American rapper Rick Ross released the Nigerian version of his video for “Hold Me Back” in September, and it became a significant talking point on many online forums as Nigerians debated the portrayal of squalid life in a Lagos slum. The Nigerian version was shot in Obalende, a suburb of Lagos, as a follow-up on an earlier version with the same theme shot in New Orleans in the United States.
The video opens with an American newscaster announcing the end, in 1970, of the 30-month Nigerian Civil War, during which some two million people died. It then shows the military head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, announcing that the war had ended “in a victory for common sense.” From there, it descends into images of goats living with human beings, half-naked children running around, people living in shacks, beggars on the street, and other disturbing images of poverty in the slum.
“Hold Me Back (Nigeria)” was overwhelmingly condemned by Nigerians and friends of Nigeria who saw it as damaging to the country’s public image, though a few people did defend the video. You can get a feel for some of the reactions below:
Criticisms
CP-Africa, a Nigerian online blog: “Some might classify the video as ‘poverty porn’ … the ‘glamourization of poverty.’”
Seun Kuti, a popular Nigerian musician: “I feel Rick Ross’s big belly is more worthy of criticism than his video. Is he saying it is right to be obese?”
Africasacountry, an Africa-focused blog: “The negative reaction against Ross is understandable. … If he was trying to show how Nigerians are struggling with poverty or resisting their conditions, why not use more recent/relevant images like Occupy Nigeria?”
Eedris Abdulkareem, a Nigerian musician: “If they [people like Rick Ross] want to add value to people, what I expect them to do is to come down and put up a nongovernmental organization that will take care of anything that has to do with food shortage that the United Nations and the World Bank are talking about.”
Defense
Tosinadeda, a Nigerian blogger: “Why do you have a problem with the whole world seeing how majority of Nigerians live? … The world is not blind, they can see, they know how we live … they know that majority live in poverty, you can’t hide that fact.”
Tim, commenting on a blog post: “I think we are trying to shy away from reality, the song is about our strength and zeal to be successful looking at the situation of things in our nation. … Over 100 million Nigerians live in poverty but our leaders, media and entertainment industries seem to ignore it. … I like his message. Thanks Rick Ross.”
Whatever his intentions were, Ross clearly got many Nigerians angry. And, I would say, rightly so. The problem with the video is not that it is false but that it is indefensibly biased and unhelpful. Award-winning Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie explored this one-sided portrayal of Africa in the West in a TED Talk in 2009. She argued that such depictions, no matter how innocent the intentions, create a “single story.” To quote her, “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”
So Rick Ross might have made the video with very innocent intentions, but the problem with his work is that it creates a single story of what Lagos and Nigeria are all about. He framed the image of the entire country through the selective presentation of the experience of a slum, but forgot or refused to show that there is a country beautiful and thriving outside the slum. For his American audience, the video only reinforces the stereotype they already hold of what is supposedly a poor and disorganized country called Nigeria.
Nigerians know that their country has ugly spots, but their reactions to the “Hold Me Back” video suggests that they want a balanced presentation of their situation. Rick Ross, in this video, clearly failed to provide that.
Hi Matthew, talking about stereotypes, see this video (an example is already a stereotype). It circulated through our mailing list labSurlab a couple of days ago. Also rap/hip-hop, in our case it’s related to Medellin where a local crew proposes the use of the word MedaYork they apeal to the roots of hip-hop but certainly they worked hard on getting a video look alike to the so many we have seen, made by hip-hop crews, on the F line or Broadway/Manhattan. Apart from that it also raised the question regarding the possible Adidas sponsoring. So yes, here we are replicating memes through viral videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXtcRBDZ4fY
Hi Matthew, the new music video by “Die Antwoord” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIXUgtNC4Kc could add another more messed up perspective to your discussion on stereotypes in music videos. „Fatty Boom Boom“ seems to cause quite a stirr because of some ‚funny’ hate speech against Lady Gaga. And this mockery is already the most dislikable aspect of the video, because of its calculating viral marketing (living on the attention credit of having ridiculed a pop star). The stupidified white tourist gaze of a Lady Gaga look-alike meets African cliches in the streets of Joburg. The labeling on the mini-bus with Gaga inside says „Big 5 Tours“, street robbery, a low-tech doctor and some African street fashion musicians – hey, its Die Antwoord. One of the famous big 5 every tourist wants to see on a safari happens to be in the city, the lion king, others got replaced by a black panther or junk eating hyenas. Two strong stereotypes clash here, the exagerated image of a mad pop star and the Western misconception of Africa. But the fact that Yolandi, the female part of Die Antwoord, is wearing a dress made of colorful wax printed cloth which everyone recognizes as African fabrics and painted her body black, makes reference to a theater method with a racist history. Blackfacing has its origins in 19th century USA where white men caricatured people of color.
Earlier this year, two theater pieces staged in Berlin actually caused a debate on blackfacing, because white actors played people of color without any further reflection on what this gesture could possibly mean today. Both cases showed little sensitivity and proofed no knowledge. At least it caused the formation of a group called stage watch, who started spotting racism in theater pieces.
Die Antwoord, who are known for doing heavy handed stuff, were better in parodying white trash culture, roles which are closer to their roles in real life, not to mention Boer history in SA. Or at least give us a sign of reflection.
Hi Vera, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I think one possible overriding motivation for all these groups is economic rather than intentional mischief, though I am not saying it is always so. It is easier to sell entertainment products that reinforce a stereotype than those that challenge it. My next post is about an artiste who is using his works to project a positive image of Africa beyond monitoring what others might be saying about it!