA They Europeans do not care
about the content of the songs.The are only interested in the ownership
of the copyrights,the popularisation of their artists on record the
control of the export of music around the world.

As simply said in wollof :
"Bunew- wechi- chi nen" (Don't change in VAIN !

Oko Drammeh
www.okodrammeh.com

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