Promoting the underdogs: Chief Boima reflects on the Liberian music scene
by Boima Tucker, aka Chief Boima
In his final dispatch from West Africa, Boima Tucker (above) gives his role as a cultural middleman a solid cross-examination. (A co-publication with the The Cluster Mag.)
During my last weekend in the city of Monrovia, I was invited to DJ at the large, western-style club Deja Vu. This venue, owned by a young, Liberian-born Lebanese man, charges a $10 cover — most Liberians live on less than $1.50 a day. Deja Vu fills up on weekends with twenty-something NGO workers and the local elite class of the young and the hip. It boasts a host of American Hip-hop video clichés: large VIP sections, bottle service, and a small army of working girls. The amount of money the club collects has plenty in the local entertainment industry (including non-Liberians) practically watering at the mouth. I wasn’t going to get paid for my services, but I thought it would be an interesting experience and a fun way to spend my last weekend. I excitedly took the gig.
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4 months ago
