Internet age: How the world can get hip to more than just contemporary African music and dance culture
Internet age: How the world can get hip to more than just contemporary African music and dance culture
Bryan Obonyo, Shay Sade, Monique Touko, David Osafo, and Ian Oplot are a group of London-born and bred friends who decided one day to record their reactions to African artists' Afrobeats music videos. According to their official website, that wonderful day occurred in 2017.
By 2021, the Ubunifu Space YouTube channel had amassed over 288 000 subscribers. Additionally, the close-knit group of Brits has already produced its first eight-part docu-series, #UBUONTOUR, which follows the friends as they explore South Africa and Kenya in December 2019.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Tremayne Yocum, 27, of Louisville, Kentucky, has refocused his Mansa Mayne YouTube channel to focus on his reactions to Amapiano and South African hip-hop music videos, as well as Amapiano dance and viral videos.
These two seemingly innocuous examples of young people doing what they do (expressing themselves through the internet, social media, and digital platforms) also point to a more consequential trend: the internet's ability to build and nurture cultural movements. African music and dance culture in the contemporary era are quintessential examples of this.
YouTube was instrumental in the discovery and development of popular African sounds, as well as the export of the continent's music to global audiences. The top 25 Sub-Saharan-African artists on YouTube receive more than 70% of their views from outside the continent. That is not only astounding, but it also demonstrates the platform's potential for bridging continental subcultures and establishing a foothold for them abroad.
The internet has enormous potential to transform dominant representations of the continent, its countries, and its peoples into ones that are more representative of not only the realities on the ground, but also of the continent's immense potential, talent, and innovation.
In 2020, as the world grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic, YouTube partnered with Viacom CBS's MTV Base and Hollywood star Idris Elba to bring the Africa Day Benefit Concert At Home to locations and audiences that traditional television would not normally be able to reach, while also supporting the continent's fight against the pandemic's effects.
Apart from music, the internet has the potential to significantly shape the narrative on the continent as a whole. Africa's thriving storytelling culture has been demonstrated, with Nollywood, for example, attracting a sizable global audience. African storytellers are utilizing the internet, as well as platforms like ours, to share their passions and cultures.
This year, an inaugural class of African YouTubers received grants to develop their content, allowing the 23 #YouTubeBlackVoices Fund content creators to thrive on the platform and contribute diverse perspectives. As we prepare to celebrate Africa Day for the second year in a row, it is incumbent upon us to consider where and how we want our beautiful, vibrant, and youthful continent to go. And the odds appear to be in our favor.
Africa as a continent is ripe for growth and development. By 2030, the World Economic Forum estimates that one in every five people will be African, and by 2034, Africa will have the world's largest working-age population of 1.1 billion. Similarly, CFR.org anticipates that one in every three people on Earth will be African by the year 2100.
In Conclusion
This means that by the end of the century, Sub-Saharan Africa – which already has an unusually young population – will be home to nearly half of the world's youth. And Youtube will continue to serve as a global platform for these young people to showcase their talent and abilities.
African entertainment players have already made significant strides in collaboration with YouTube, demonstrating that the internet and the rest of the world are eager to hear more from Africa and our creators. At YouTube, we are committed to showcasing the world's talent and creativity from Africa.
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