One of the sources of creative vitality in Third World popular cultures is the uncanny ability to seize on local or global events and use them as symbols or metaphor, or simply to re-purpose names and words from the news for the purpose of entertainment that, by virtue of this method of assembly, is never completely innocent and certainly not mindless.
Also evidenced, not coincidentally, in the best hip-hop, this instinct to appropriate the signifiers of large and possibly uncontrollable events and redeploy them in the service of local meaning results in a constant renewal process in which, as one signifier runs its course, another emerges to supplant it, bringing with it new nicknames for objects in regular use — minibuses, beer bottles, bank notes, lengths of cloth — and new jokes and new dances and new fashions.
With “Bird Flu,” her new single, your girl M.I.A. taps into this endlessly rich seam. Vaguely mysterious, unpredictable, global in scope and potentially catastrophic, the bird flu that moved across several continents in 2006 was perfect for semiotic appropriation. Especially since birds, especially poultry, in various stages of ecstasy or distress have long been inspiration for dance moves — the Funky Chicken and the Dirty Bird come to mind. So it’s a chicken stuttering across a dusty village street that sets, in the video, the rhythm for the song, and much dancing, declamation, and additional avian imagery ensues. No connection to the “real” bird flu, and yet, all the connection in the world.
It’s a cool song, but before we rush to celebrate its originality I want to share with you another Bird Flu song that actually predates homegirl’s.
This one came out in Côte d’Ivoire immediately after the disease scare passed. The hot style there now is called coupé-décalé; it’s a dance-driven pop that has taken French-speaking Africa and its diaspora by storm, supplanting soukouss as the let’s-get-down party sound of the moment. It’s also a very democratic music: the production values are pretty liberal and pretty much anybody can make a track and see if it catches. A guy called DJ Lewis did that with “Grippe Aviaire” (Bird Flu), which generated a little mini-crazy of people flapping like chickens wherever Francophone Africans congregate. Watch it here: the video is grainy and homegrown but it makes a cool compare-and-contrast exercise with Miss Maya’s track and imagery, with different beats, moves, and locations but a similar and salutary gonzo energy.
Bonus cut: the definitive treatment of the Funky Chicken, by Rufus Thomas at the classic 1972 Wattstax concert.
