Category: Hip Hop Pioneers
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Nas, A Living Legend
Nas is a more than well-known rapper that has inspired multiple people and hip-hop artists alike. Real name Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, he grew up with his father, the Nigerian Jazz musician “Olu Dara” in Brooklyn, New York. It was not until 1989 that Nas grew into his musical side and decided to hop
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HHAP EP. 69: Industry Vet Buddha Blaze on the nature of the music industry in Kenya and Beyond
Buddha Blaze is a Kenyan blogger, podcaster, and music industry insider with over 20 years of experience. He has worked throughout the continent and the diaspora with artists and producers from around the world. He was a major part of the British Council’s WaPi (Words & Pictures) initiative, which showcased hip hop, poetry, fashion breakdance, and graffiti culture in Nairobi. He has also consulted numerous artists in the business and worked on several projects with international artists and producers. A major figure in the Kenyan hip hop scene, he was recently seen on the Nairobi-based What’s Good Africa?, the only show on P. Diddy’s RevoltTV to focus on hip hop culture in Africa and one of the only shows airing on a US network to focus on hip hop culture in Africa. In this conversation, Buddha Blaze talks a lot about the changes he’s seen in the industry over the years and some of the skills artists need to navigate the industry today. He also talks about his involvement in the growth of the cultural scene in Nairobi, which has grown to become the largest music, film, and contemporary art scene in East Africa. Buddha Blaze is Twitter @ItsBuddhaBlaze and Instagram @buddhablazeworld Intro and outro beat by Nigerian producer @teckzilla108 This episode is part of the special series that we did in partnership with Words Beats & Life. The series was recorded and live streamed with students in the Hip Hop in Africa class at Howard University and George Washington University.
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The power of hip-hop: Africas FREEDOM FIGHTERS
The music industry has dramatically grown in the last couple of years despite harsh conditions faced by musicians on and off the continent. Music is sacred because it can calm the troubled mind, take away one’s sense of poverty, inequality, loneliness, and everything else that brings a burden. Political leaders, however, do not see music
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M.I Abaga (Mr. incredible)
M.I Abaga was born on October 4th, 1981 as Jude Abaga in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. The M.I in his name stands for Mr. Incredible. He was first introduced to music in high school when his mom bought him music notations and a 7-key mini piano. Growing up he listened to a diverse group of
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History of zambian hip hop
Rap is Zambia had be used sporadically over time because of its roots in African society. It wasn’t until hip hop began in the late 1970s Bronx, New York, that it became the large genre in Zambia that it is today. Hip hop’s influence began to make world-wide strides, and the leading genre, Zam-Rock started
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HHAP Ep. 62: Sensai T8 and The HIPHOCALYPSE Fort-Knights Podcast
HIPHOCALYPSE Fort-Knights was a radio show first produced on the campus of Rhodes University in South Africa in 1999, and made available on podcasting platforms in 2006. The podcast ran for about three years, releasing more than 20 episodes, some of which can still be heard on Podomatic. HIPHOCALYPSE Fort-Knights was the first regularly produced podcast on African hip hop. The show was the only place to get a variety of music from MCs across Africa, featuring early music from artists like Blitz the Ambassador, HHP, K’Naan, M.anifest, Modenine, and Yugen Blakrok. The show was also pioneering in that it played hip hop from all over Africa, from major hip hop scenes like South Africa to lesser-known hip hop scenes like Equatorial Guinea. The show was on podcasting platforms before most hip hop artists in Africa had a solid social media presence, and before podcasting became part of hip hop culture. While today there are streaming services, like Planet Earth Planet Rap (PEPR) Radio, there is still a void in terms of podcasts one can download to hear what’s happening with hip hop across Africa. In this episode I talk to Sensai T8, one of the founders of HIPHOCALYPSE Fort-Knights, about the show’s start and its evolution into a podcast. We discuss some of the artists that appeared on the show’s playlist, and the show’s legacy in documenting African hip hop during that period in time. Sensai T8 can be found on Instagram at @Sensaitate The podcast can be found at hiphocalypse.podomatic.com
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Mixtape Project: South African Female MCs Addressing Gender Based Issues and Empowering Women.
Female MCs in Africa have long faced barriers in trying to enter a male-dominated industry that doesn’t take them seriously or believe that can create a lasting impact. As female artists are now on the rise more than ever, they are using their craft to shed light on social and cultural issues faced by women
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Ma Revolution- Didier Awadi
The song I used for this blog post is “Ma Revolution” by Senegalese artist and PBS founder Didier Awadi. The reason why I choose this song is because this song reminds me of my father who really loved this song, and when I mentioned to him about this assignment, he mentioned to me to use
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HHAP EPISODE 53: Hip Hop Palaver, v.1
This is a special episode of the Hip Hop African Podcast. It is a collaboration between the HHA Podcast and the Global Hip Hop Exchange (GHHE), which is an online network/community of hip hop creatives who are primarily from, or based in, Africa.
In the first discussion, or palaver, several hip hop creatives from around the continent came together to talk about the impacts of the Corona virus on our lives, personally and creatively. The discussion also centered on income security for artists, how artists are finding ways to get through these difficult times, and how folks are feeding their creativity.
The discussion included members of the GHHE, all of whom have been involved in hip hop culture in their respective countries for several years. The roster of this, the first of what will hopefully be several, palaver is:
Dumi Right/@DumiRight | MC & Member of the veteran rap group Zimbabwe Legit | from Zimbabwe, based in the Washington, DC area | Bandcamp: https://phmusic.bandcamp.com
Fete Jen/@Fete_Jen | hip hop organizer & founder of The Lounge (open mic event) and producer of the upcoming mixtape | from the U.S., previously based in Tanzania, currently based in Pretoria.
Lebo Mochudi/@LeboMochudi | MC, singer, & producer | from South Africa, based in Johannesburg | YouTube: https://youtu.be/hzJUY8SJhaw
Msia/@Kibona | HHA host & hip hop professor, photographer, & author | from Tanzania, based in the Washington, DC area | Website: https://msiakibonaclark.com
Synik/@SynikZim | MC & producer | from Zimbabwe, based in Lisbon | Bandcamp: https://synikzim.bandcamp.com
Teck-Zilla/@TeckZilla108| DJ, Producer, & Member of hip hop crew Str8 Buttah | from Nigeria, previously based on Montreal, currently based in Lagos | Bandcamp: https://str8buttah.bandcamp.com