In Search of Ubuntu Rap: The Construction of the Umfundisi Rap Technique as a Model for the Expression of Ma'at in Rap Lyrics

Abstract

The art and act of Rapping is a form of scientific research that takes place, in part, through introspection and sociocultural reflection. The Umfundisi Rap Technique and the theory of Ubuntu Rap are undergirded by the notion that to Rap is to research and reflect. That is, the act and art of Rapping involves, if not requires, the interrogation of one’s own physical and/or social circumstances and reveals one’s worldview through the conscious and subconscious signaling of their psychosocial location. To locate a text is to recognize the predispositions and philosophical objectives of an author and interpret such language, attitude, and direction based on their proximity to/distance from an Afrocentric psychology. However, what if there were a way to quantifiably measure location? What might such signposts and signals actually look like and how exactly might such “signposts” (or “words”) relate to underlying attitudes and directions? Moreover, could the expression of Ma’at itself, or maybe some kind of psychosocial well-being, be measured? If it were possible to measure a person’s psychosocial attitude and direction, might that also mean that there could be a way to gauge what kinds of cultural notions an author’s location is nearest to? The early MCs that held initial reverence and significance within their communities were those who could move the crowd with displays of rhetorical dexterity and celebrations of community. Rap’s current condition where a substantial proportion, if not an overwhelming majority, of the contemporary Rap lyrics and aesthetics that receive the largest amounts of social and financial elevation endorse hegemonic social philosophies of xenophobia, patriarchal violence, and other forms of psychological & physical subjugation has, for the most part, largely been agreed upon by most who have sought to examine Rap through an Afrocentric lens. Analyzing the conversation of thoughts particularly between the works of Tricia Rose, Joan Morgan, M.K. Asante, Jr., Jeff Chang, S. Craig Watkins, and Byron Hurt reveals two exceptionally noteworthy “crossover” events that brought forth the end of the era of Rap in which its overall orientation was primarily dictated by (and through) Afrikan agency amidst capitalist influences and duplicitous assurances of money, power, and assimilation from patriarchal Eurocentristic corporate structures at the cost of the Afrikan cultural communal spirit. The theory of Ubuntu Rap serves to emphasize the need for a very specific form of Afrocentric creative expression that addresses a very specific crisis. There is an intellectual and spiritual yearning, both conscious and subconscious, throughout the Afrikan diaspora for a framework of communication that is wholeheartedly and emphatically grounded in community, harmony, and sustainability. Ultimately, that is this project’s purpose and functional aspect: what routes can Rappers draw to navigate their way across the map of language & human speech toward a kind of maa kheru, or “trueness of voice”, designation? Such yearnings were the underlying driving force behind this project's intentions to imagine Ubuntu Rap as a particular canon/sub-genre of Rap grounded in Afrikan cultural ethical notions of community, harmony, and sustainability and to construct an Afrocentric research project that envisions the Umfundisi Rap Technique as a valid and practical method for the production of Ubuntu Rap.