All good but what Summit (or Top) is this summit representing?
There seem to be certain omissions in the program.
And even tho you cannot be all inclusive especially when talking about 'African hip hop' it would make sense to invite some of the pioneers and the people on the ground.
UN in organizing this event worked with a representative from Gallo records who according to his own biography is responsible for the 'commercialization of hip hop in South Africa'.
http://www.nativerhythms.co.za/Site.htmlI know for a fact that publications such as Africasgateway and other African hh sites had to almost beg for any info on this summit. Some of the most active people in the scene who are really trying to do what this conference aims to do (using hip hop as a medium, raising consciousness etc) did not even know what was happening.
So the question is, whose summit is this and who is deciding who is the TOP of this so called African hip hop scene?
And the other question is, who was there in the end apart from the people invited? The organizations who had the cash to fly out there for sure. Which is cool but if u organize a SUMMIT with limited money to invite a lot of people then you will end up with the people who do have the cash, and so you help widen the gap between the gra**roots people without any money and those who are already making money off hip hop.
The same UN last year announced the WORLD HIP HOP SUMMIT to be organized in Paris in a**ociation with the NYC based Hiphopa**ociation (the people behind the H2O hip hop film festival who have a huge network among old school and new school hip hop activists). This summit was to invite a lot of artists, media people, activists etc from all over the world.
When the HH a**ociation withdrew cos they felt that UN was not treating them fair, the conference was finally cancelled. This was not the same branch of UN as the ones organizing the SA event though.
Let's hope that the people who organized this, no doubt with good intentions, will learn from this years event.
And meanwhile we should not sit still and wait for next years event but rather organize our own events and make our own decisions on who is TOP and who is NOT.
