ABSTRACT
Global–local is a field of tension where one aspect concerns how local forms, styles and genres are picked up and 'mediaized' and via mediation made available regionally, nationally and globally. An illustration of a common pattern within the global–local field of tension is rap music and hip-hop culture. The interplay between the important structural opposites, homogenization and diversification, is profoundly affecting the development and production of cultural expressive forms. Many cultural politicians and policy makers have locked themselves onto one of the sub-poles or paradigms. Policies based on the cultural diversity concept have not taken the forces of homogenization into account. For instance, in Tanzania rap is a fairly new style. Thus what can be perceived as 'homogenization' at a global level is a diversification, the introduction of a new style, at the local Tanzanian level. For instance Tanzanian philosophies exclude 'gangsta' rap and graffiti, and they are not part of the Tanzanian hip-hop scene.
