African Hip Hop and Politics of Change in an Era of Rapid Globalization Mwenda Ntarangwi* Department of Sociology, Calvin College Abstract African hip hop has emerged as a forum that allows youth to critically participate in the conti- nent’s development and ideological processes in this era of rapid globalization. Arguing that a large proportion of youth in Africa are now involved in various forms of resistance and contestation of social and political practices and processes, I show that with the shrinking role of the state in pro- viding social services due to global economic changes African hip hop has become a platform for challenging current ways of living and the reimagining of a new world. Taking the advantage of spaces created by market-driven economic structures, African youth are consistently thrusting themselves in the public space commenting on politics, economics, and culture in ways that were unimaginable in the last two decades of the 20th century. With examples from multiple countries in Africa, this paper shows how youth in Africa are participating in the shaping of the political and economic futures. 1. Introduction Picture a young woman seated on a wooden bench in a storefront in an urban center. There are numerous people milling around the spaces adjacent to her as they go about their daily business: repairing shoes, selling vegetables, and playing board games. As you pay close attention you catch a glimpse of a man complaining to a group of five about being asked for money for injections, anesthesia, and other medical supplies when he vis- its his local health center. You momentarily shift your gaze only to see a young woman with a child in her arms addressing a small gathering of men and women; you hear her telling them ‘right now if we are not careful and regard our government critically and elect politicians simply based on their promises, we will forever be poor’. As she is saying this, your attention is drawn to a public transport vehicle navigating through a city street that was once paved but is now covered with potholes. Back at the wooden bench you notice something else; there are two young people, a female and male, respectively, read- ing Julius Nyerere’s Ujamaa: Essays on Socialism and Nkrumah’s Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism. As you ponder over the connections between these scenes you hear the young woman seated on the wooden bench say, ‘I have been crying too long’, and then starts singing to a synthesized beat that has been playing in the background all along. This is Arusha Tanzania and what you have just witnessed is a scene from a video of a hip hop song titled Mr. Politician. The singer is Nakaaya Sumari, the young woman you saw seated on the wooden bench. She is a hip hop artist whose musical stardom was pro- pelled by the release of this song, which later earned her a contract with Sony Music. 1 This scene and the realities depicted are not unique to Tanzania; they can be witnessed in Cape Town, Dakar, Nairobi, Libreville, Lagos, and many other urban centers across Africa. This is African hip hop, a music genre that emanated from African-American History Compass 8/12 (2010): 1316–1327, 10.1111/j.1478-0542.2010.00745.x ª 2010 The Author History Compass ª 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd