UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Department of Afroamerican and African Studies

Spring Term 2020

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Hip Hop in Africa 

AAS200-101: Introduction to African Studies

 

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Department of Afroamerican and African Studies

Spring Term 2020

 

Hip Hop in Africa

AAS200-101: Introduction to African Studies

 

Instructor: Prof. Kwasi Ampene                                             Time: Mon/Wed 9AM-12 PM

Location: Online                                                                     Office: 4634 Haven Hall

Phone: 734-764-7094                                                             Email: ampene@umich.edu

Office Hours: Fridays 11 am – 1 pm or appointment

Website: https://sites.google.com/umich.edu/kwasi-ampene

                                   

Course Description

Hip hop in Africa is a survey of artistic expressions that represent youth agency and empowerment since the 1990s. We shall examine the history of hip hop, the artists, musical expressions and elements as well as the socio-political and economic issues it engenders. The course will examine the range of hip hop and rap music from Ghana’s hiplife to Nigeria’s hip hop infused Afrobeats, from Senegal to East Africa, and South Africa. Hip Hop Africa is one of the many dynamic cases of cultural interactions and intersections between Africa and the African Diaspora to emerge at the end of the twentieth century. We shall interrogate a number of questions. What are the key factors that contributed to the spread of American hip hop in Africa from the 1990s to the early 2000? How does stylistic authenticities represent counter-hegemonic narratives by hip hop artists in Africa as alternatives to globalization? These are just a few of the questions that will provide a framework for understanding the explosion of hip hop on the African continent.

 

COVID-19 Pandemic and Online Classes

As you are all aware, the worldwide coronavirus pandemic has drastically changed our lives and most of what used to be normal is not, and might not be the case, for a while. Given the history of pandemics in human history, I am positive that we shall overcome the COVID-19 if we patiently follow mitigating protocols put in place by government agencies, our health workers, and our scientists.

 

We are in uncharted territory at all levels in our lives and the education systems is not different for instructors and students, our staff, and our administration. Following mitigating protocols to save lives from the coronavirus pandemic, the University of Michigan has been closed since March 12, and all classes are required to meet remotely. Consequently, all our class meetings for this Spring session will be conducted online. I strongly believe that it is during these difficult times the we, as humans, rise to the occasion and exhibit the best in us. The only way that we can deal with our present predicament-lockdown and taking classes online-is for us to be part of the solution. Let us roll our sleeves and put our shoulders to the wheel. Let us be creative. Let us be supportive of each other; for we are all in this together!!!

Since video conferencing platforms are overwhelmed with users, let us not panic or stress out about the inevitable glitches either on my side as the instructor or on your side as a student connecting from home. I am also aware that taking classes online from home or wherever you may be is not the same as being on campus and taking advantage of a vibrant academic and social environment. If you have any ideas on how I can best present my slides and music videos on BlueJeans or Zoom, please do not hesitate to let me know. Our biggest challenge is showing video clips or documentaries using video conferencing platforms so let me know if you have creative ideas about how to make it better. Just remember that we are all in this together. Let us support each other to make the online class experience engaging, participatory, and fun. I know you will.

 

Requirements

Class sessions will include lectures and discussions centered on a core set of readings, augmented with music videos and audio recordings. There is no single text for this class but reading materials from a variety of sources will be posted on Canvas. For each reading, students will answer a question or examine an issue and submit the paper before class (see details below). Each week, students will submit one thoughtful question associated with the previous week’s readings, lectures, videos and audio recordings, or class discussions for a grade. I will read questions in class for further discussions. As part of our online class, there will be a single popup question for selected music videos that students will response to-usually a sentence or two for grade. There will be a final take home exam to be given to you on the last day of class. Course work includes attending all class meetings, reading assigned materials, completing and submitting writing assignments on time, contributing to class discussions, and taking part in all course-related activities.

 

Attendance and Participation

Students are required to attend all online class sessions. We have exciting materials to cover and it is imperative that we begin class on time. I will use the participants window to take attendance. We shall split the three hour class into two sessions with each lasting an hour and half. We shall take 5 minutes break at 10:30 am and end the class promptly at 11:50 am. Crucially, I welcome diversity of viewpoints since we might not always agree on a single solution to an issue. We should be prepared to learn from each other! I cannot wait to learn from you as well so I encourage you to ask questions, contribute to class discussions, and critically engage with the reading, music videos, and audio recordings.

 

Code of Conduct

I expect students to conduct themselves professionally during discussions and respect the views of your colleagues no matter how much you might disagree. Further, you will be evaluated not on whether you agree with my own views but on how you analyze and interpret the issues as well as how you present and develop your ideas.

