Pop culture (the culture of the people) has a huge influence on society. It determines trends and brings exploit ideas to the masses of which the youth in the society engages in a persistent tendency to imitate these trends and the people. The influence shapes the way they think (psychologically), act (behaviorally), and feel (emotionally).
The heavy influence on current pop culture has brought in a new hang-out place for the educated mass – online venues as a result of globalization, and as such, the advent of the internet has led to tremendous advancement in technology and has comparatively been increasing in West African countries particularly; Ghana.
Popular culture is irrefutably connected with commercial culture like music, fashion, movies, television and radio which is very popular with the youth, and their aggressive indulgence on social media, mass media and other forms of media like print media (books, magazines, newspapers), video games and smartphones.
This study looks at how these popular cultural forms has Influenced the language of today’s youth and in this process a ‘new’ language style emerging amongst them.
Here are five moments in pop culture that had an impact on our society!
THE RISE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
It should come as no shock that social media has a significant impact on almost everything in our lives, so it should obviously come first in this list, considering that most of these topics come from social media. No matter if it’s good or bad, social media has had the most significant impact on our lives in the current day. Whether it’s the latest trend, the current news, or the juicy celebrity gossip that we may have missed out on, we most certainly have social media to thank for it.
FASHION TRENDS
Popular culture and fashion are also closely linked, as fashion, like popular culture, is dynamic and changes over periods.
Today’s current fashion trends are not similar to the seventies. Even in Ghana, fashion changes throughout time. Formerly, the fashionable dress “kaba and slit”, was a cherished culture in Ghana.
However, every generation has its fashion and its way of dressing. Now the fashion trend has altered.
Taking a good look at today’s society, women wear clothes considered to be indecent in any other time.
This is due to popular culture’s effect and fashion’s importance to many people.
MUSIC
West African music today has many sub-genres beyond just afrobeats. The history of migration can be traced through music as creative artistes traveled outside of Africa and absorbed foreign influences such as pop, soul music, rap music, and more, incorporating these styles into their music. Later, in the early ’90s, live music took a back seat in Ghana and the younger generation began producing computer-generated music called hiplife. This interpreted mix of highlife with the American influence of hip-hop and R&B created an exciting new urban culture amongst the youth. An emerging new party scene filled the clubs and bars, influencing the fashion and lingo.
LANGUAGE (PIDGIN ENGLISH)
Pidgin English (Pidgin), though not that popular in Ghana in the past, seems to be gaining ground in today’s society. A form of
language combining some English and other languages, usually including local dialects, which both speaker and listener understand. Ghana consists of various ethnic groups, ranging from the Akan, the Ewe, the Fante and many more, each of which has their own unique culture. As a result, it was difficult for two people from different tribes to communicate because they could not understand each other’s languages.
Over time, the English language, which is the official language of the republic has metamorphosed into what we now know as Ghanaian Pidgin English. Pidgin, which is a renovation of the English language, is spoken in various West African countries such as Kenya, Nigeria and Cameroon.
In Ghana, Pidgin English is used by roughly a quarter of the population and is a blend of both English and a local dialect (such as Twi, frafra among others) The language, which originated from Nigeria, has been adopted by Ghanaians and has now become part of popular culture in the country. Advocates of the English language attempt to make the point that Pidgin is bad English and should be banned in educational institutions in order to prevent students from muddling their English. However, that simply will not be possible, as Pidgin has been normalized as a language for both the literates and illiterates alike.
Food
As this whole world is becoming smaller and smaller day by day due to globalization various cultures have their footprints everywhere around the world. One such aspect which has its footprints almost in every country is Food. Lately the western culture has hit the African culture and changed many food habits of the people. Remember the last time you ate with your bare hands? Eating with hand has its marks since the Vedic age but nowadays that’s not the case as we’ve modernized eating with spoons or food which is wrapped in tissues and plastic covers. Our food habits have changed but it has its own positives and negatives, change is the rule of life; some are for good reasons and few which are unnecessary. Fast food centers and restaurants has taken the country by storm since late 2000s as Ghana has seen a whopping rise in fast food centers as most citizens go nuts for such restaurants. Companies like KFC and Burger King both have huge customers as they earn a lot of profit’s from the Ghanaian market.
With the mushrooming of television channels, social networking sites, blogs, music and film genres, video and computer games, the youth of today’s generation live a life that is completely dominated by technology and pop culture. The pressure to fit into the
group, be one in the crowd, is so overpowering for the youngsters today that most of them live their lives dictated as
seen in movies, reality shows, and fashion tips from popular magazines. And thus, popular culture has a way of influencing an individual’s attitudes towards certain topics.
