238 african appropriations
that his collaboration with the Namibian rapper Gazza, for the song “In-
ternational” (2006), paved the way for his acceptance among black Na-
mibian audiences.^9 And as if to attest to this, a certain Remigius Kalimba
comments on the YouTube video clip of this song by ironically writing:
“Thank you Germany for leaving this boy behind after [you] gave us inde-
pendence... .” Various paratexts to the songs and music videos serve the
same purpose of demonstrating equality. W hite Nigerian, for example,
who also seeks to establish himself as a comedian, has uploaded a short
clip^10 on his YouTube channel that shows him talking to Nolly wood stars
Osita Iheme and Chinedu Ikedieze, who tell the public: “He’s our brother.
He speaks Pidgin fluently. He’s a white Naija boy!” EES has produced a
documentary about his career so far (Yes-Ja: Following the Journey of a
Unique Leader, 2010) which is remarkable for the number of Namibian
musicians letting him (and his audience) know they accept him as one of
their own. In the film, the musician Big Ben explains: “The first moment
when he came out, it almost looked ridiculous in a sense that here is a guy
from a totally different background trying to do something totally black.
But then he proved to them that music has no boundaries.... His contribu-
tion is significant.” The Dogg, another prominent Namibian rapper, adds:
“I checked him out on tv: I did not know who he was, I was like ‘Now, who
is this white boy trying to be a nigger?’ He is very talented and he knows
how to promote himself. He will go far.”
Another register for the production of sameness is habitus and clothing.
Like their black African counterparts, the three white musicians reference
American hip-hop videos in their physical performances. They also dress
in a global urban fashion—T-shirts, baseball caps, sneakers, sunglasses,
and a style of dress they share equally with many black African musi-
cians. Here and there, some reference to ethnic dress or “African” attire is
made (Mzungu Kichaa wears a Maasai necklace in the Jitolee! video and a
Maasai hairdo in the Oya Oya clip; W hite Nigerian dons a typical Hausa
hat in the Ta k a R a wa video), but altogether this seems to be less impor-
tant than the general display of urban dress codes. By creating his own
fashion line of street wear, and promoting it in his video clips, Namibian
rapper EES is perhaps the most consequential in this regard. Unlike the
others, W hite Nigerian—at least in two of his music videos (Dirty Wine
and Party Time)—also models his image on the nouveau riche type of