We often believe that we are westernised, gentrified by US and European culture (if you are niche). But just as the West takes Africa’s natural resources – the DRC’s copper to make batteries, Nigeria’s crude oil to make plastic, Rwanda’s coltan to make electronics, or our very own South African diamonds and golide to deck their necks – the West also shoplifts our culture and, therefore, the credit, all to be resold to us at an extortionary price. Much like the skills and infrastructure gap, we have a cultural recognition gap.
A prime example of this is Afrobeats and Amapiano. We have all heard Drake’s “One Dance”, a song that uses African percussion and rhythms. It is funny how it takes Drake or Major Lazer to get people to listen to Afrobeats, but when Asake drops an absolute banger, the world yawns. Tyla will be playing in a Swedish club, but when someone asks who the song is by, you are greeted with paper-blank stares. “Is It Wrong” that our music is being enjoyed and shared? No, but it is the credit that matters. Why? Because of one simple truth: western artists earn significantly more than African artists. 2010s Amapiano went viral – the global DJs racked in millions (and those millions were in dollars, mind you) while the original SA producers and artists got a whopping $17 in PayPal donations and a tiktok trend. We invented the vibe, and they sold the ticket.
Apparently, Kim Kardashian invented the “Haute Cornrow”. Of course, South Africans have been rocking these for centuries and without a runway fee. Many Western brands and designers use African fabrics and patterns in their overpriced, appropriated collections. Imagine buying a Valentino dress for R80 000 that looks exactly like the Shweshwe you bought at the Boulders China Mall. TikTok calls it “cultural prints”, but it is the same Ankara fabric you can get at a street market in Durban or Lagos. The West grabs at Africa’s indigenous fashion and style, slaps a “Dior” label on it, and resells it to us to break our bank accounts and inflate their own. Local is rebranded as western couture. Maybe the kasi markets can start serving grape juice, a free beveragino – which is, in all honesty, what the “luxury experience” is.
Furthermore, the West dominates television, film, and cinema, propagandising conveniently “coveted” Western lifestyles, interests, and ideologies to the global audience. More so, one could argue Nollywood is more insightful than the Western philosophers one studies. Schopenhauer maintained that we create the violent state of nature, while Pawpaw says that “people who run from fights live to fight another day”. All jokes aside, African industries like Nollywood produce huge volumes of films but receive far less global distribution investment. And yet, besides Nollywood being peak entertainment, there is also a versatile range of African filmmakers such as Kenya’s Judy Kibinge, Tunisia’s Kaouther Ben Hania, or our own Gavin Hood with his iconic Tsotsi.
At the end of the day, we sadly turn to our beloved Marvel that exemplifies the cultural recognition gap and ask: why is there only one mush of African culture in Black Panther (when Wakanda is not even real) and not a much-needed representational diversity of different African cultures in the mainstream media franchise? Dear West, put some respect on Africa’s name, and stop stealing our sh*t without compensation – we know we are dope as hell.
Mila Jordaan
