Urban Africa Festival 2016
Yes, we're late, but never too late to share some love...
For the past days, Cologne has been host to the first ever Urban Africa Festival, a hub for urban culture and a gathering of lifestyles, artists and artistic forms of expression, stemming from several African metropolises. Hosted by none other than the prolific rapper/director Wanlov the Kubolor (hailing from Ghana and part of the notorious FOKN BOIS) the festival features a special lineup, including "the stars of South Africa's hiphop, kwaito and trap scene, pioneers of the Azonto movement from Ghana and the superwoman of rap from Zimbabwe", with workshops, lectures and performances by Cassper Nyovest, Gasmilla, Major League DJz, Cal_Vin, Gidijand, Temi Dollface, Wura Samba, Awa (#AfricanWomenArise), local heroes Megaloh & Ghanaian Stallion as well as production supercollective Symbiz and many more.
Festival curator, music journalist, blogger and ethnologist Georg Milz, whose Urban Africa Club online music platform inspired the event, took a few moments to share his thoughts in an interview with Funkhaus Europa (German only): "We are witnessing the dawn of a new era for African pop music, which obviously has to do with the internet. All of these artists are online now, making HD videos to present their art to the world. And American popstars are increasingly taking notice, which created this incredible pull to be at the forefront of all of this. For instance, Wizkid collaborated with Drake and now everybody wants to be next. So everybody's really motivated and happy to be in Germany and perform on a European stage."
Check out the video diaries of Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3. Day 4 closes tonight with a closing show at Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld and aftershow party at Cologne's YUCA club. Don't be late...
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