This year, our Spring Series covers South Africa. In this episode, we have a conversation with South African Hip-Hop pioneer Emile YX?. Emile is part of the pioneering Hip Hop group Black Noise, one of the earliest Hip Hop groups in South Africa. He later co-founded the Hip Hop NGO Heal the Hood, which isRead More »

Political protest in Senegal and South Africa, Unkut Awards, events in Cali & South Africa, and new releases from Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. Find links to the events and albums in our “Announcements“ The beat for the podcast intro is by Modenine If you have any questions, let us know. [email protected] FollowRead More »

This episode features a conversation with Senegalese hip hop artist Magui Diop. Magui Diop is an upcoming emcee representing another generation of Senegalese hip hop artists and Senegalese hip hop women. She is a product of one of the world’s largest and most respected hip hop scenes and has been influenced by Senegal’s tradition ofRead More »

News & Events Submissions for the 2024 Ghana Music Awards To qualify for nomination, songs entered must have been released between 1 January and 31 December 2023. The deadline for filing nominations is 31 January. Trinity International Hip Hop Festival The 18th annual Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival will take place April 5-7, 2024 at TrinityRead More »

This episode is a sit-down conversation with Toni Blackman. Toni is an artist, hip-hop activist, writer, and cultural ambassador. She holds the distinction of being the first hip-hop ambassador to the U.S. State Department, and her work has had a significant impact on the global perception of hip-hop. She has decades of experience in theRead More »

Apple Music’s Hip Hop DNA | The Sound of Freedom: The Evolution of SA Hip-Hop Apple Music is celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop with the “Hip Hop DNA” series. One episode is focused on South Africa. The Hip Hop DNA series shows the diversity of hip-hop sounds, histories, and communities worldwide through radio episodes, […]

Links and information discussed in the episode A Huis Clos, a play by French rapper Kerry James. 15 November – 3 December at Théâtre du Rond-Point in Paris France A new play by French rap legend, Kery James and French director and writer Marc Lainé. In À huis clos, Kery James plays Soulaymaan, a lawyer whose brother […]

The World Breaking Championship 2023 took place in Leuven, Belgium on September 23-24. The WBC featured 115 b-boys and 92 b-girls from 62 countries, including Algeria, Botswana, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia. Victor Montalvo (USA) won the men’s competition, Philip Kim, “B-Boy Phil Wizard,” (Canada) came in second place, andRead More »

Alfdaniels Mabingo (2022) Re-Contextualising Breakdance Aesthetics: Performance, Performativity, and Re-Enaction of Breakdancing in Uganda, Journal of African Cultural Studies, 34:4, 404-421, DOI: 10.1080/13696815.2022.2132473 In this episode, we speak with Dr. Alfdaniels Mabingo who wrote a fascinating article on breakdance in Uganda for the Journal of African Cultural Studies. Uganda has one of the largest breakdance scenes in the world, and Mabingo examines how the youth have...

Events discussed in episode: August – December 2023 | Culture Curators: Hip Hop 50 | National Museum of Accra (Ghana) September 28 & 29, 2023 – Archiving Hip Hop: 50 years in the making – Milton Keynes, UK / online May 16-19, 2024 | European Hip Hop Studies Conference | Cork, Ireland In the article Pride Month: Embracing The LGBTIQA+ Community In African Hip Hop - Hiphop Africa, these are some of the artists featured in the article: ZuluMecca |...

Events discussed in the episode August 10 & 11 | Hip-Hop 50: Past, Present & Future | Howard University Join us for a dynamic fusion of academic discourse and cultural celebration. Engage with renowned scholars, influential artists, and passionate enthusiasts as we explore the multifaceted dimensions of Hip Hop’s impact on society, music, fashion, and activism. Delve into thought-provoking panel discussions, captivating performances, and interactive workshops. Uncover the intricate...

Understanding the World of HipHop and Afrobeats with legendary Nigerian Hip Hop artist M.I. Abaga Jude Lemfani Abaga, also known as M.I. Abaga He is a Nigerian rapper, songwriter, and music producer. He was born originally in Jos, Northern Nigeria, and released his debut album in 2008. He was the CEO of the label Chocolate City from 2015 to 2019 and then started his label in 2020 with incredible music. Before getting into the music industry, he studied in the U.S. for a while, then came back...

Peter King Ubiebor also known as Dhoro Styles is a Nigerian street and graffiti artist. He holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental biology from the University of Benin in Edo state, Nigeria. Dhoro Styles has a strong focus on drawing, painting, graffiti writing, and creating murals with spray paints and paintbrush techniques. In our conversation with him, Dhoro Styles told us that his interest for drawing started at the age of 4, and continued throughout secondary school. He added that it...

