Dar Es Salaam - Globalization

Globalization

Globalization has affected many of the cultural expressions in Dar es Salaam, in particular, hip hop music and culture. The hip hop scene in Dar es Salaam articulates a blending of local cultural struggles and the indigenization of global influences. Hip hop music and culture arrived in Tanzania, taking its cues from various African American styling. Birgit Quade highlights Tanzanian hip hop's connection to US culture when she writes: "What makes hip-hop a global phenomenon is that it draws upon style, music, and look that is not restricted to any local region or language... In the mid-1980s, young people who saw the first hip-hop films and videos coming from America and started break-dancing and rapping." The adaptations of language, fashion, style, and content within Tanzanian hip hop culture have evolved gradually. The result of this evolution has created a localized form of hip hop, often showcasing native dialectic lyrical performances and traditional garbs. While hip hop in Dar es Salaam is a clear reflection of Tanzanian localized struggle and culture, it also engages in and compromises with aspects of Western culture.

According to Eric Achakeng of the University of Adelaide, Globalization has raised some troubling concerns for the developing world, including Africa. One such concern is its impact on urbanization and the ramifications that go with it. Cities are traditionally engines of social modernization and economic growth and at the same time the theatres in which globalization stages its actions. For Africa this has meant fueling the already unprecedented urban growth phenomenon and increasing the challenges that go with it. One key challenge is the management of municipal solid waste. Dar es Salaam, a city projected to have over 5 million inhabitants within the next decade, continues to be the one city in Tanzania to which villagers flock for better opportunities. Westerners and Asians are also settling in Dar es Salaam, and the surge of foreigners has put pressure on Dar es Salaam officials to implement laws better accommodating the growing diverse population of Dar es Salaam and its suburbs.