Keepin’ it real: language, authenticity, and hip-hop in West Africa

• In Event: Language and Belonging: Culture and Authenticity in Transnational Contexts

Abstract

This paper provides my analysis of the discourses of authenticity and language as embodied by Y’en a Marre (YEM); a civic movement in Senegal, and the Fédération estudiantine et scolaire de Côte d’Ivoire (FESCI), a student organisation in Côte d’Ivoire. What was evident with these two YEM and FESCI, was their intentional use of a Hip-Hop-informed pedagogy to assert linguistic authenticity and promote social transformation. This paper first considers the intersections of language, Hip-Hop and the notions of authenticity as a function to maintain cultural identity (Levy, 2020; McLeod, 1999), then discusses how YEM and FESCI approached and navigated their notion of “keepin’ it real” and authenticity in nonformal spaces. This paper contributes to discussions of language, Hip-Hop pedagogy, critical consciousness and the geopolitics of West African youth in the struggle against the neocolonial stage of imperialism (Ngugi, 1980).

Author

• Noella Binda Niati, University of Cambridge