This is the first episode in our Spring Series, which focuses on Nigeria this year. In this episode, we talked to Victor Uwakwe Izuchukwu, the founder of Loudbase AF Entertainment, a hip-hop community organization formed in Nigeria in 2018. Loudbase is a platform “for creatives in the hip-hop community to nurture and groom skills.” They hold a yearly Hip-Hop conference, most recently in November 2022. The conference brings together hip hop heard from around the world, especially Africa, to...

On the 15th of February, 2023, M.anifest visited Howard University, aka The Mecca, for a historical conversation around the importance of his music and Hip Hop culture as we celebrate 50 years of Hip Hop. M.anifest is one of the most prolific MCs of his generation and came for a conversation at one of the world’s most historic Black institutions of higher education. Of M.anifest, the media has called him… “the foremost rapper on the continent.” – The Guardian (2012) M.anifest’s first two...

In this short episode, we introduce you to our student assistant producer, Miranda, who will be working with us this semester. We also discuss plans for the show, plans to propose a new Hip-Hop Studies minor at Howard University, and an upcoming visit by Ghanaian hip-hop artist M.anifest. The episode starts with the song “Too Bad” from M.anifest’s latest album From Madina to the Universe. This year’s spring series will focus on Nigeria and we will be interviewing hip hop artists and...

This is a short episode we recorded to send out a couple of announcements and to acknowledge the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop.

The first episode of 2023 is a special episode on hip-hop as a cultural space where Black identities can be negotiated and presented. The research project was part of a larger seminar project with the University of Maryland College Park on African/Black Diaspora Studies. The larger project was funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The overall project focused on: “the dynamics of race, ethnicity, gender, and interactions between and among first and second-generation African...

Eavesdrop is a multi-hyphenate artist who is an MC, a producer, a director, and an actor. She has been active in Cape Town’s Hip-Hop scene for almost 2 decades and as a lyricist she often produces meaningful lyrics, expressing ideas that have depth. In this interview, we had an important conversation with Eavesdrop about the importance of representation and authenticity. We talked honestly about sometimes feeling conflicted on how best to support younger artists, especially women. Strength...

DJ Azuhl (djazuhl.net) is a prominent South African DJ with Beat Bangaz (beatbangaz.net), a DJ collective in Cape Town. He was born and raised in Cape Town and has been involved in the Hip-Hop community in Cape Town since the 1980s. DJ Azuhl started out breakdancing with the legendary Breaking crew Brasse Vannie Kaap (BVK). He’s a co-founder of the Beat Bangaz DJ Academy and Beat Bangaz Radio. He also works with Hip Hop Education South Africa. In this interview, DJ Azuhl talks about the...

Ghanaian hip hop duo FOKN Bois use satire to convey important social commentary on religion, politics, and sexuality. In this episode, they share their experiences and the thoughts that have gone into music and the messages they deliver. The duo talks about their decision to rap and write in Pidgin English, which they say stems from needing to “express more of self” to reach their own people. For them, rapping and writing in Pidgin English “brought a new sense of freedom and originality”....

In this episode of The Hip-Hop in Africa Podcast, we interview Ghanaian Hip-Hop artist Keeny Ice, from the bordertown of Aflao in the Volta Region of Ghana. Keeny Ice, whose lyrics are fast-paced, and rhymes complex, mixes languages, but primarily raps in Ewe. The talented lyricist joins us for part of our special spring podcast series with Words Beats & Life. Keeny Ice is online at: SoundCloud: @keenyice FB: @KeenyIceGH/ IG: @keenyice The episode was produced by Kilimanjaro Studios in...

In this episode of Hip-Hop in Africa Podcast, have a long-awaited interview with Tanzanian artist, Fid Q. The conversation begins with a discussion of Fid Q’s legacy in Tanzanian Hip-Hop and his impact on the genre. We discuss his connection to Tanzanian youth and his impact on his music as he relates to his listeners on a deeper level. The conversation continues to discuss his previous projects that have been influential to his career and how he plans to move forward with similar Hip-Hop...

In part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Sipho Sithole, he discusses the regional differences in South African hip hop. He talks about the hip hop scenes in Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg. He also discusses the linguistic differences in South African hip hop and the role ethnic identity plays in the styles and languages artists utilize. He also looks at the evolution of pop music in South Africa, from kwaito, to gqom, to amapiano. Sipho also discusses the dynamics within Coloured...