Out At The @ShokoFestival Ahead Of The @ZimHipHopSummit

After missing our first flight, we finally made the second one going to Zimbabwe to give a talk at the Zim Hip Hop summit and to also network with the cats in Zimbabwe. While we checked in at the hotel we learnt that the locals actually don't have the money to access YouTube so the ones who do actually burn music, shows and interviews on disks to sell to people, so if nobody is duplicating your stuff it basically means that man's not hot. Ahead of the summit, we went out to the Shoko Festival where Emtee performed along with Mpho Popps and Takura from Zimbabwe. We also learnt how event organisers in Zimbabwe are incorporating different elements like beatboxing and graffiti into their Hip Hop shows to make them an even better experience for attendees. This alone showed me how passionate the people in Zimbabwe are about what they do, the only barrier for them being the political/ economic climate. This then forces them to take their business elsewhere even though they really want to work at home. 

At the conference, we joined other speakers who got to share their views and opinions about the state and business of Hip Hop. One thing that definitely stood out was how people need to set their pride aside and work with others for mutual growth. To be quite honest, not everyone is going to get a chance to break through in the industry by themselves or by depending mainly on mediums like radio and TV to get their music through to the masses. Just like how Dj Sbu is doing promoting Mo Faya, you need to go to the people because that's where your support lies.