I am sitting on the balcony in the sun reading Tina Fey's "Bossypants" (everyone should read by the way, so funny) and all of the sudden I hear a group of girls across the street singing "Diamonds" by Rihanna. I have maybe heard that song every day since I have been here...Rihanna is huge here and I have had many interesting encounters with her and other popular American music artists during my time here as well.
It all started when we were in South Africa in the township of Kliptown. If you read my earlier post about my time there you know how it was a very emotional and intense experience. As I am walking through this neighborhood stepping over puddles of mud mixed with sewage and through gravel streets I stop by the makeshift bathrooms they have established. Ringing through the neighborhood is "Diamonds" by Rihanna. I can't explain how I felt then. It was strange because I was so intently focused on what was around me and the unfortunate conditions these people were being forced to live in and then there was Rihanna. I don't like Rihanna, I didn't in the US and I don't her here either. It was like two worlds were just colliding and it was extremely strange. We were in some of the worst conditions I have ever seen and it was mixing with American pop culture. It's not really a big deal but I guess you had to be there in the moment to understand how strange it felt.
Then I am with my homestay family in Soweto and the daughter constantly walked around singing Rihanna. One of the reasons I don't like Rihanna much is that some of her songs do not necessarily carry the best messages for young girls and that whole Chris Brown thing (don't get me started). It is unavoidable though because she is everywhere and what can you do I guess.
My other encounter with Rihanna was here in Namibia when some of our group went with some new friends we met here to a park in Katatura, a local township. We were the only white people in the park and in the neighborhood basically. We were all just sitting around chatting and playing frisbee when I noticed that people were forming groups around us and sitting really close just watching us. Now this was a strange feeling as well, probably one I will write another blog on at some point, but that's not the point. There were maybe 20 children who just kept getting closer and closer to us just staring in awe. Some of us went and sat with them and they immediately started singing "Diamonds" by Rihanna. They knew every single word of the whole song and they were actually singing pretty wonderfully. Again, it was two worlds clashing and there was a lot on my mind. I guess it's just strange to me to hear her everywhere, even though I hear her everywhere in the US too.
American pop music is extremely popular here. When I went to visit a school in Soweto in South Africa they split us all up and I was put into a 10th grade classroom filled with boys and girls. I was definitely scared. I walked in and they were all giggling at me and talking to each other in Zulu at their desks. After I sat in on a lesson, the teacher said I could talk to the kids for the rest of class and have them ask me questions. The questions I got asked went something like this:
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
"How do you like the US?"
"What celebrities do you know?"
"Do you know Justin Beiber?"
"Do you know Lil' Wayne?'
"Do you know Beyonce?" (I WISH)
"Do you know Rihanna?"
and my personal favorite: "I am going to the US soon, can I get your address and phone number so we can go out?" uhhhh....nice try kid.
But anyways the point was that American music artists are so popular here! All of these kids assumed that since I was from the US I knew Rihanna and various other pop stars. They were very disappointed when I had to break the news to them that I in fact knew no one famous at all. They were shocked. I also lied and told them I liked Rihanna because I was afraid of what would happen if I said I didn't. Most of the time I just switched to talking about Beyonce instead haha
I hear American music everywhere. On the radio, in the malls, down my street, and even in the most downtrodden areas. The whole concept is just really interesting to me and it is crazy how music and pop culture transcends cultural, language, and country boundaries.
This was kind of a random post but it's a Thursday morning and Rihanna keeps playing and there was a lot on my mind! Media is pretty interesting!
Hope you are all having a wonderful week! :)
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