Ambivalenzen namibischer Zugehörigkeit in Musikvideos von EES

Abstract

Eric Sell, with his stage name and eponymous brand ‚EES,‘ is a German-Namibian musician and producer who creates various artistic styles and products in different media and languages. This article analyses selected music videos he posted on YouTube to understand how he situates himself as a Namibian in them, which cannot be taken for granted in a multicultural postcolonial society like Namibia. Many of his songs are written in Namibian German and are directed at a specific audience; conversely, in many of his musical productions he also collaborates with non-German Namibian musicians. This analysis shows that, on the one hand, EES often refers to an antagonistic ‚They‘-group to generate his self-reference; on the other hand, it reveals that despite his German-Namibian idiosyncrasies, his affiliation with Namibia is patriotically charged. Yet it remains ambivalent whether his displays of Namibian affiliation are conclusive in themselves.