 

Grading Guidelines

Attendance and participation                         10 pts

Weekly questions/issues        4x7                  28 pts

Weekly questions from students 2x6        12 pts

Popup questions         2x7                              14 pts

Final take home exam                                    36 pts

                                                                        100 pts

 

 

Weekly questions/Issues From Reading

There will be seven written papers based on assigned reading materials. For each assignment, students will be asked to response to a question or examine an issue and submit your answers at least, an hour before class. Your responses must be one or two paragraphs and limited to one page, 1.5 spacing, and 12-point font. Please pay attention to the following:

• The Weekly questions are not review essays, reflection papers, or a summary of the reading
• You will earn full credit if your response satisfies all the requirements of a particular assignment. For instance, if you are asked to “discuss two key factors…,” be clear and state each key factor
• Make sure you cite page number(s) from the reading to support your point(s)
• You will earn partial credit if your response is fuzzy and does not respond or fully fulfill the requirement(s ) of an assignment
• You will earn a zero if your response is unrelated to the question or the issue at stake

 

Weekly Questions From Students and Popup Questions

In order for me to select some of your questions for class, one thoughtful question from students is due on Canvas at 11:59 pm a day before class. Popup questions on music videos are due after class, and should be posted on Canvas class for grade.

 

Communication

Everyone enrolled in the course is expected to maintain an active e-mail account that they can check a couple of times daily. Over the course of the term, announcements will be delivered via

Announcements option in Canvas. The best way to communicate with me outside of class is by email. I will respond to your email within 12 hours, especially if they require a brief response. Substantive issues are best dealt with by video conferencing and I encourage you to set up meetings with me during my office hours or by setting up an appointment with me outside my office hours.

 

Students with Disabilities

If you think you may need an accommodation for a disability, please let me know at the beginning of the term. Next, you should contact the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) office. Once your eligibility for an accommodation has been determined, you will be issued a Verified Individual Services Accommodation (VISA) form and we can arrange for your accommodation. Any information you provide is private and confidential and will be treated as such. If you already have a VISA form from SSD, please present this form to me at the beginning of the term, but no later than at least two weeks prior to the need for the accommodation so that there is enough time for the appropriate arrangements to be made.

 

Student Mental Health and Wellbeing

University of Michigan is committed to advancing the mental health and wellbeing of its students. If you or someone you know is feeling overwhelmed, depressed, and/or in need of support, services are available. For help, contact: Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at (734) 764-8312 and caps.umich.edu during and after hours, on weekends and holidays, or through its counselors physically located in schools on both North and Central Campus. You may also consult University Health Service (UHS) at (734) 764-8320 and https://www.uhs.umich.edu/mentalhealthsvcs, or for alcohol or drug concerns, see www.uhs.umich.edu/aodresources.

 

Student Sexual Misconduct Policy

Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, which includes sexual misconduct — including harassment, domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. We understand that sexual violence can undermine students’ academic success and we encourage anyone dealing with sexual misconduct to talk to someone about their experience, so they can get the support they need. Confidential support and academic advocacy can be found with the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (SAPAC) on their 24-hour crisis line, (734) 936-3333 and at sapac.umich.edu.

 

Plagiarism

Simply put, it is not tolerated. Plagiarism is representing someone else's ideas, words, statements or other works as one's own without proper acknowledgment or citation. Examples of plagiarism are:

• Copying word for word or lifting phrases or a special term from a source or reference without proper attribution.
• Paraphrasing: using another person's written words or ideas, albeit in one's own words, as if they were one's own thought.
• Borrowing facts, statistics, or other illustrative material without proper reference, unless the information is common knowledge, in common public use.

If you are caught plagiarizing you will fail the assignment and the course, your case will be forwarded, with an explanatory letter and all pertinent materials, to the LSA Dean of Student Affairs, and you will be placed on academic probation. If a student already on probation is caught plagiarizing, he or she is usually asked to leave the University. If you have any questions regarding what constitutes plagiarism, or about appropriate practices for incorporating the work of others into your own, there are multiple UM Web resources.

 

Cheating

Again, simply put, it is not tolerated. Cheating is committing fraud and/or deception on a record, report, paper, computer assignment, examination, or any other course requirement. Examples of cheating include:

• Obtaining work or information from someone else and submitting it under one’s own name.
• Using unauthorized notes, or study aids, or information from another student or student’s paper on an examination.
• Communicating answers with another person during an exam.
• Altering graded work after it has been returned, and then submitting the work for regrading.
• Allowing another person to do one’s work and submitting it under one’s own name.
• Submitting substantially the same paper for two or more classes in the same or different terms without the expressed approval of each instructor.
• Taking an exam for another person or having someone take an exam for you.

