We are the people
‘We are the people’ the theme for this year and it was bigger and even much better this year than any other. A place where we celebrate and bring people to light of what hip hop really is. The celebration of a diverse culture ever known that encompasses a wide range of gifts of the mind.It knows no boundaries and also has the ability to take you to another place only if you allow it. We as Africaid were called to be a part of such a magnificent occasion. It was taking place at Water whirld in Harare; we had to participate one way or the other. In the first hours of the day we had fun with the comedians who taught us how to improve our stage performance and make an impact or relationship with your audience.
We then proceeded onto the next workshop which was all about song writing and our tutors where none other than Tariro NeGitare and Mzungu were we were taught on hey to write songs and how to properly execute it. It’s really funny to say that the songs that artists consider trash are the same that lift the crowd. We were even put into groups and we managed to compose our own songs in a space of 10 minutes which was rather fun in a way.
It was then time for a bit of grooving on the dance floor as we took part in the dance session with various dancing groups from Jibilika. Although there were some of us who never had the passion for dancing but a zeal for flexing they too were made to be a part of us. It is in that moment that the Africaid dance group was given a chance to showcase what they had to offer.
The function wouldn’t be the same without the educative part of it, so we went for the last session of the day. Which was to teach us a bit about the origins and state of the Hip Hop Culture? The facilitator of the session who were Ian Kamau and I-Walk (Ian) who specialise in the art of Hip Hop. It was quit an informative session if I must say, for the presenters gave us a chance to do our own thing by writing down our own freestyle lines. It was amazing to find out that these Hip Hop songs we hear begun with only three or four words. To hear from an internationally recognised artist that free styling is not only about disrespecting but letting your mind loose.
On the last day where we the day we put a lead on all the fun. It ended with another part of culture that we usually misuse as artists. The art of expression, graffiti had fun in doing it. This time it was taken to the hood and the theme for that day was peace. It was held in GlenNorah B here in Harare where almost every teenager from the neighbourhood came to show case what they had in terms of music. In addition came some international and local artists such as Ba Shupi, I Walk, AK 47, Flexxo, Simbiz and so many other upcoming artists from in and out of Harare. This was the official shut down of the eventso look out for this space cause there’s more to come.
