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The popularity of country music in rural sub Saharan Africa

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Re: The popularity of country music in rural sub Saharan Africa

#61

Post by coredog64 »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #28
RajT88 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one that really threw me is that American country music is very popular in France. I have never been, so naturally I am sure my view of the place and the people is skewed.

It is my understanding that the American country music industry employs much more specialization of labor (e.g. performers / lyricists / composers are all different people) than other American genres, so I generally expect the quality to be higher. My sister and I both love country music. My dad is very vocal about how much he hates it, but his reasons have nothing to do with the quality of the music - they are purel…

Not just that, but someone hugely popular like George Strait will record albums with session players and then tour with his regular band.

I’m sure that happens with pop music as well, but it’s not something that people are open about.

Re: The popularity of country music in rural sub Saharan Africa

#62

Post by astrange »

yawboakye wrote: post #39

American country music buff here. Until recently Ghanaian music was mostly about the lyrics—it was impossible to make music that didn’t have great lyrics about love, life, work, religion, you name it. Music was a great instructor in traditional values. For lovers of the old music American country music fits right in since it’s probably the only(?) music export from the US that doesn't glorify crime, debauchery, all t…

There's certainly country music about those things, or at least there's a lot about drinking and doing drugs.

But if you hide all the references under a layer of irony, people can just not notice it and be happy.

Re: The popularity of country music in rural sub Saharan Africa

#63

Post by astrange »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #28
RajT88 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one that really threw me is that American country music is very popular in France. I have never been, so naturally I am sure my view of the place and the people is skewed.

It is my understanding that the American country music industry employs much more specialization of labor (e.g. performers / lyricists / composers are all different people) than other American genres, so I generally expect the quality to be higher. My sister and I both love country music. My dad is very vocal about how much he hates it, but his reasons have nothing to do with the quality of the music - they are purel…

A lot of country music came from California, although from the parts of it (like Bakersfield) that were more Southern then, not very popular with the rest of the state now, and have meth and gun violence problems.

Re: The popularity of country music in rural sub Saharan Africa

#64

Post by gunfighthacksaw »

eastof wrote: post #38
guelo wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> American country music is the most commercially successful music genre worldwide Sorry I'm very skeptical about this claim. According to the recording industry's annual report Pop music continues to dominate and Country is not in the top 10 https://www.ifpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/IFPI-Engagin... (page 15) Also, as a city dweller, why do people like you constantly attack us about everything? That feeling of…

Most country music is pop music. Also I'm skeptical of the list you linked because 80's and 90's isn't a genre.

Alt country is a thing. Cannot wait to hate on the inevitable mashup of country and hyperpop.

Re: The popularity of country music in rural sub Saharan Africa

#65

Post by grapeskin »

yawboakye wrote: post #39

American country music buff here. Until recently Ghanaian music was mostly about the lyrics—it was impossible to make music that didn’t have great lyrics about love, life, work, religion, you name it. Music was a great instructor in traditional values. For lovers of the old music American country music fits right in since it’s probably the only(?) music export from the US that doesn't glorify crime, debauchery, all t…

> For lovers of the old music American country music fits right in since it’s probably the only(?) music export from the US that doesn't glorify crime, debauchery, all the non-traditional African values

Since the 90s I recall country music being full of cheating on your girl, getting drunk, kicking someone's ass, and so on. Other pop music is more about getting girls in the club or whatever, but country has fairly similar lyrical content.

Re: The popularity of country music in rural sub Saharan Africa

#67

Post by gokhan »

jamal-kumar wrote: post #21

Another interesting African music genre: Desert Blues [1], which mostly comes out of the Western Sahara. I like this example (Title: Tinariwen (+IO:I) - Ténéré Tàqqàl (what has become of the Ténéré) ) [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_blues [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boiiiVh52v4

Also check Bombino

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B9z17eZv5WA

Re: The popularity of country music in rural sub Saharan Africa

#68

Post by bnralt »

guelo wrote: post #25
betwixthewires wrote: post #9

A lot of people don't really know it, but American country music is the most commercially successful music genre worldwide and is popular in places such as southeast Asia, Mongolia, sub Saharan Africa, even India and Latin america. Europeans and city dwelling Americans love to shit on it but the world loves it, probably because it's easy to relate to lyrically and uses pleasant melodies and simple to follow rhythms.…

> American country music is the most commercially successful music genre worldwide Sorry I'm very skeptical about this claim. According to the recording industry's annual report Pop music continues to dominate and Country is not in the top 10 https://www.ifpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/IFPI-Engagin... (page 15) Also, as a city dweller, why do people like you constantly attack us about everything? That feeling of…

It's also interesting because there's 5 examples of American country songs in those videos. One sung by Johnny Cash in the 60's, one written and sung by Dolly Parton in the 70's, two sung by Kenny Rogers in the 70's, and one co-written by Bob Dylan and Old Crow Medicine Show (which I suppose is country-adjacent). At least three of those are just famous in general, and most people would recognize them whether or not they're country fans.

Just looking at the five songs the Twitter user gives as examples of American country music in Africa, it doesn't look like contemporary country music has much of an impact there.

Re: The popularity of country music in rural sub Saharan Africa

#69

Post by Cupertino95014 »

I actually liked his dancing better than the "line dancing" people do in the US.

In the early 60s, Ray Charles put out "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music" [1] and people were shocked. But he just liked it.

[1] https://www.discogs.com/master/141586-Ray-Charles-Modern-Sou...

Re: The popularity of country music in rural sub Saharan Africa

#70

Post by MonkeyMalarky »

corrral wrote: post #30
betwixthewires wrote: post #9

A lot of people don't really know it, but American country music is the most commercially successful music genre worldwide and is popular in places such as southeast Asia, Mongolia, sub Saharan Africa, even India and Latin america. Europeans and city dwelling Americans love to shit on it but the world loves it, probably because it's easy to relate to lyrically and uses pleasant melodies and simple to follow rhythms.…

Do they imitate it in their own music? When I go looking for American influence in foreign pop music, most of what I find is usually hip-hop. Almost never country.

Check out Cambodian rock music. It came about during the Vietnam war from people listening to American radio broadcasts.
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