LSA policies regarding plagiarism and cheating, as well as other ethical issues, may be found on the webpage dedicated to academic integrity maintained by the Office of the LSA Assistant Dean for Student Affairs: http://www.lsa.umich.edu/academicintegrity/

 

 

 

COURSE SCHEDULE

 

Week 1                        Wed May 6: Preliminaries, Course Overview, and Intro to Hip Hop in  Africa.

Reading

Eric Charry, 2012. “A Capsule History of African Rap,” in Hip Hop Africa: New African Music in a Globalizing World. Eric Charry, ed., Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Pp. 1-25.

 

Question #1 due May 6 at 7:59 am on Canvas.

From the reading, discuss two key factors that contributed to the spread of American hip hop in Africa from the 1990s to the early 2000.

 

Music Video PopUp Question #1 due after class or at least, by 5:59 pm

 

Week 2                        M/W May 11/13 Hiplife and Dancehall in Ghana

Reading

Jesse Weaver Shipley, 2012. “The Birth of Ghanaian Hiplife: Urban Style, Black Thought, Proverbial Speech,” in Hip Hop Africa: New African Music in a Globalizing World. Eric Charry, ed., Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Pp. 29-56.

 

Question #2 due May 11 at 7:59 am on Canvas.

Why does Shipley use the term, “stylistic authenticities” in reference to Reggie Rockstone and the creation of hiplife Ghana. How does Shipley support his claim that, stylistic authenticities provide “counter-hegemonic” narratives by the African Diaspora and hiplife artists as alternatives to globalization?

 

Music Video PopUp Question #2 due after class or at least, by 5:59 pm

 

Week 3                        M/W May 18/20 Hiplife and Dancehall in Ghana

Reading

Halifu Osumare. 2012. “Empowering the Young: Highlife’s Youth Agency.” In The Hiplife in Ghana: West African indigenization of Hip-Hop.” New York: Palgrave Macmillan Press. Pp. 83-117.

 

 

Question #3 due May 18 at 7:59 am on Canvas.

What does the author mean by “connective marginalities” and how does it affect the youth in Africa?

 

Music Video PopUp Question #3 due after class or at least, by 5:59 pm in Canvas

 

Week 4                        M/W May 25/27 Uganda and Tanzania

Reading

Mwenda Ntaarangwi, 2009. “Globalization and Youth Agency in East Africa,” in East African Hip Hop: Youth Culture and Globalization. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. Pp. 1-19.

 

Question #4 due May 25 at 7:59 am on Canvas.

Using hip-hop as a spring board, how does globalization leads to opportunities and challenges for the youth in East Africa?

 

Music Video PopUp Question #4 due after class or at least, by 5:59 pm in Canvas

 

Week 5                        M/W June 1/3 Nigeria

Reading

Stephanie Shonekan, 2012. “Nigerian Hip Hop: Exploring a Black World Hybrid.” In Eric Charry ed., Hip Hop Africa: New African Music in a Globalizing World.” Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Pp. 147-167.

 

Question #5 due June 1 at 7:59 am on Canvas.

What is Shonekan’s rationale for referring to Nigerian hiphop as a hybrid?

 

Music Video PopUp Question #5 due after class or at least, by 5:59 pm in Canvas

 

Week 6                        M/W June 8/10 Senegal

Reading

Catherine Appert, 2011. “Rappin’ Griots: Producing the Local in Senegalese Hip-Hop,” in native tongues: an African hip-hop reader. P. Khalil Saucier, ed., Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press. Pp. 3-21.

 

Question #6 due June 8 at 7:59 am on Canvas

Explain what Appert means by intertextuality and compare the concept with either Ghana’s hiplife or dancehall, hip-hop in Nigeria, or Uganda.

 

Music Video PopUp Question #6 due after class or at least, by 5:59 pm in Canvas

 

 

 

Week 7                        M/W June 15/17 Kenya

Reading

Jean N. Kidula. 2012. “The Local and Global in Kenyan Rap and Hip Hop Culture,” in Hip Hop Africa: A New African Music in a Globalizing World, ed. Erich Charry, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Pp.171-186

 

Question #7 due June 15 at 7:59 am on Canvas

From Kidula’s chapter, examine the distinguishing features of Kenyan rap and compare with global characterizations in the same genre.

 

Music Video PopUp Question #7 due after class or at least, by 5:59 pm in Canvas

 

Week 8                        Mon June 22 last day of classes

Discussion of final take home questions. Final exam due Friday, June 26

 

 

 

Note: As the Instructor, I reserve the right to make changes or alter portions of this syllabus but students will be given fair notice.