While music critics have long lamented the deterioration of hip-hop in the West it appears that the socially conscious message continues to be delivered across the ocean in Senegal.

With the debate raging on in the US about whether or not hip-hop degrades women and over-hypes commercialisation, some young fans may not even know of hip-hop's political hay day in the 1980s when the likes of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five released 'The Message' and Public Enemy delivered 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to hold us back'.

But fans of hip-hop need only watch the documentary 'African Underground: Democracy in Dakar' to be reminded of the importance of musical activism and the vital role this genre of music has played in providing inspiration in ghettos around the world. With 60 percent of Senegal's population under 18, the film explores how hip-hop influences the nation's politics. Throughout the documentary some of Senegal's most famous artists deliver songs of hope and despair, all the while educating the youth about the importance of political involvement.

While US artists drop the names of Hennessy cognac and Louis Vuitton their counterparts in Senegal mention the United Nation's Security Council, President Bush and globalisation — and they actually make it sound cool.

The film delivers in that the message is infectious and the music enjoyable; however, at times it seems to be disjointed. It explores the role hip-hop artists played in bringing a change in the political parties and the influence artists have had since then. It chronicles the lives of artists who face a daily struggle against poverty, the exodus of many youths and at times censorship.

The documentary starts out eight years ago, before the 2000 election, which saw the end of the 40-year rule of Senegal's Socialist Party. The election was hailed as a rare victory for democracy on a continent plagued by coups, conflict and election fraud. The rest of the documentary focuses on whether or not musical activism worked and if it is still as strong today as it was several years ago; it does this with little success.

What is not clear throughout the documentary is that "African Underground: Democracy in Dakar" is actually eight episodes, which aired separately on the African Underground website, and were pieced together recently. It was not originally envisioned to be one story.

In retrospect this makes sense and knowing this before hand should make it easier to understand why it seems to jump from one point to another at time. All in all if you are interested in African politics and music, or the history of hip-hop and its global influence this one-hour film is worth seeing. Especially as it seems that censorship or the lack of financing has won. As of print time the only thing on African Underground's website is Pink Floyd's ominous 'Is anybody out there?'.

Democracy in Dakar will be screened tonight at 9.15 p.m. at Little Theatre and Thursday at 6.30 p.m. in the BUEI auditorium.