PREMIER arts fiesta Shoko Festival has added new flavour to the 2017 programme which will see the inaugural Zimbabwe Hip-hop Summit on September 30 to discuss the state of the genre.
BY PRECIOUS CHIDA
The one-day convention is expected to bring together artistes and other stakeholders to dialogue on the state of the hip-hop culture and industry in the country and beyond.
Hip-hop promoter, Plot Mhako told NewsDay last week that the idea to introduce the event came after the realisation that the hip-hop sector needed “panel-beating”.
“The realisation that hip-hop in Zimbabwe has suffered stagnation despite producing a lot of talent, from production to performance, drove us to launch the summit,” he said.
Mhako said the meeting is aimed at securing growth in Zimbabwean hip-hop to match the standards of other countries.
“Today, South Africa’s music industry has a success story to tell and that took years to build. Sadly, our industry continues to suffer stunted growth despite boasting of amazing hip-hop talent, therefore, Zim hip-hop Summit is about building bridges on a myriad of levels, bringing local and some international hip-hop players to exchange information and explore ways of ensuring growth and sustainability,” he said.
The conference has Mhako partnering with Awa Khiwe, a hip-hop artiste and poet based in Germany, hip-hop activist Darryl Nyamutsamba, Jibilika Dance Trust and Shoko Festival.
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Organisers of the event said they are looking forward to having speakers from key hip-hop industry players like MTV Africa, Trace Africa as well as artiste’s managers and production company representatives from South Africa.
Topics to be discussed will include lyricism, production of music, video marketing and distribution in a digital world.
