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Music And Nudity In Zambia
By Elvis Zuma
WHEN one looks at the music videos on MTV, VHI, Channel O and indeed any Zambian television channel it’s easy to notice a common thread in most of them. There is an attempt to make them sexually appealing. Sexual appeal is different from featuring a man and a woman in a video to depict the love stories that most pop songs are about.
There is a deliberate attempt to sexually arouse the viewer through dance and nudity. This is not a phenomenon that is unique to Western music but is also here in African music. The purpose of today’s discussion is not to moralize the issue but to discuss and acknowledge that it exists and trigger debate on the matter.
The most notorious music genre in this regard has to be hip hop. And it is a decadent world that demands immorality beyond just shooting videos. In advertising film on the subject, VH1 reports: “With roughly 200 hip hop videos created each year, all of them require the staple element of voluptuous women to dance, shake, or just look hot. VH1 News wants to find out exactly who these women are and what goes on behind the scenes of these risqué video shoots. In this special report, VH1 News interviews dozens of working video girls to discover the industry’s secret sexual commerce.
When a girl enters the video world, is she playing the role of sexual prop? Is she compromising herself for a little bit of fame? What are the sexual demands placed upon these girls on the video set? The relationship between the video girl and artiste and director can get complicated. We’ll hear from many women who refuse to date artistes and see video work as “strictly business.” But sometimes sex is expected.
Some girls lost work because they wouldn’t date a director or sleep with a rapper’s ubiquitous entourage. But not all girls know how to say “No.” We’ll meet some groupies and hear from the industry’s most infamous video girl, Karrine “Superhead” Steffans. She’ll explain how the video girl lifestyle almost destroyed her life. Today, away from the video world, she hopes other girls don’t follow in her footsteps. There’s another side of hip hop videos known as the world of uncut. This niche market of videos has more explicit images and are seen on DVDs and late night TV. In Fayetteville, North Carolina, we’ll go on set of an independent uncut video for an artiste named Big Delph. We’ll also meet Vanity, Princess and Jayda, three strippers from NC, who are chosen to appear in Big Delph’s uncut video. One is raising a child and the other two are just trying to survive. They all hope a music video will give them a little bit of exposure, or at least an opportunity to feel special. The show features rappers like Common, Cam’ron, Mike Jones and Luther Campbell, Trina and Jacki-O as well as former video models Karinne Steffans and Melyssa Ford and two casting directors, Ulysses Terrero and Pablo Cornejo, who audition girls for an upcoming video.” (VH1.com)
If male music artistes have to feature nude women, female music artistes are increasing appearing nude or semi-nude themselves. There are those that firmly believe that to be a mega female star in the Western world, one has to appear nude or semi-nude in a music video. Madonna, Beyonce and Britney Spears all did it and that is why “little” Miley Cyrus is also doing it. It’s her ticket to super stardom. Andrea Warner writes, “The naked music video as a condition of stardom for many female artistes is both a new level of screwed up and confirmation that pop’s misogyny problem is alive and well. It may not guarantee success, but it has certainly played into the success experienced by Spears, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Beyoncé and Lady Gaga. It seems like there’s now an unspoken expectation on female pop stars to make a naked music video in order to achieve superstardom. That expectation is what strips women of their agency – not the decision to make a naked music video on their own terms.” (music.cbc.ca).
African music is also notorious for featuring nudity and sensual content in its presentation. Which one of us do not remember how Tshala Muana’s shows were acts of gyrating explicit nearly pornographic dance routines? This is part of the music of music greats such as Wenge Musica, in all its versions, and Koffi Olomide to be mention but a few. Zambia music artistes are also not exempt from this sexual presentation of their craft. The advent of dancing queens in the Masiye Bands and the Kalipinde bands was how nudity and sensual content snuck into Zambian music and many Zambian acts have dancing girls of some sort who are at least sensual in part.
The question we may all have is, why? Isn’t good music and a pleasant look enough?
Posted by Editor
on October 19, 2013. Filed under LIFE & STYLE, STYLE.
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just me
October 19, 2013 at 6:39 pm
Yo observations are correct
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tifi-tifi mukalamba.
October 19, 2013 at 7:29 pm
The devil is at work in music. Remember he was working with music there in heaven.
And he’s tryingby all means to make use of it to drown many.
May God help us!
Mutombu Kabunji
October 19, 2013 at 7:46 pm
Too long to read
Wgk
October 20, 2013 at 12:06 am
We’ve already read that article kuli ba post.Present us something new.
Umwina Nswi
October 20, 2013 at 3:45 am
Tifi wasekesha sana. Ati he was working with music in heaven. Haaahahaa.
Gaddafi
October 20, 2013 at 4:46 am
It’s just out of Adults interest ,like you said it that the Artists are expected to get nude. The audience orchestrates what they wanna be seen from a good Video. The world has just gotten rotten I’d say… As on get’s to teenage hood they begin to glorify Sex… Worst still even into Adulthood they still prioritise it.. It’s like life is about sex, seeing sexual content ,doing it , talking sexual matters. Not only in the Musical industry but also in the movies, a good Movie for these days Adults should have Sexual Depictions… Should be AROUSAL ENOUGH in short !! Last days indeed as it was prophesied.
kakolwe
October 20, 2013 at 6:08 am
Obviously, the author has NEVER been to Likumbi lya Mize nor Ncuala Ceremony to see the gyrating Zambian waists, bobbing fresh boobs & squatting waist wrings. Best appetiser for baby making games!
jomba
October 20, 2013 at 6:26 am
Anything that does not support God or God does not support is of the devil. If you love such music, videos or pictures then the Love of GOD is not in you. Only two ways can apply, Love God or satan. You may claim that you are a Christian, your actions will tell to which Kingdom you belong. Every person is given a right to chose and this you truely know by your heart.
Brizol
October 20, 2013 at 11:02 am
Kakolwe ‘baby making games’.
Cole
October 20, 2013 at 2:22 pm
Its a matter of serious concern to those that are negatively affected by the same activity of nudity in Music videos. We have two groups involved here, the artiste and the female that’s being used. If there is one thing worse in life is to sell your freedom. Allow me to say that many females in the videos that are almost pornographic sell their freedom for fame and money.
Its disheartening to see how money and fame can delude ones reasoning and loyalty to their cultural morals.
Besides that I’d like to point out the things that these people put to risk.
1. Their image in society may not be as good at as it would be to people that watch them. Quite well they might be admired but that also scares many men who would make better partners to them. You know a human mind is a complex machine which when it runs wild and has a belief on a thing is hard to stop.
Many men wouldn’t want to marry the video ladies we see but they would rather have a one night stand which I believe is not every womans desire.
In the end what I’d say is that this generation we are in has things that are perfect for its own kind
Natondwe
October 20, 2013 at 5:25 pm
Last days indeed.But this generation likes it and artists make their money out of it, if it were not so, this trend cud have ended.
Werrason Malewa
October 20, 2013 at 7:22 pm
@jomba..you have spoken the truth my man..Congratulations
haiggy
October 22, 2013 at 6:15 am
tifitifi
Look at the gospel music of nawadays its composed and produced by the devil in his foolish cleaverlyness and all former prostitutes and crooked men are now gospel singers with sexual or lusty antics in their videos
Inzaghi
October 22, 2013 at 5:55 pm
Well said Haiggy….indeed it’s the devil at work. Most people are blindfolded by such music thinking it’s of God when it’s not. Be careful people we are in the last days….!