Essays on Griot

PART 1 – IDENTIFICATIONS (25 pts)

Define and explain in 2-4 sentences the importance for hip-hop culture of FIVE of the following identifications: Hip-hop music has its origins in the 1970s from South Bronx. Over the years, it has grown into rap music and even further to hip hop culture. Hip hop culture all over the world has incorporated various aspects in the society like technology, fashion, racism, art, and urban life among others. Multiple identifications in hip hop play a vital role in its culture. For example, sampling is the use of a song portion in another song either as a sound recording or ...

Griots hold a significant place in epics. According to the T’heydinn epic, griots perform the epic and they are aided by traditional instruments like the lute and harp. The argument is that griots “preserve the collective memory of society through poems, passing down knowledge and skills from father to son, with young griots first learning the instrumental skills before being initiated to into the poetic tradition” UNESCO n. p.). Here the role that griots play in society is said to be indispensable. To say that they are responsible for the memory of the whole society amounts to some ...

Portrayal of Women in D.T. Niane’s Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali Written by D.T Niane and translated by G. D. Pickett, 'Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali' recounts the epic story of Sundiata who was the founder of the Mali empire. This epic is an example of oral history narrated by griot poets aka djeli who before the invention of manuscript passed down the stories of kings and emperors from one generation to another. Sundiata who has been referred as the son of the Buffalo, the son of the lion, Mari-Djata, Sogolan Djata and by many ...