Category: Hip Hop Pioneers
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Sister Fa: Senegalese Hip Hop Queen
Fatou Diatta, better known as Sister Fa, is a Senegalese rapper and was a pioneer for female Emcees in Senegal. She began her career in 2000, and was able to establish a tradition of rapping about serious social issues. In an interview, she stated: “I was born in Senegal and I am a survivor of
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Positive Black Soul- Je ne sais pas
Positive Black Soul (PBS) is one of the first hip-hop groups based in Dakar, Senegal founded in 1989. Didier Sourou Awadi also known as DJ Awadi and Amadou Barry is also known as Doug E. Tee are members of Positive Black Soul. The group integrates elements of traditional music into their more modern beats and
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Eedris Abdulkareem was and is STILL Right!!!
Born Eedris Turayo Abdulkareem Ajenfuja, Eedris Abdulkareem is a Nigerian hip hop singer. Although born in Kano, Nigeria, his father is from Ilesha, Osun State while his mother is from Ogun State. As an artist, he performed with the hip-hop band ‘The Remedies from 1997 until they broke up in 2002. Being talented, he continued
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Rap duo Daara J’s “Bayi Yoon” or the “Anthem for Africans”
Senegalese rap duo Daara J are most known for their rap style and thought provoking lyricism. The group consists of N’Dongo D and Faada Freddy and the name “Daara” refers to the traditional Islamic school where children learn the Qu’ran and “how to become men.” According to Faada Freddy, the J means to sow something,
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Change Starts Within: A Message from Positive Black Soul
Positive Black Soul is an eclectic hip hop group from Dakar Senegal. The group is composed of a collaboration between Didier Sourou Awadi, formerly with Didier Awadi’s Syndicate, and Doug E. Tee (born: Amadou Barry), formerly with the King MCs. Accompanied by the rhythm of traditional Senegalese instruments including percussion, kora, and balafon. PBS graced
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HHAP EPISODE 40: Modenine Shares His Views on Hip-Hop Culture and Industry in Nigeria
The second episode of our month of Nigerian hip hop is a conversation with hip hop legend, Modenine. Modenine’s hip hop career began in the 1990s, and he has produced over 10 albums and mixtapes. Currently based in England, he talks about the early days of hip hop in Nigeria, as well as the experiences that influenced his entry into hip hop culture. Modenine discusses the history of hip hop in Nigeria and the diversity you find across Nigeria. He also has strong views on the direction that hip hop is going in, as well as the music industry in Nigeria. This includes an interesting discussion on how Nigerian artists are treated compared to U.S. artists, and how some U.S. and Nigerian artists have handled that unequal treatment. Modenine also retells his experience in Nigeria with WaPi (Words and Pictures), a program through the British Council that promoted hip hop culture through the British Council in several countries. He also explains grime music! Grime a genre of music related to hip hop, which emerged among African and Caribbean migrants in England. Grime music is very similar to hip hop, and many grime artists are also hip hop lyricists. You can find the new album, Esoteric Mellow, by Modenine and producer Teck-Zilla on iTunes music, Amazon music, and Bandcamp (https://str8buttah.bandcamp.com/album/esoteric-mellow) Modenine is on social media at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/modenineofficialpage Twitter @modenine Instagram @modenine_polimaf Nigeria has the largest Black population in the world, and has the 7th largest population in the world. The country’s music and film industries are two of the largest in the world. In the series of episodes on Nigerian hip hop, we get several different perspectives on hip hop in one of Africa’s powerhouses.
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Godessa-Social Ills
Godessa was a South African female hip hop group comprised of three talented female musicians, formed in 2000. The group composed of 1) Sheema “Shame” Williams, a vocalist and a rapper who is also a social activist. 2) Elouise Jones, “EJ” Jones, a vocalist, a rapper and a producer. 3) Bernadette “Burni” Amansure, a vocalist
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All About The Holstar
Zambian hip-hop artist The Holstar, paired with Nigerian producer Teck-Zilla, came out with the song “Past, Present And Future.” It is a sultry backdrop tune that is smooth and actually immediately remixes with the introduction of Teck-Zilla, but then reverts back to the easy beat that makes the rap easy to hear. The music video
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M.I. Abaga’s unapologetic stance on the state of contemporary Nigerian Rap
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is known on the music scene for its Afrobeats genre boasting a lot of Africa’s music heavyweights including Burna boy, Wizkid and Davido, to name a few. However, it has a long history of rap/hip hop music with several notable artists including mode 9ine, Eedris Abdulkareem, Da Grin, Jesse Jagz,
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Tumi Molekane-Once Upon A Time
Tumi Molekane is a South African hip hop artist who mainly performs in Soweto, South Africa. He is originally from Tanzania, a country where his parents exiled to escape the apartheid in South Africa. However, Tumi went back to South Africa when he was 11 years old. He is now a prominent hip hop artist,