Krump & Hipco:
Youth Expressions in Liberia
Laura Lindegaard was in Liberia for RAPOLITICS. Read her blog about krump, hipco and Liberia’s youth.
The sound of heavy breathing and feet rhythmically stomping the floor hit me from across the room. I’m looking at Abraham Vahn through my camera. He is 21 years old and a krump dancer. The only sound I hear is the heavy breathing, the sneakers as they stomp the floor and the sounds of a body making aggressive movements. It looks almost as if he is fighting an invisible enemy. The hip hop beats that would normally accompany the dance only play in his headphones. It gives an almost poetic feel to the moment as I capture the movements of krump in a house in the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia.
I’m in Liberia with RAPOLITICS to find two dancers who will go to Denmark in September 2012 to conduct a number of workshops with Danish youths. Abraham Vahn is one of the two dancers. Through the RAPOLITICS youth project “Exaggerate”, funded by the Danish Center for Culture & Development (DCCD), the Liberian dancers will teach Danish students about krump and tell them about life as a youth in Liberia.
Krump emerged as a hip hop dance form in the ghettos of Los Angeles, USA, in the beginning of the 00’s by young Afro-Americans. The main inspiration came from “clowning”, another dance style from LA created by Tommy the Clown, but while clowning is playful and teasing, krump got a distinctly more aggressive and expressive feel to it. Krump became a form of expression that was not merely a dance form but also a lifestyle, presenting itself as a faith based art form. Krump stands for Kingdom Radically Uplifted Mighty Praise and draws on inspiration from the bodily possessions churchgoers experience in the Afro-American church where body shaking and cramps show as the physical manifestation of possessions by the Holy Spirit. However, even though Liberia is a highly religious country and religion plays a major role in everyday life, there is no immediate connection between the church and the great popularity krump has gained in Liberia.
In 2009 some young guys from J.J .Roberts High School in Monrovia stumbled upon some krump videos on Youtube. They liked the style and started practicing. Hip hop dance was gaining popularity in the capital, but it took another few years before krump and hip hop dance really took off. Today most school kids in Monrovia know krump, who the best dancers and dance crews are and where and when the next show or competition is taking place. Which is practically every week. Recently a TV show similar to X-Factor, but with hip hop dancers, started on national TV and another reality TV show about dancers is in the making.
In a country like Liberia where the luxury of having a hobby is reserved the few, dancing and particularly hip hop dance and krump is a way of expression that allows for the average (often poor) youths to show off their skills, gain popularity, express themselves creatively and form friendships as they join dance groups. Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world. From 1989-2003 the country was torn apart by horrendous civil wars that killed 250.000 people and had 1 million fleeing to the neighboring countries. In a country with only 3,4 million citizens, everyone was affected. The physical infrastructure was destroyed, but also social norms, culture and creativity suffered.
Liberia is facing an interesting yet difficult time. It has been eight years of reconstruction, yet the United Nations Mission to Liberia (UNMIL) still has 8,000 peacekeepers stationed in the country and there is no prospect of an early withdrawal. One of the greatest problems Liberia is facing is the extremely high unemployment rate, which particularly hits the youth, who cannot find work and therefore can’t gain independence from their families. The frustration of the youth who don’t feel that they are being heard is in itself a threat to a permanent stability.
However, young people of today’s Liberia are the first (post-war) generation whose teenage years were not lost in the civil war. And they are now in a position to create and define their own culture where the fast spread of access to mobile phones and (a still very slow) Internet play a major role. One of the things the youths are defining themselves through is hip hop dance. Another thing is hipco music. Hipco is the Liberian version of hip hop music. The -co stands for colloquial – everyday Liberian English. The lyrics reflect the everyday problems Liberians experience; from police harassment to the love of chicken soup or relationship issues and the hipco rappers are seen as local heroes who publicly express life as young people in this small West African nation experience it. Hipco plays an important part in giving the youth a voice in the public debate. In 2007 one of the most famous hipco artists, Takun J, was arrested and beaten by the police for a song about police bribery. Since then, the musicians have gained more freedom of speech as they have the support of the people and particularly of the youth, who is the majority of the population. Music plays a role in exploring the limits to freedom of expression and plays an important role in keeping the discussion of censorship and free artistic expression alive in the fragile democracy.
