Feature: Inside American cultural influence over Africa

Products of American culture such as music dominated the continent partly because of the underdeveloped cultural industries on the continent that could have come as a result of the underdeveloped supportive industries such as the media that plays a huge a role in propelling arts and culture.

American culture in the 1990s up until 2010 was too strong that it influenced the way of life in most countries on the continent.

School-going teenagers and young adults, sang along, mimed and imitated American music superstars such as Beyoncé, Rihanna, 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes among others who they watched in music videos.

The movies produced by Hollywood too played a part in influencing the way of life, including the fashion trends adapted by most people on the continent.

Today, some people feel this influence has been dwindling over the years.

Gerald Kizito, a 21-year-old university student, says much of the music he consumes today is Nigerian and Ugandan.

“I mostly consume Nigerian and Ugandan music. Right now, it’s even hard to break down top American songs. Not that I don’t listen to any. I do, but not as much as Nigerian and Ugandan music,” he says, adding that he consumes more American movies than music.

Ugandan and other African musicians, actors, actresses among others have today got the attention of African audiences, and this seems to have led to less consumption of American music, mostly.

Snoop Dogg during a stage performance (Photo credit: Weedmaps) Weedmaps

Is American cultural influence dwindling?

Ugandan music critic and content manager, James Kaliisa, also known as James Propa, argues that most people on the continent have only gotten used to American influence that they no longer recognise some of the American influences.

“I think we just got used to American influence. We now do things but we don’t understand how much they influence us, but most of the products we use in our everyday lives are influenced by Americans. They are either produced in America or produced by countries influenced by America. Linking our culture to the American, I think it’s just stabilising. Somethings from America that we use we do not recognise that they are American because we have made our local version. We still use their language - English,” he says.

Kaliisa says much of what we call American dominance then (1990s and 2000s) came as a result of American cultural industry being dominated by superstars.

“There’s what they call the death of superstars. When you mention the likes of Beyoncé, Rihanna and Jay Z, that was the age of superstars. It is no more, but it doesn’t necessarily mean their cultural influence has gone down. It is still strong because they are still dominating in areas such as technology.”

African cultural products such as music have lately been having good airplay on the continent. In most cases, it is played more than American music.

Ugandan music producer and talent manager, George Bush Kagoda alias Bushington, attributes this to the fact that most African countries have also had a certain degree of growth in some areas such as improved production of music, films/movies and other arts.

“The only reason why some people feel they have now outgrown American music is because African cultural industries have grown. We now have a lot of talented musicians and countries like Nigeria have taken it a notch higher by even learning American kind of related production and way of doing things. Back in the days we only had a few musicians, so, American song had to fill the void,” he says.

“I think African have also learnt how to consume content produced by their artists, actresses and actors among other unlike in the past.”

Most who feel American cultural influence over Africa is declining cite the less American music play today, but the same can not be said of Hollywood movies which are also a product of American culture.

Moses Serugo, an arts and entertainment reporter, says Hollywood has continued to dominate partly because of the huge investment made in their industry and availability of talent.

“Hollywood has huge marketing budgets. This means they invest a lot in their movies. It won’t be easy to beat them because they have a huge production machine that can’t easily be matched,” he said, adding that that influence has also come as a result of American dominance the technology space.

“The Hollywood influence has been more the technical side of things. Some of our movie/film producers here are students of the Hollywood industry. It has been in the best practices such as marketing, investment and employing actors and actresses on full time. The whole set up of the set is purely American.”

Chameloene performing during the Ggwanga Mujje concert recently Pulse Live Uganda

Lessons from American cultural dominance

For Uganda’s cultural industry to grow, Kaliisa says Ugandan musicians, actors, actresses and other stakeholders need to embrace professionalism. One of the ways this can be done, he said, is through crediting all people who have contributed to a project.

“In Americas if you check a song on any streaming platform, you will release that they credit people who have been on the project. A good example of this is Eddy Kenzo’s Sitya Loss, Diggi Baur the music producer worked on the song but was never given credit. We need to understand that it’s not only about the artist. If we learn this practice, it will help us grow since those involved know will benefit from the project,” he said.

“We need to also learn several things in regards to arts and culture. The music producers, talent managers, film directors and producers need to educate themselves about modern practices,” he said, adding that, the industry also needs to attract professionals such as business developers.

In the movie/film industry, Serugo says Government needs to put in place infrastructure that can help the movie industry thrive. He also says Government also needs to support the movie/film industry by supporting successful film/movie projects with promotional budgets most especially on the global stage.