LET DOWN: Global African HIP-HOP concert
CLICK HERE FOR PICS OF THE GLOBAL AFRICAN HIP-HOP CONCERT
We were so excited about the Hip-Hop summit afterparty that we recruited a whole bunch of party people to come along with us. So when you read our criticisms of this event, know that the words emanate from a whole bunch of people with different …
levels of expectations, taste and tolerance. We were very disappointed at the organisation of the event. You guys could have done better than that – seems like the logistics let down what could have been a great night. But that said, we still enjoyed ourselves. Here it is from the mouths of babes:
“Do you think if we walk a bit further we’ll hit the Mandela Bridge”
“My feet are killing me and we haven’t even found an entry that us plebs can go in yet!”
“What happens if you didn’t buy your tickets beforehand? There’s no ‘box pffice’ or welcome desk or anything.”
“Why is there this huge fence?”
“Imagine how hard it is going to be to get out of here.”
“Is someone taking note of the route we are taking to get in this place so we can find out way back to the car?”
“You have to be kidding me.”
“Should we just go home?”
“Thank God.”
“Nice stage! So good to be outside in the city air.”
“Sorry do you know where the bar is?”
“Who’s this on stage?” Who?”
“How come Skwatta Kamp aren’t here if we’re representing on a global scale?”
“I am so bored”
“I am so thirsty”
“i am so hungry”
“Is that Prokid or Proverb?”
“He rocks”
“Proverb is incredible…”
“I walked all around and I think the only place to get drinks is down there inside the Bassline. There’s no food on sale either”
“Damn”
“This feels like a seriously third world event”
“Kind of empty hey”
“They couldn’t have marketed very well if there’s only about 200 people here at 8:30pm”
“I only heard about it today”
“Ok shut up Breeze, you suck”
“I think Breeze’s album just lost a whole lot of potential buyers”
“Have they not heard of music in between acts – what is this babble?”
“WHO is that chick and when is she going away?”
“Quick changeover time, almost quicker than the bands themselves”
“Let’s get out of here, I don’t think I can hide my drink in my jacket one more time”
{in the bassline} “Do you think that barman sitting checking his sms’s while we stand and wait for drinks is the ‘baas’, because there’s a q and he doesn’t seem to care”
“The savannahs are finished and it’s only 10pm. My last one was luke-warm”
“Sorry, do you have a pilot bar outside somewhere so we dont have to walk all this way?”
“Giligili MajiMaji – nice names!”
“I am so unboogable.”
“Is that the VIP tent? Heh heh heh heh. And we thought we had it bad.”
“How kak is this jol?”
“Awadi – i like them!”
“Can we go now?”
“I am not leaving before Guru”
“I paid good money for this.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me, is that the only place we can get liquids, the Bassline, isn’t that illegal or something?”
“Hip-Hop se voet”
“What happened to Tumi? He just started and now he’s gone.”
“Tumi was cool. At last.”
“Love that chick (Emmanuel Jal’s backing singer) she’s the first person in a few hours that’s actually come on and PERFORMED with sexy gusto.”
“Who’s this guy? Emmanuel Jal! He rocks.”
“Have you noticed there’s no celebs here”
“K’naan is excellent hey.”
“I have to buy this K’naan album”
“Hey isn’t that guy that’s passed out on the ground there one of those wack MC’s they used to try and pass the time between sets instead of playing music.”
“Jeez that Breeze guy is full of himself – he is so bad”
“WE WANT GURU WE WANT GURU WE WANT GURU”
“C’uldnt they have played a cd instead of sticking pins under our fingernails between acts?”
“GURU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“Love this song – love you Guru”
“Do you think he’ll play some more of his earlier tracks off Jazzmatazz or only the new ones?”
“This is cool.”
“I hope he plays Jazzmatazz too”
“Is it over already?”
“He didn’t play my songs”
“Let’s get outa here”.
“I can’t be asked for the afterparty.”
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21 October
THE GURU IS IN THE HOUSE!!! He was one of our first loves of Hip-Hop – Trust me, No time to Play, Lounging and the classic melange Le Bien Le Mal are some of our earliest seductions… But the great news is that it’s not just the Guru, it’s a whole Global village representative of HipHop heads on their way to Jozi for the first Annual Global Hip-Hop Summit and it starts today! (Thurs 20/10/05)
Check out the press release and make sure to be souled up by the Guru, Solar, Awadi, Tumi, K’naan and more more on Friday night the 21 October 2005 at the Bassline! See you there!
Newtown Precinct will be transformed into a pan-African centre as the first annual Global African Hip-Hop Summit commences on Thursday, October 20th 2005.
The Global Hip-Hop Summit has gathered hip-hop artists, activists and members of civil society to debate and discuss matters that impact on youth, specifically the Hip-Hop Community.
“This is an exciting moment in the South African music industry – indeed in the hip-hop industry worldwide” enthuses coordinator Sipho Sithole of Native Rhythms Productions “we’ve literally gathered an impressive array of the genre’s most relevant voices who have taken ownership of the discussion on youth issues. The next two days are going to be fascinating, challenging and a real educational journey!”
The concert is themed ‘For Youth Under Seige’, the conference topics under discussion also reflect this theme – the discussions include Urban Youth in Africa: Creating Safer Cities, the contentious issue of graffiti in urban areas will be dissected in the panel discussion on Graffiti in the Hip Hop World: Who owns the Space? which will be tackled by graf artist Musa Xokelelo of Black Carrot, Jerry Manganyi, and Thabiso Khati from Gallo Records, amongst others.
Issues of ownership of the potentially lucrative hip-hop image will be addressed in the topic Hip Hop in the Advertising World – Who Owns the Brand, industry player DJ Bionic and Cassandra Goins of the renowned world music label Putumayo are amongst the panelists on that topic.
The Summit will also incorporate a Habitat Jam Forum hosted by the World Urban Cafý, an unsigned artist showcasing that will be hosted by industry heavyweights Beatmaker, Yfm’s Lee Khasumba, Tbo Touch of Metro FM, editor of hip-hop magazine Fungayi Kanyuchi , as well as a mini-film festival where films such as Miracle of Candeal, Marked for Life and 4Real will be shown.
The concert, being held on Friday, October 21st in the Newtown Park will feature artists from Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, the U.S., Bangladesh and Cameroon. A truly pan-African musical gathering, this ‘party with a purpose’, is being headlined by hip-hop veteran Guru, who will be supported by a cast of African hip-hop all stars. DJ Awadi from Senegal, Somalia’s K’naan, currently nominated for a Kora Award, South Africa’s Tumi & the Volume, Zuluboy, Sudanese rapper Emmanuel Jal, who’s gained worldwide renown for his role as an outspoken activist for the rights of child soldiers, amongst others. Tickets for the concert are available from Computicket at R90.00 each.
