Part of a Global Music Culture

One passport had expired, and the other had been altogether forgotten. You could call it bad planning; after all, the trip to Morocco had been in the pipeline for some time already. Could it be explained away by simple thoughtlessness, or had MC Mad Maxamom and DJ SDAG from Hamburg completely forgotten that there is another world out there beyond Europe's borders?

Luckily, the Moroccan border officials relaxed the red tape and allowed both artists to enter the country. They were there to give two concerts as part of the annual "Performing Tangier" conference.

Hip hop and the universal protest

Ale Dumbsky was also present, ex-drummer with the German post-punk band Die Goldenen Zitronen and founder of the Buback Records label, one of the first to release German rap music in the late 1980s. The 44-year-old traveled to Tangier to provide the theoretical background to hip hop as a slice of global culture that transgresses boundaries. And he did just that, with immense emphasis and enthusiasm.

​​Those who, with an understandable dose of cultural pessimism, up to now believed that manifestations of youth culture are devitalized, meaningless consumer constructs that have been shattered into countless sub-divisions – they were put right (by Mr. Dumbsky): "Hip Hop culture is still a youth culture where skin color, social class, religion and origins don't matter. A culture that gives a voice to those who would otherwise not have one. And a code that's understood from the Arctic Circle to Africa. In short – the right culture for a globalized world," he says.

Almost histrionic words that would later prove to be well-founded in a most surprising fashion during the Morocco visit by MC Mad Maxamom and DJ SDAG. Both artists appeared on stage for two concerts with Muslim Zanka Flow, a rapper from Tangier.

It really "kicked"

"It was clear things were going to work out the first time the rap crews met up," says Ale Dumbsky. "Thanks to the hip hop codes, which are understood everywhere." Does he mean that superficial sign language that is confined to baggy, low-slung trousers, complicated greetings and popular slogans? "No, no, it was more than just superficial," insists Dumbsky. "That's the fascinating thing about hip hop, something that I've seen in many other situations."

DJ SDAG confirms that the chemistry was indeed right. "It really kicked with Muslim straight off, after checking out what the other is listening to, what kind of music he's making and of course showing mutual respect," he says. After all, says MC Mad Maxamom, we're playing in his city, on his patch.

Moroccan techno beats like those from Berlin

There was not so much as a hint of Eurocentric superiority, no suggestion that this was a meeting of (western) high culture and (Moroccan) low culture. "We knew Muslim from YouTube", explains Mad Maxamom. "That was cool. His music sounds as if it was produced in Berlin, the techno beats are totally modern." The only regrettable aspect was that no record players could be found for DJ SDAG. He would have liked to have scratched some vinyl in true hip hop fashion.

​​"Not that the missing record players mean that Morocco is technically in the dark ages," say DJ SDAG and his rapper Mad Maxamom. "On the contrary – these hip hop record players date from the 1980s, and you can't find this kind of stuff in Morocco anymore. They have more up-to-date equipment."

A key aspect of German-Moroccan hip hop rapprochement was the "attitude" of both crews. Muslim, who sings about the rigors of life in his country, a life without promise or prospects, rejects lucrative appearances in discos as a way of making money and prefers to perform for free. As someone who is himself involved in the anti-racist movement and who takes part in other solidarity events, MC Mad Maxamom can relate to this very well.

No publicity please!

"Hip hop still has a negative image in Morocco," explains Muslim. "Although hip hop's been around for ages, and it'll always be a fixture on the Moroccan youth scene, people still immediately associate it with violence, drugs and criminality." These are widely held prejudices that even led concert venue managers to insist that there should be no public advertising for the hip hop events. A security firm was also hired to ensure that everything went smoothly.

The concerts were very well attended despite the lack of publicity. A result of mouth-to-mouth propaganda within the hip hop community – a fact that underlines just how important hip hop is in Morocco.

The enthusiasm displayed by the largely youthful audience at both concerts was something that is seldom seen in Morocco. The German rappers were also very well received – and the artists say this was not simply politeness on the part of the Moroccan audience. "People didn't understand the German texts," says Mad Maxamom. "But they could feel what it was all about. You could see it in their faces."

This is one way that intercultural dialogue can function. Without any theorizing – an exchange, personal, direct and uninhibited.

Alfred Hackensberger

© Qantara.de 2009

Qantara.de

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