Africa's Obsession With All Things American At Its Peak This Week
Having being following the build up to the MTV Africa Music Awards happening in Durban this Saturday, I am disheartened by the amount of hype that the event is getting which has nothing to do with the African talent that will be honored at the event. As someone who supports and promote local talent, I feel our continental media has continued to give preference to so called "international stars' at the expense of giving our own their due credit.
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| The Guest |
Forget about the fact that Kardashian has nothing to do with music but will be here to support her rapper boyfriend French Montana. Gossip sites and mainstream media run full articles on the fact that she will be in the country.
Today just a day before the main event, after listening to a few radio stations this morning, followed some social media comments and just generally trying to get the feel of what the nation is talking about concerning the awards, it dawned on me that we are one country that is enthralled by American stars.
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| The Host |
While a few Naija blogs I checked out where in full support of their own stars and mentioning the Americans as an added bonus, in Mzansi we seem to be more interested in Trey Songz, Miguel and Khloe, not forgetting Timbaland who has a concert in the country this weekend as well.
Tweets about how people can not wait to see the American stars have flooded the network, which leaves one wondering, if as a nation we will ever get to a point were we give as much attention and money to our own stars as we do these Americans.
I totally get the whole "international stardom" and publicity for the country these Americans carry. However, it would be a disservice to my craft and industry if I did not share my concern regarding the media coverage of these awards and how it seems to tilted towards promoting the guests instead of the people that the whole event is supposed to be about.
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| The Performer |
It would completely be a slap in the face of African talent if Khloe Kardashian were to present an award at the event. It would complete give credence to the notion that even platforms like MTVBase still see our african talent as inferior and substandard to even American reality tv stars.
That said, I would like to wish all the nominees good luck for tomorrow. May this event which is rumoured to reach a tv audience of over 500 million, have a positive impact in their career growth.
As for my fellow African media colleagues, let this week be a catalyst from which we do an introspection about our role in support our continent and respective countries' stars.
That's just my ... ONE GUY'S OPINION!
That's just my ... ONE GUY'S OPINION!
