This ain't Texas, it's Africa

The Stoop

Hana Baba and Leila Day

Identity, International, Thestoop, Blackness, Storytelling, African, Personal Journals, Africanamerican, Blackidentity, Blackart, Journalism, Society & Culture, Black, Diaspora, Blackculture

4.4 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 21 November 2024

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As Black country music is having its moment, Hana has always wondered why her Sudanese mom loved Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton. You can hear country music playing in cafes in African capitals. There is a love of American country music among our African elders, many say they grew up with it.
While for many, country music is associated with white culture and isn't relatable, for many African elders it holds a very special place in their hearts. Why?
We explore the surprising histories and the appeal, and follow the story of legendary Ivorian country music duo Peter One & Jess Sah Bi.
This ain't Texas. It's Africa.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Han'all.
0:07.7	Howdy, Lila?
0:09.0	My baby born and burkeen.
0:11.8	She's been telling me all night long.
0:14.8	Ooh, howdy.
0:16.7	I know that song.
0:18.1	That's Shaboozy.
0:19.4	Yes.
0:20.1	Black country music is having such a moment.
0:23.0	Black country is definitely having a moment right now.
0:30.6	Right.
0:31.6	And Shibuzi took the country music world by storm
0:34.8	when he stayed number one on the billboard charts for 12 weeks with that song.
0:40.0	Yes, and Lila, even though there is a black renaissance in country, Shibuzi is Nigerian-American,
0:48.2	and that has a lot of folks baffled.
0:51.7	Yeah, a country star with Nigerian roots.
0:55.0	It's not what a lot of people expect from the world of country music.
0:59.0	I mean, for as long as I can remember, country music was really honestly, you know, very
1:04.0	white.
1:05.0	It wasn't something I aligned myself with.
1:07.0	I didn't really think it like spoke my language. It didn't feel like me.
1:12.6	I was like, are these my people?
	...

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