“Hip Hop here [in Senegal] is different than in the US. People here don’t go to the shows to dance, they go to listen. It’s a performance. And when you listen to the lyrics, it hits you, it hits you right between the eyes.” (Abdou Diop of African Bronx City Youngsters B-Boy Crew)

Dakar, Senegal (West Africa)- February 2007-

Marche [market] Sandaga is full as usual. Hand-made, wooden stalls crowd the already narrow streets as pedestrians and honking taxis alike fight to pass through. Crackly rap music blasts out of a stall stocked with shelves and shelves of cassette tapes. The speaker from which the music comes is as big as the stall itself. The brightly colored Car Rapides (informal public transportation buses) race by, young kids hang off the back of the trucks yelling their respective destinations- Woukam Woukam Woukam – Dakar Dakar Dakar – Pikine Pikine Pikine. On the surface, it is business as usual. I haven’t been in Dakar since 2005 when I was a student, a junior in college, beginning my four month study abroad in a country that, until that point, I had only read about. Two years later, I am back in Senegal, this time with a team of three people, Ben Herson of Nomadic Wax and Chris Moore, my film partner. We are here to make a documentary film about politics and music. Standing in Marche Sandiga, I finally see the changes that had eluded me before. The walls, the lamp poles- every available surface – are covered with pictures of men. One face covers more walls then the rest. I recognize him immediately. Dakar is covered with the political posters of current president Abdoulaye Wade, an 80-something (no one knows his real age) year old who is running for re-election. Paint smears cover the eyes and the face of this elderly president on many of these posters. In some places, the posters have been ripped to pieces.

The Context

Historically, Senegal has been hailed as one of the more stable democratic countries in West Africa. Since its independence in the 1960’s, it has maintained free and fair elections. Despite this, it has had only three presidents. The first two ruled until 2000, a time dominated by one political party, the Socialist Party of Senegal (Parti Socialiste Du Senegal). A response to decades of single party political rule with little attention paid to urban poverty, unemployment, crime, and corruption, rap music and Hip Hop culture began to emerge out of the streets and sprawling shanty-towns suburbs of Dakar in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Emcees, graffiti writers, and DJ’s used their music and spray cans to educate and empower each other.

In early 1994, Positive Black Soul released the first Senegalese hip hop album and almost immediately, the world began to pay attention. The impact on Senegal was bigger than anyone had ever imagined. Positive Black Soul (PBS), fronted by Didier Awadi and Duggy-Tee, blended traditional instruments, songs and singing styles together with Public Enemy-esque rap specific to the Senegalese experience. The very political album was purposely released just after the 1993 presidential elections. The line, ‘We are not the PS. We are not the PDS. We are the PBS,’ a reference to Senegal’s two political parties, started a chain reaction in the country resulting in an explosion in rap crews, radio shows, and studios. PBS had voiced the feelings of frustration of most Senegalese youth and they had done it through Hip Hop. A precedent had been set.

In 2000, rappers galvanized the youth of Senegal (a majority of the population) into action. Abdoulaye Wade, an opposition leader who had run in every Senegalese election since independence, was elected by the hopeful youth. Hip Hop played the fundamental role in this regime change. In fact, Wade publicly thanked the hip hop community for its support in his first speech as President. For many, Wade was a messiah. He represented the country’s hope for a better future. For the youth, it was as simple as the possibility of a stable job, of an income, of a means of survival.

Nearly 7 years later, much of that is gone. The country still operates on a bare-bones and heavily indebted economy, unemployment is massive, and nothing has been done to curb poverty. In addition and perhaps even more frightening, a culture of fear has emerged in response to the recent jailing of opposition leaders, threats to local journalists, and the expulsion of international journalists. This past year in Senegal has been marked by unheard of numbers of Senegalese desperately fleeing the country on rafts as hopeful illegal immigrants to Europe, many drowning on the way, and widespread infringement upon freedom of speech. The youth who had been instrumental in helping to rid their country of single party rule years before, are now afraid to speak out. This explains why political protests against Wade have been rare and yet almost every one of his posters has been painted over.

mp3: “Sen Kumpe– Niawal”

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The Film

So why am I here? The Democracy in Dakar film is the first part of the African Underground Project, founded by Ben Herson of Nomadic Wax. As I have already mentioned, hip hop played the fundamental role in the regime change of 2000. With the increased tension in the country, the expulsion and harassment of journalists and musicians, and the enormous numbers of youth fleeing the country on tiny fishing boats, the February elections looked like they would be one of the most important and pivotal elections in Senegalese history. ‘Democracy in Dakar’ documents the February presidential elections through the eyes of the country’s rappers, famous and unknown, and the youth who listen to them.

To find out what exactly happened during those tense few days and what has happened since then, log onto www.africanunderground.com and take a look at the episodes we shot and edited while in Senegal.

This is a story of democracy, and the fight for a fair and incorruptible government system. It is a unique look at the role hip hop can play in national politics. If there is one thing that we have learned in making this film, it is that the challenges faced by Senegal’s youth are not too distant from the ones we face today, in the US. The film provides interest answers to questions of music, entertainment verses education, the electoral process, and democracy as a system.

Democracy in Dakar: Episode 3

Episode 3 takes place on election day and follows the group Sen Kumpe (see MP3 above!) through the day and their voting experience on into the immediate aftermath of the election, as people are sensing that Abdoulaye Wade may have won a slim majority in the election. (more)

photos in this article also by Magee McIlvaine