Monday, July 25, 2011
Zimbabwe:
Cafe View of
Harare's Art Scene
The Nomadic Wax crew that shot the mini documentary above about Zimbabwe's alternative hip hop scene talk at length about the capital's famous hub of cultural activity, "Book Cafe":
... The Book Cafe is one of the most exciting and interesting places I have been to anywhere in the world and the arts scene that it has helped to create and support is truly remarkable. Every night, a different young artist is featured. The audience is always made up of all the other local artists, from famous ones like Chiwoniso to up and coming ones like emcee Synik. Our team immediately fell in love with the Zimbabwean hip hop and spoken word scene, with its unofficial headquarters at one of the various wooden tables in the Book Cafe's restaurant. With a huge freestyle culture, and a unique approach to both bilingualism and English raps, Zimbabwean hip hop has a huge amount of potential. Dancehall has also exploded in popularity in Zimbabwe as whole, influencing other genres, like hip hop, as well. That said, the emcees we did meet were firmly rooted in their own hip hop identities, enthusiastically separating themselves from the 'pop' or 'traditional' music scenes. We were repeatedly treated to the most interesting and refreshing perspectives on the political situation in Zimbabwe from its local emcees, usually over some boney chicken and greasy fries from Nando's.