The Hip Hop African

In this episode we spoke with Mikko from Planet Earth Planet Rap. Mikko has years of knowledge & experience with hip hop culture and the music industry, and it was great to get his impressions of hip hop around the world, and where some of the strongest hip hop scenes are, and who some of the artists he listens to are. He has listened to hip hop music from artists in every corner of the globe, and his experience and love of the culture has given him some great insights.

Mikko talks about the emergence of Planet Earth Planet Rap (PEPR) and their work of curating hip hop music from across the globe. He also talks about his work in South Africa with Bush Radio, a legendary hip hop station out of Cape Town, and PEPR’s current relationship with Chuck D’s And You Don’t Stop radio network.

We talk about the power of NGO funding in African hip hop. Specifically, the role NGOs play in the direction and production of socially conscious hip hop music in Africa. This led to candid talk about race and privilege, and how Mikko, as a Finish hip hop head, has navigated his position to make a space available for hip hop from around to be heard, without artists having to deal with payola and the egos of radio & TV station tastemakers.

The intro and outro song is “Quu Saa” by South African hip hop group, Driemanskap. The group was part of the “spaza” rap scene and perform mostly in isiXhosa: https://driemanskap.bandcamp.com