ShmoopTube

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Okay, we’ll admit it.

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Talking about stuff like Gross Domestic Product can be boring. [Teacher talking to classroom full of students]

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And sometimes gross depending on what makes up that GDP…

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But you know what isn't boring and only occasionally gross?

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Music and movies. [Horse galloping in a field]

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Unless you're watching a documentary on like…the life cycle of barley, or something…which

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we highly recommend if you're trying to get to sleep, but otherwise, it'll bar-ly hold [People falling asleep while watching a film]

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your attention…

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Anyway, African pop culture, like soccer, is a way for Africans to shake off colonialism

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and shout their identity to the world. [Person on a cliff shouting loudly]

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Like everywhere else in the world, pop culture in Africa gives people a way to have fun,

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feel connected, and express themselves.

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It also helps development by creating thousands of jobs. [Person using a video recorder]

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We could talk all day about all the different genres of music in Africa.

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It’s a gigantic continent, so, though it’s full of totally different kind of jams.

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And tons of different peanut butters…

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Heh…and it's also full of tons of different musical jams. [Lots of african dancers in colorful clothing]

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There are about 10 major genres in the South African recording industry alone.

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And almost every country has its own unique genres, with many genres dating back to the

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medieval period.

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For example, Highlife uses a Ghanaian harmonic scale that dates back to the 15th

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century.

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And then there’s Berber folk music, which refers to the musical traditions of the Berbers, [People playing instruments together]

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a group indigenous to North Africa.

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And there’s nothing quite like those Berber Shop Quartets. [Quartet of men in striped suits singing outside a barber]

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…Okay, those don’t exist.

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But with a name like that, they're missing out on a golden opportunity.

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Of course, the genres that have international appeal tend to be American imports.

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We’re talkin’ hip-hop, smooth listening pop…that kind of stuff.

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But when Africans put their spin on these genres, they take on a whole new life. [Man with dreadlocks DJ'in at a club]

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Many pop stars and artists go further than just providing entertainment.

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They bring different African countries together… [Entertainer on stage singing and clapping to the audience]

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…and they even help fight oppression from all sides.

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All right, now let’s talk about the movies.

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The movie capital of Africa is Lagos, Nigeria.

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Cool people call it Nollywood. [A sign saying Nollywood on a hill]

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Nollywood..

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Nollywood produces about 900 feature films a year. [Old man sitting in a chair beside a lamp]

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That’s about twice as many as the world’s largest film industry, which is in…

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Nope.

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Good guess though.

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It's actually not Hollywood, but Bollywood, in Mumbai, India. [Bollywood labelled on a space image of the Earth]

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Bollywood actually makes the most movies every year with around 1,100.

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Hollywood makes closer to 450.

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and its declining every year..Slackers.

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Of course, the main reason Bollywood and Nollywood are making

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way more movies is that they’re doing it on the cheap. [Two men stood talking on a street]

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The budget for the average Nollywood movie is around $5,000.

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In Hollywood, that wouldn’t even pay for craft services. [Man stood next to a buffet table]

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Nollywood movies are also released directly to VHS or DVD.

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Then, they’re purchased by bars and coffeehouses across Africa, so they can easily be watched

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by audiences who don't personally own TVs. [Family eating popcorn and watching TV]

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So you can pick up your morning java and check out a new flick at the same time.

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Sounds pretty sweet to us.

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The vast majority of Nollywood movies are romantic dramas or comedies. [A series of Nollywood movies]

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This is because violent films are heavily censored in Nigeria.

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Like you can't show a soldier or police officer being injured or killed without special permission. [Police offer shot and camera turns off]

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Also, action movies need larger budgets, so they’re kind of a non-starter.

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Many Africans relate more to the upper-class Nigerians shown in Nollywood romances than [Two African men sat watching TV]

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the upper-class Indians or Westerners in other films.

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Though Nollywood movies can get wildly popular, even though they’re made on a shoe-string.

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It doesn’t matter if these movies are basically unknown in the West. [Two men on a street discussing Nollywood]

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We see that as an opportunity.

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Next time we want to seem indier-than-thou, we’re going to tell people we’re into

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Nollywood…

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