October 8th marks a coming of age for African Hip Hop. Afrolution Records, the London based African Hip Hop label is bringing together some of the biggest names in African Hip Hop in a festival that will showcase some of the cream in this genre. Afrolution are well know for their ground breaking compilation release “Afrolution Vol 1 – The Original African Hip Hop Collection” which was the first compilation of its kind in the world to represent both francophone and anglophone African countries. The release also includes a groundbreaking DVD featuring 13 music videos, interviews and B Boying from the Cape Town “African Hip Hop Indaba”. Read on for more info…

“Cargo” in east London will be the venue for the “Afrolution African Hip Hop Festival”, billed as Europe’s first ever African Hip Hop festival. The aim is to create a “home away from home” for Hip Hop heads in the London diaspora. London is still the biggest destination for immigrants from Africa, and there is a very vibrant scene, but no event specifically highlighting the power of African Hip Hop has ever been staged here.

So who’s on board?

Migrant Souls – Arguably Africa’s most established and respected MC, Metaphysics from Zimbabwe is an accomplished Hip Hop lyricist, media personality and performer. He’s worked with some of the biggest names in the world (Busta Rhymes, Mariah Carey, Slum Village etc), is currently based in Germany and is the MC for the multi platinum selling German artist Xavier Naidoo. Nu-Reggae legend Laygwan Sharkie is the second member of the group and is also a vocalist with the highly successful German artist Patrice. Together their explosive Hip Hop show aims to set the venue on fire.

Wawesh – Robert Wawero Kiboy hails from the notorious Pumuwani Estate in Kenya. He raps in his native Swahili dialect and was responsible for the infectious 2005 single, “Mjanja”. This will be his first performance in the UK and will be highly anticipated by the London based Kenyan community.

Kimba / Real Elements – Kimba Andersen is the co-founder of Real Elements. This versatile Hip Hop outfit from Malawi are at the cutting edge of African Hip Hop culture, bringing colour and much-needed conscious lyrics to the fore.

Divided Kingdom Republic (DKR) – newcomers, Zimbabwean rappers Munyaradzi Nota and Kudzi Mambara are currently based in London and are poised to release a brand new album that looks set to catapult them to the forefront of global African Hip Hop.

Galaxy High – Babou Nian is one of Gambia’s most accomplished MCs and has opened for luminaries like Redman, The Roots, Jeru the Damaja and Wu Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah.

Trenton Birch – MC for the concert will be Trenton Birch, considered a pioneer in the African Music scene, he is the head of Afrolution Records / Black Mango Music and the front man for the band, Free Radical. From Johannesburg but also raised in Kenya, Bahrain and Nigeria, Trenton has a solid background in the music industry and is currently based in London.

DJ Edu (BBC 1Xtra – co-MC) Massive support comes from London based Edu, originally from Kenya. Edu is at the forefront of driving the African movement via his radio show on BBC 1 Xtra. 

DJ Freestyle a newcomer to the scene, Freestyle is pushing African Urban sounds as a well respected member of Voice of Africa Radio.

“We’re trying to plant seeds for more shows and unify the African Hip Hop community based in Europe” states Trenton. “I do however feel that African Hip Hop has great cross over appeal due to its originality and new stories so this is a good opportunity for us to showcase our genre to a European community a well” he concludes. 

Afrolution African Hip Hop Festival
Date: October 8th
Venue: Cargo – London www.cargo-london.com
83 Rivington St
Shoreditch
London EC2A 3AY
Tickets: £10
Grab your tickets through www.afrolution.com

For more details contact ilka@gotadsl.co.uk
www.afrolution.com
www.myspace.com/afrolution
http://www.youtube.com/user/africanhiphopshop

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