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Global 'coolinization' >> Positive Black Soul bring Senegalese hip hop to Nuits d'Afrique
by SCOTT C
Positive Black Soul: We make it for the world. It's not about race, colour or religion, we make our music for everybody. We want everyone to listen to what we're trying to say. M: What is that message? PBS: The message ensures that people view us (Africans) as human beings. We want to show the positivity in the black soul. That's our fight. Africa is not only a land of suffering, misery, war and disease. We're proud to live there and we are not suffering. We open ourselves to the world to show our country in a different light. It's time to see the real face of Africa. M: Obviously you're in agreement that Africa has been portrayed unfairly in the media. PBS: Here in Montreal, watching TV, all the images of Africa are negative. Bad. Sad. People are suffering everywhere, but the media likes to focus especially on the suffering in Africa. M: You feel this one-sided view is worldwide? PBS: It's everywhere. Even here. People have it hard in Montreal, hustling to survive and even eat, but it's perceived differently than the problems in some African countries. We try to be as positive as we can. M: Does the music you make sit well in the fortress of American hip hop? PBS: What we're saying in our lyrics is different. We talk about our reality, but certain realities can relate to any continent. The common link is the fat kick and the snares, but other than that we try to move in a different way to show our culture with this hip hop beat. We cannot talk about no gang-bang shit. M: How long have you been together--ten years? That's longer than most hip hop groups. You must have seen a lot of airports. PBS: Over 15 countries in Africa, all over Europe, the U.S. and Canada. M: How do audiences in the States take you? PBS: We're just starting to hit in the U.S. It's all about your flow over there, because they need to move and get hyped. You gotta bounce to this or it doesn't work. It's not our major objective to win over an amazing following in America, but if it happens that's great (laughs). It's a big market. M: One of the biggest. PBS: Forget "colonization." We're pushing "coolinization," knowhatimsayin'? We want to cool-inize the world.
With guests Dubmatique at the Spectrum on Saturday, July 17, 9pm, $15
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Since 1989, Positive Black Soul has been speaking on the Africa they know and love and bringing the hip hop of Senegal to the world. Mincing their infectious native sounds with the universal clout of the boom-bap, MCs Doug E Tee and Didier both had instrumental roles in the early formations of Dakar's now-booming hip hop scene. In 1999, the pair continue to move positively through the sometimes-narrow-minded corridors of hip hop music, winning fans all along the way. I spoke to the two at a café in Montreal last week.
Mirror: I read that you make your music for Africans first.