Posted: 18 Sep 2012 04:25 PM PDT
Minutes after the online release of the Nigerian version of Rick Ross’ “Hold me Back” video, Nigerians on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have since rained curses and insults on the rapper for his audacity at showing Nigeria in its poorest and most ghetto form. The video starts with commentary about the Biafra war and then launches into a series of clips shot at different poor areas of Lagos State with scores of Nigerians chanting along the choruswith him. 
Ther even a clip of Rick Ross handing dollar bills to poor children who race through the dirty slum waters to grab a note as he races off in his speed boat. If you haven’t watched the video, you can watch it here.
Ther even a clip of Rick Ross handing dollar bills to poor children who race through the dirty slum waters to grab a note as he races off in his speed boat. If you haven’t watched the video, you can watch it here.
Now if you are in the aid and development circuit, some might classify the video as “poverty porn.” The development blog, Aid Thoughts succinctly describes the phenomenon in its piece, What is ‘poverty porn’ and why does it matter for development? when it described it as:
any type of media, be it written, photographed or filmed, which exploits the poor’s condition in order to generate the necessary sympathy for selling newspapers or increasing charitable donations or support for a given cause. Poverty porn is typically associated with black, poverty-stricken Africans, but can be found elsewhere. The subjects are overwhelming children, with the material usually characterized by images or descriptions of suffering, malnourished or otherwise helpless persons. The stereotype of poverty porn is the African child with a swollen belly, staring blankly into the camera, waiting for salvation.
More succinctly, poverty porn is oft described as the “glamourization of poverty” or even its celebration as some sort of “rebellious anti-authoritarian lifestyle.”
Whatever Rick Ross’ intention was shooting that video, Nigerians are livid. A casual glance at the hundreds of comments currently accumulating under the video on YouTube is testament to the sentiments of majority of Nigerians online
Some comments:
- Rick Ross is a hot mess- Rick Ross is just trying to paint a negative picture about Nigeria. We’re not monkeys over here.- Do you think tourists would ever think of going to Nigeria if Rick Ross keeps deceiving the world with a horrible video like this? This video is giving Nigeria a bad image.
Interestingly, Rick Ross had earlier shot a similarly ghetto-esque version of this same video in New Orleans in the United States depicting ghetto life and the struggles of the poor. Perhaps his sentiments behind shooting that version of the video gives one a glimpse of what he had in mind with the Nigerian version. In an interview with MTV earlier this year, he had this to say:
“We went to New Orleans to capture that essence. I feel like New Orleans been through it a lot, more than the majority of others, and they’re still strong, they’re still standing, they still got that pride.
Aside from a ban from BET for “being too real” the New Orlean version of the video mostly got good reviews.
Why all the negative sentiments from Nigerians for the video’s Nigerian version?
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