African Underground: African and NYC Underground Hip-Hop
Jan 15th 2004, the Five Spot Supper Club and Nomadic Wax productions invite you to "African Underground" the first ever African hip-hop showcase to unite MCs from all over Africa as well as like minded MCs from NYC. The event is the first of its kind and is an attempt to bring together not only hip-hop talent from all over Africa but also to unite African MCs with their American counterparts. The event will be hosted by the legendary hip-hop/spoken word poet, Toni Blackman who not only has traveled all over Africa working with MCs but also served as the the official US hip-hop ambassador under the Clinton Administration. The event will be featuring MCs from Senegal, Tanzania and Sierra Leone as well as MCs from Brooklyn, Harlem and Chicago.
Jan 15th 2004 8pm
At The 5 Spot Soul Food Café
459 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn
www.fivespotsoulfood.com
Radio link: http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/10016
Talent will include:
(Hosted by: Toni Blackman)
In Africa an urban cultural revolution is occurring. Over the past 20 years, hip-hop from American has made its way into daily African life by way of radio, cassettes, CDs and TV. Having been influenced by this cultural power, African youth have created their own local hip-hop cultures to rap about their own experiences, life stories and struggles surviving in Africa’s urban ghetto. While many MCs choose to rhyme in English, many others have interjected their own language and cultural stamp on rap music by rhyming in their local language/dialect whether it be in Wolof, Yoruba, Zulu or Swahili or any of the other hundreds of languages that exist through out Africa. Due to its socially/politically conscious message African hip-hop stands in sharp contrast compared to the materialistic and misogynistic messages of much of todays rap stars. In the country of Senegal for example, rap music's text have become hyper political. In the year 2000 the rappers of Senegal quite literally changed the entire political landscape when during the elections of that year, the MCs of Senegal ousted the former regime in the first successful democratic election in Senegal’s history. The situation of Senegal is just one in a thousand. All over Africa, hip-hop is being used to engage in dialog about poverty, war, corrupt governments and the threat of globalization. The world may be waiting for the "next big thing" in hip-hop to emerge from the ghettos of Brooklyn, Detroit or LA; however, the hip-hop heroes of tomorrow may very well be emerging from the African ghettos of Dakar, Lagos or Capetown.
Jan 15th 2004, the Five Spot Supper Club and Nomadic Wax productions invite you to "African Underground" the first ever African hip-hop showcase to unite MCs from all over Africa as well as like minded MCs from NYC. The event is the first of its kind and is an attempt to bring together not only hip-hop talent from all over Africa but also to unite African MCs with their American counterparts. The event will be hosted by the legendary hip-hop/spoken word poet, Toni Blackman who not only have traveled all over Africa working with MCs but also served the official US hip-hop ambassador under the Clinton Administration. The event will be featuring MCs from Senegal, Tanzania and Sierra Leone as well as MCs from Brooklyn, Harlem and Chicago.
MC'd by: Toni Blackman
Folks have been watching Toni Blackman way before she was featured in Essence Magazine’s "30 Women to Watch," and long before her layout in Savoy Magazine and the New York Times. Her funky performances and conscious, sultry lyrics have dazzled fans for years, but her talents stretch far beyond the stage. Blackman has won acclaim as a performer, educator, founder of the Freestyle Union, author (Inner-Course, Villard/Random House, August 2003), and on-air personality. Her insight and commentary about hip-hop have resonated so profoundly that she is the first hip-hop artist to be designated as the U.S. Ambassador of Hip-Hop.
Appointed the American Cultural Specialist and Hip-Hop Ambassador by the U.S. Department of State, Blackman travels the world and the U.S. as an artist advocate and performance artist. Her work has extended to Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, England, France, and Angola.
Blackman is also founder and director of the internationally acclaimed, Freestyle Union and has been a part of the hip-hop culture for close to a decade. She mixes her extensive background as a pioneer in hip-hop education to empower communities, teaching the skills that push the concept of "freestyling" off the charts. She is currently recruiting personnel and fundraising for this groundbreaking venture likely to not only make history, but make some serious changes in the rap game.
Talent: Shiffai
Hailing from Africa’s hip-hop capital, Dakar Senegal, Shiffai began rapping on the streets at the age of 13. In 1993 he conceived and was the lead MC for Senegal’s legendary Slam Revolution. Rapping primarily in Wolof, Shiffai which means "The Remedy" in Arabic) and his crew rapped about politics, corruption, life in the African ghetto, and other issues of injustice. Shiffai has never been afraid to confront the truth in his rhymes whether in Wolof or English. "Music is something that I have been put on this Earth to do. Something that I do to bring about a higher consciousness in my audiences minds."
In 2000 Shiffai went from rocking the crowds in Dakar to honing his skills in the US where he has been working on his debut album "The Chosen One" produced by Brooklyn based producer Benny Herson (AKA Nomad). Creating a flow based in his Wolof rhyming style Shiffai has carved a sound that successfully fuses both English, street slang and Wolof to create a Senegalese-style patois never heard before. With a flow unrivaled in a business dominated by thugged out clones and hip-hop fakers, Shiffai brings straight from Africa, the true spirit and embodiment of hip hop.
Nomadic Wax info:
Nomadic Wax is a mobile "guerilla-style" production company dedicated to recording, producing, and developing hip-hop talent in Africa’s urban centers. Nomadic Wax was conceived by Benny Herson, (AKA Nomad), who stumbled upon a thriving underground hip-hop scene during a trip to Senegal in the summer of 1999.
In 2000 Benny returned to Senegal to write "Fat Beats, Dope Rhymes and Thug Lives" a scholarship-wining thesis documenting the rise of Senegalese hip-hop and the power of hip-hop as a means of political/social expression. In 2001 Benny returned to Dakar with no more than a hard disk recorder, a laptop computer and a couple of mics. With engineering help from ASCAP award winning engineer Dan Cantor (Notable Productions) and 14 of Benny’s dopest beats, Nomadic Wax recorded "African Underground:" Senegal", the worlds first African hip-hop compilation produced for international release.
Today Nomadic Wax has successfully produced over 54 of West Africa’s most talented hip-hop groups. With the advent of portable digital studio technology, Nomadic Wax is able record on location, thus reaching artists in the most remote of locations. With the immense success experienced in Dakar, Nomadic Wax will continue in its quest to seek out and produce hip-hop talent around the world.
Nomadic Wax/Ben Herson
486 Jefferson Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11221
917 225 8472
http://www.nomadicwax.com
http://www.shiffai.com
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