Tag: Grime
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Denise Chaila
Zambia’s rapper, singer, and poet Denise Chaila is a 27-year-old woman who is Irish and Zambian from Chikankata, Zambia. At the age of three, she moved from Zambia to Ireland, and in a recent interview, she explained how it was difficult to grow up around people she could not relate to culturally or physically. Denise’s
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HHAP Ep. 68: Edem, On Navigating the Music Industry in Ghana
In this episode, Ghanaian hip hop & hiplife artist Edem talks about the music industry in Ghana and the popularity of Afrobeats. Edem also talks about the presence of Ghanaian and Nigerian artists in shaping Black popular music globally, especially in the US and the UK. He also talks about how Ghanians have always done music according to their own rules, creating genres and trends like highlife, hiplife, and azonto; and innovating hip hop and Afrobeats. We also talk about being Ewe and why language and identity are important in his work. Coming from Ghana’s Volta region, he’s one of the first hip hop artist to begin rapping in Ewe. Edem’s music is a mix of hip hop, hiplife, and dancehall. He released his 1st album, Volta Regime in 2009, followed by 2 more albums and the recent EP Mood Swings released last year. Throughout his career he’s collaborated with several international artists, and has won and/or been been nominated for several music awards, including the Black Canadian Awards, the Ghana Music Awards, and the 4syte (for-sight) TV Music Video Awards. Edem is on Twitter at @iamedem https://twitter.com/iamedem and Instagram at @iamedemgh https://www.instagram.com/iamedemgh and YouTube at @iamEdem https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXwdOmMKtY9-NXjDq-yqxYg 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 UK through the lens of The African diaspora
For this mixtape, I focused on the modern rap scene in the United Kingdom, more specifically England. All of the artists in the mixtape are born to African parents and speak about their struggles living in the UK as young Black people but still being proud of their heritage. Much like the United States, the
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Mixtape: 1st Generation Diasporic Rappers and Their Experiences
In their songs all of these artists explore their identities within the context of the larger societies they live in. Subtextually, all of these artists are rapping about the ways in which their existence as sons and daughters of African parents have affected their ability to relate to those around them. All of these artists
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Omo Frenchie: London’s Rising Afrobeats Artist
Recognized for its evolving genres, London has seen the rise of Garage, Grime, and Dubstep, amongst others genres, and, most recently, has birthed its own sound of Afrobeats. Amongst London’s leading Afrobeats artists stands Omo Frenchie, a Congolese, London-raised artist that has received recognition and praise for his musical versatility. Fluctuating between dancehall, Afrobeats, Afro
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Skepta: London raised with Nigerian roots
Skepta is a Nigerian rapper born in London. Although he built his fan base by london followers, Skepta hasn’t lost his roots to Nigeria. Even more important he embraces his African roots and boasts his country to the rest of the of the world. For instance, this song was shot on the beautiful a coast
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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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Bad Energy (Stay Far Away) -Chief Skepta the Grime MC
“Skepta” Joseph Junior Adenuga is a popular Grime rapper, songwriter, record producer and music video director based in London and originating from Nigeria. He is one of Grime’s biggest artists whose most recent album Konnichiwa became the genre’s highest charting album, peaking at number 2 on the UK music charts. Konnichiwa was his fourth studio
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Nigerian Tings
You might know UK based Grime artist Jme better as the younger brother of his older sibling, Skepta. The two grew up in Tottenham, a neighborhood of North London, but the parents of Jamie (Jme) and Joseph (Skepta) Adenuga originate from Nigeria, and the brothers’ upbringing had been heavily influenced by their African background.