DAM(Da Arabian MC's), Palestines first rap group gives the crowd an arabic lesson--and the harsh realities of Israeli occupation
Huband and wife duo-The Reminders: Zaire-born bilingual flow-toting Big Samir, and NY born globetrotter Aja Black. Imagine if Mos Def & Lauryn Hill were married, with kids, and rapped about it.
KRS-One, The Teacha
Angela Steele breaks down the history of Hip Hop in China
DJ Boo, aka the Terminator; i'm convinced he's an android--how else do you explain three 12 hour sets back-to-back-to-back
Shokanti, representing Cape Verde by way of New England
..sigh. ah college..
Nomadic Massive, polyglot, multi-instrumentalist Canadian Hip Hop group, raps in spanish, french, english, creole and arabic
Shouts out to MC KSwift representing the Zulu Nation & New Rap Order
Cenzi, one of South America's most sought after producers, lends wisdom about his experiences as a member of the Chilean diaspora
Thats the sound of the PO-lice!
Anita Tijoux, chart-topping revolutionary emcee from Chile
Father and son b-boy duo, Old School-New School
Truly, an all ages event
Shokanti's act is dynamic, and includes dancers, live musicians and on-stage painting
Waterflow of Wageble (Senegal), definitely the most energized show I've ever seen
Self-Suffice is in the buildin! That's a picture of his son on the front of his tee shirt, which reads 'the future'
Jaro Cossiga of Czech beatboxing group, Beatburger, & Toni Blackman, hip hop ambassador employed by the State Department
This Malcolm X lookin brotha is Dumi Right of Zimbabwe Legit. ZIMBAAABWEE! Check out their 1992 video, released a decade later in 2005, here
regardless--
about a month ago i had the privilege of being invited to the Trinity International Hip Hop Festival as a delegate presenting on--you guessed it--Hip Hop in China. Oddly enough, the invited China Hip hop experts were myself (see: black as the ace of spades) and Angela Steele, also a member of the African Diaspora. After commandeering Trinity's Umoja house, we delivered a presentation, which worked quite well together--Angela with the big picture, while I painted the details, pointillism-style through photos and music videos.
The festival was like none other I've been to; The dopest part about this collection of artists is that they are truly into using Hip Hop as a vehicle for social change, not just personal gain. Dont get me wrong, there was plenty of merch and mixtapes to be thrown around, but the spirit of the event is much nobler than simply making a sale or getting one more name on your email list.
It was like stepping into some sort of oasis away from the desert of modern day american minstrel show rap, into a vibrant and revolutionary world where hip hop was answering all of the world's contradictions; kids in Uganda using hip hop for community building; Da Arabian MC's condemning Israeli occupation, beatbox workshops for Hartford area youth by Czech beatbox extraordinaire, Jaro Cossiga.
As usual, what I post here is just a cross section of the photos from the event--for the full set, don't forget to check out the full set
Peace, Peace.
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