[HN Gopher] The popularity of country music in rural sub Saharan...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       The popularity of country music in rural sub Saharan Africa
        
       Author : blegh
       Score  : 47 points
       Date   : 2022-06-30 21:42 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (twitter.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (twitter.com)
        
       | jamal-kumar wrote:
       | Another interesting African music genre: Desert Blues [1], which
       | mostly comes out of the Western Sahara. I like this example
       | (Title: Tinariwen (+IO:I) - Tenere Taqqal (what has become of the
       | Tenere) ) [2]
       | 
       | [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_blues
       | 
       | [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boiiiVh52v4
        
       | betwixthewires wrote:
       | 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. Love, heartbreak and
       | agriculture are pretty much universal.
        
         | rayiner wrote:
         | I found it funny when I was growing up that my dad
         | (Bangladeshi) listened to country music. I was more of a Dave
         | Matthew's guy, but as a dad my dial is also stuck on WMZQ. It's
         | simple and easy to relate to.
        
       | rmason wrote:
       | I would wager that this came about as a result of the Internet. I
       | can't imagine some record company deciding Africans would like
       | country music and investing there. No the interest started first
       | and then it pulled the record companies along.
       | 
       | Next question is when will country music stars start touring
       | there?
        
         | Apocryphon wrote:
         | The second and third tweets in that thread refute that
         | hypothesis.
        
         | arkitaip wrote:
         | It's been a trend since the 70s.
        
           | cowtools wrote:
           | Who knows, maybe country music was all the rage on the
           | ARPANET
        
       | legalcorrection wrote:
       | At least half of the songs in those videos aren't really country
       | as much as americana/folk/blues.
        
       | jimkleiber wrote:
       | I lived in Tanzania for a few years and while riding an
       | absolutely packed daladala (minibus), I heard over the radio Lee
       | Greenwood belt "...and I'm proud to be an American!" I was so
       | confused, but smiling, but so confused.
        
       | infinitek wrote:
       | This is interesting, because country music is very popular in
       | aboriginal Australia too. Further reading:
       | https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.abc.net.au/news/201...
        
         | RajT88 wrote:
         | 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.
        
       | Daub wrote:
       | I lived in Burma for a while. Up in the north, line dancing is
       | super popular.
        
       | excitom wrote:
       | Anecdotal evidence: Playing around with a site like
       | http://radio.garden/ it seems 70s-80s rock is quite popular.
        
       | uhoh-itsmaciek wrote:
       | American country music has been heavily influenced by African
       | Americans since the beginning (often without recognition, though
       | that's starting to change.) The banjo is based on African
       | instruments, and many musicians like Huddie Ledbetter, Elizabeth
       | Cotten, Mississippi John Hurt, Arnold Shultz, and DeFord Bailey
       | helped shape the genre. It's great to see this popularity in
       | Africa--in a weird way, it's almost like coming full circle.
        
         | chrisdhoover wrote:
         | Maybe there was some cross pollination but the progenitors of
         | country were the hillbilly folk music now now as bluegrass that
         | is rooted in English, Scottish and Irish folk music. Banjos
         | were adopted later, the original form was fiddle based.
        
       | yardie wrote:
       | Because country music is also black music.
       | 
       | And there have been Black, country musicians as long as country
       | music has existed. But you wouldn't know them because of the
       | racist history of Nashville music industry.
        
         | betwixthewires wrote:
         | It's popular in Vietnam too, maybe you know why that is as
         | well?
        
         | rayiner wrote:
         | But we're talking about Africans, a culturally distinct group
         | of people.
        
         | selimthegrim wrote:
         | I am pretty sure Charley Pride is not obscure
        
           | vanattab wrote:
           | Charley who?
        
             | cyberbanjo wrote:
             | One of my favorites
             | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b5ZWRFr5ls
        
       | RajT88 wrote:
       | There is a metal scene in Africa too.
       | 
       | https://www.anorak.co.uk/381262/celebrities/music-celebritie...
        
       | [deleted]
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2022-06-30 23:00 UTC)