Politics and its' Influence on Popular Dance in Africa

I thought that this article might be of interest to those of you who are interested in how politics can be represented through dance.

The Standard on Line Nairobi, Kenya


Dance groups with crime-oriented names

Published on 27/03/2009
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By Matilda Nzioki

Most of the dance groups have names ranging from FBI to Al-Kaeda. Others are called CIA and many other names of agencies. Almost every other youngster dance group that is formed gives the impression that the names are borrowed from criminals and crime busters. Nearly all the groups are formed in the club, where the youngsters get together for the Sunday afternoon Jam Session. This has somehow brewed beef, with every group calling on the other to be original when picking a stage name. Some of the groups include:

Al-Kaeda

Its translation is ‘The Base’, and it is an International Sunni Islamist extremist movement whose characteristic techniques include suicide attacks and simultaneous bombings of different targets. Activities ascribed to it may involve members of the movement, who have taken a pledge of loyalty to Osama bin Laden. It has been labelled as a terrorist organisation by the UN Security Council among other organisations.

Al-Kaeda
Number of members: Five boys, all campus students. Currently Redsan’s dancers, and have danced for musicians Collo, Risasi, DNG and Megatone in the past.

Genre: Can dance to all types of music.

Formed in: 2005

Pulse: Why that name?

A: It was given to us back in high school, after an electrifying performance and the MC said that we had brought terror in the house, then our mates started calling us Al-Kaeda. At the time, we were known as ‘Pioneer’.

P: Do you think that stage name can affect your business?

A: It actually has, in a lot of instances. Although our name has a ‘K’ instead of a ‘Q’ we decided to keep the name Pioneer that we use for corporate shows and Al-Kaeda for young people and high school students as it appeals more to them.

P: What’s with every group coming up calling themselves such kind of names?

A: We were the first dance group out of high school to make it in the industry and actually we won a CHAT Award. We are also the only ones who are on the "wrong side of the law", so they must have figured by being "law enforcers" they will get inspiration to conquer us, just like all the US intelligence groups are targeting Al-Qaeda. But they can’t find us; the same way Osama hasn’t been caught!
Secret Service

Other groups whose majority of members are in boarding high schools include GSU, CIA, SWAT, CSI and CID. The latter is made up of three girls, and the three letters apparently stand for the initials of their names.

Definitions from Wikipedia

Secret Service: In reality it is called the United States Secret Service and it is a United States federal government law enforcement agency responsible for investigation of major fraud and ensuring the safety of national VIPs such as the president.

Locally: Number of members: Six. Four boys and two girls, all of them students at the university and aged between 20-22

Genre: Ragga and Hip-hop.

Formed in: 2008

Pulse: Why that name?

FBI
SS: All the dance groups in secondary schools seemed to be coming up with these sorts of names, so we called ourselves that to mock them, and the name stuck.

P: Are your moves related to crime and law enforcement?

SS: Yes, mostly. We have some dance moves that seem like one is shooting, or even cocking a gun.

P: How come all these names are from the west, especially the US?

SS: Probably because there are no such intelligence agencies locally. The only local one must be Kwekwe, which we had actually considered, but thought it might bring trouble with the government and also leave us stigmatised. These agencies attract people because they appear deadly on TV programmes.

LAPD

In reality it stands for Los Angeles Police Department.

Number of Members: Five college boys aged between 20-23

Genre: All, hata Bhangra.

Formed in: 2008

Pulse: Why the name LAPD?

LAPD: Our name stands for Legal Army of Prime Dancers. We are soldiers who battle on the dance floor. LAPD is a known initial, but we have modified ours to mean a different thing, because we know we can get sued.

P: Do you think the choice of your name can affect your business seeing that these names are somehow associated with immaturity?
LAPD

LAPD: We believe that many people have learnt not to judge a performer by the name.

P: FBI is claiming that everyone with such kind of names has followed in their footsteps. What’s your take on that?

LAPD: They may have started before us as a group, but we were dancing solo, way before they cleared high school. We later formed a group to harness our talent. They had a larger fan base too because when people are in high school, there’s some sort of solidarity.

FBI

In reality it is the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which is the primary unit in the United States Department of Justice, serving as both a federal criminal investigative body and a domestic intelligence agency.

Number of members: Ten, all college boys aged between 17-21.

Genre: They dance to any and every genre of music.

Formed in: 2006

Pulse: Why the name FBI.

FBI: Our name simply stands for Fans Based Insiders, and we do not compare ourselves to the one in the US, as we have nothing to do with each other.

P: Why do you think there are all these dance groups with these names?

FBI: It was Al-Kaeda group and us who pioneered these kind of names, as we were formed in 2006. We believe the rest come up with these kinds of names thinking they will make it like we did.
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