Even though there is a long way to go, both hipco and krump are cultural contemporary expressions that are instrumental in shaping post-conflict Liberia in a positive and necessary direction. There is a great need for attention and support to the creative expressions of the youth in Liberia.
RAPOLITICS’ krump project is a small but significant contribution to the dance scene in Liberia. Almost no adults, and even less so foreigners, have yet paid attention to the interests and artistic talents of the youth. Because of the lack of financial output one can gain through arts in Liberia, creative expressions are not encouraged by the older generation. By providing young dancers with the opportunity to go to Denmark, not only the ones going but also other skillful dancers step up their game in order to change their future opportunities for the better. Abraham Vahn told me that the salary from the workshops in Denmark will pay his enrolment and student fee at the University in Liberia. Dance is his passion, but he knows the importance of education.
See pictures from RAPOLITICS’ travel to Liberia in April 2012
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Laura Lindegaard holds a Master’s degree in Cross Cultural Studies from the University of Copenhagen. She wrote her Master’s thesis on youth and performativity in post-conflict Liberia. Since 2010 she has lived in Liberia on/off for a total of 10 months interning for an NGO, conducting empirical research for her master’s thesis and working on a documentary.
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Download Chief Boima's
Hip-co-Gbema
"Lone Stars Mix, Vol. 1"
As you no doubt sussed from that piece, Boima spent pretty much most of the summer in Liberia, immersing himself in the music, discovering how these sounds were connected to the recent history and day-to-day experience of Liberians and hooking up with the key artists.
Lone Stars Vol. 1 is a mix of his favourite tunes from all that he heard during his visit. Full songs set for release very soon on Benjamin Lebrave's Akwaaba Music label, so hang on to your hats! Until then, download and enjoy Boima's heady mix.TRACKLIST (as experienced by Boima)
1. Takun J-Tu-ka-ka-ya-tu feat. Byronic and Nasseman
I heard this song on the radio during a Monrovia traffic jam the first week I arrived in Liberia. It has a special place in my mind and heart as the first song I recognized, and had to track down. Takun J is one of if not the most popular Hipco artist currently in Liberia. With lines like “said she want me email, but the email didn’t work”, Takun always manages to come up with subtle and inventive lines (off the top of his head) that depict daily life on the ground in Monrovia. I also love the chipmunk high voice that Liberian producers tend to play with. Nasseman, also featured on the track has his own style that borrows from Jamaican Patois, and is just as popular. This was produced by Infectious Michael. 2. F.A.-Bump It Remix featuring Takun J, K-Zee, and Cypha D’King
A really great song from a group of Liberia’s most popular artists. This song comes from the powerhouse studio Bluelinks in downtown Monrovia. Bluelinks also has a radio station called Hot FM, which is run by DJ Blue a repatriated Liberian from Monrovia. The Bluelinks crew throws a lot of events, and they’re probably the most avid promoters and supporters of Liberian artists. 3. Genesis Crew-Champagne
I got this track from DJ Cole at the Heritage studio in Gbarnga, Bong County. I came to find out that there was a recording studio located in the center I was lodged in on a visit there. It was truly a surprise that in the war torn former capital of Charles Taylor’s I found the most technologically advanced studio in the country (running Logic Pro on an Apple Mac Tower)! The area I was staying also had really good palm wine, but I didn’t try their champagne. When Benjamin and I were going through tracks to include on the comp, I felt that this song was a unique addition, something unlike anything I’d heard in rest of the country, but I wasn’t quite sure it was polished enough. After a few listens the catchy chorus and the raggamuffin style verse really grew on us. But in the end, two words can sum up what really convinced us to include this one: Auto-tune breakdown! 4. Deboy’s Crew-Polo Mabo
Deboy could be considered an innovator of the Gbema-Hipco fusion. He was running one of the original home studios right after the war years. Benjamin and I visited him and the crew after a long series of shared taxi rides to the northern suburbs of Monrovia. I had heard this song on repeat at my favorite drinking spot in Paynesville, Club 704. It became one of my favorite songs during the months I stayed in Liberia. I loved the play between the halftime bass drum kicks at 180 BPM, especially the part in the middle when they suddenly sing in English “somebody positive, and somebody negative”. Being able to include this song on the compilation made the journey worth it. 5. Junior Freeman & African Soldier-Damyarea
Number one heard song in Liberia this summer all over the country. I went to a market in a rural area, and the tapes for this album were moving like hotcakes. It was so popular the current president even used the song to kick of her re-election campaign. 6. Big J-Kalaman
Another one from Heritage stuido in Gbarnga. Big J is from Lofa county in the remote, northern tip of the country, bordering Sierra Leone and Guinea. The song clearly takes elements from Sierra Leone, including the word Kala which means money in Temne, a Sierra Leonean language. If you can get the meaning of the chorus it’s pretty hilarious. The daughter telling her father she wants money (“I want eat Kala”) to go to the market, and if she doesn’t get it she will, “holla”. The father simply replies “go and tell yo ma.” Brilliant! 7. Master Black-Dakamaly
Master Black was in Ghana for much of the war, where he was able to pick up some computer training and music production skills. Now he runs a little computer lab in his neighborhood (on my visit I saw folks editing a movie, Lollywood!) While Master Black mostly does his own production, this song was produced by Infectious Michael, who was also in Ghana. While in Ghana, Michael went to music school where he learned engineering and composition. This is the sound of the new Liberia. 8. 2 Kings-Fine Girl
2 Kings representing the Liberian diaspora in Ghana. The song was recorded at Shadow’s studio in Budumburam Camp outside of Accra. I love the rhythm and interplay of the vocal delivery of this tune. 9. K-Zee-Kountry Chicken feat. Pepsi and Skinny
Another song produced by Deboy that I had to track down, after seeing the video on local TV, and it really is a popular tune. Benjamin and I got to see how popular one evening, when K-Zee performed at Groovies, a local bar. Every Friday night a live house band holds an open mic session and local singers and rappers perform their own songs and classic Afro-pop hits from places like South Africa, Congo, Ghana, and Nigeria. When K-Zee performed this Jump-up Soca inflected Gbema-Hipco hybrid, the crowd’s enthusiastic singing along and hand-waving participation made me feel like I was on the road at carnival. Since recording this song K-Zee has become part of Infectious Michael’s crew. 10. Noy-Z-4 Noy Z Bizness
Hipco artist John Bricks told me and Benjamin that Noy Z’s “I’ll Boke You”, and it’s message derailing the political corruption of the post-war transitional regime, really ignited the spread of Hipco across the country. On this song Noy-Z takes his turn at the Gbema-Hipco style, with fine results. Noy-Z’s brother Alonzo is a popular reggae singer based in Freetown. 11. L 2 Sweet-O Gye
I saw L 2 Sweet perform this song while I was DJing an Anti-gun rally run by Youth Crime Watch of Liberia in the Red Light market on the edge of Monrovia. His crew really impressed me with their coordinated dance routine, and the quality of their songwriting and productions. When we were looking for songs for the compilation, this is another one that I chased down, asking everyone I could about where it came from. Of course, it’s another Infectious Michael production. 12. David Mell-Hero
David Mell is Liberia’s R&B heartthrob. He mixes the crooning of American and Nigerian R&B singers to come up with a style he calls Soul-co. This was the only song included on the compilation that I actually heard about before getting to Liberia, thanks to the nice video of it on youtube. Another Infectious Michael production he told me he used a Ghanian rhythm to construct the Gbema backbeat. 13. Marie Nyenebo-Joya
Infectious Michael was actually the first producer I met in Liberia after linking up with Tan Tan another one of the rappers in his stable. He gave me this tune in a collection of songs for me to check out, and I was instantly drawn to this 218 BPM scorcher! 14. Shadow-Killing Me
Shadow is a producer, singer, and rapper based out of the Budumbura Camp in Accra (known locally as “Liberia Camp”.) Benjamin sent me to visit Shadow and his crew when I visited him for a week in Ghana. I was really amazed by what he was able to accomplish with the limited equipment that he has. All of the Liberian producers, Michael, Deboy, and Shadow are working on virus laden PC’s and pirated production software. It goes to show that you really don’t need the best and most expensive equipment to make it sound good! Shadow won best song with this tune at the 2010 All African Traditional Music Awards in Benin. 15. Shadow-Killing Me (Chief Boima Remix) 16. J.P. & De Royal Force-Make You Dance
This song blows my mind and my body. The bass kick interplay, between the American Crunk (or Juke) sensibility and the traditional rhythms at blazing speed, really makes me want to dance every time I hear it. This Shadow produced track might the pinnacle of the Bubu-Gbema-Hip Hop cross breed I’ve been looking for since I first heard it at a Sierra Leonean wedding years ago.
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