Hip Hop Asili Festival comes to life June 28 in Bagamoyo

Dar es Salaam. The fourth edition of the Hip Hop Asili Festival kicks off on June 28, 2024, at the Bagamoyo Arts and Cultural Institute (TaSUBa) in Bagamoyo, promising an exciting celebration of hip hop culture.

This year's festival is set to draw over 100 attendees from both local and international communities, creating a vibrant and diverse gathering.

The event will feature artistes from Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, and the host nation, Tanzania.

The festival, which began three years ago, is aimed at supporting Tanzanian and East African hip hop talents to advance their professional careers and improve their knowledge of the music industry.

Hip Hop Asili Festval director Matei Babls said during a press conference that this year's festival will be different from previous ones because the performances will be cultural and feature pure natural music.

"With the support and collaboration from the French Embassy through Alliance Française, the show will feature live bands from Zanzibar and the mainland,” he said.

Babls stressed that the two-day event, scheduled to end on Saturday, June 29, 2024, will include a break dance competition, with the winner going on to participate in a festival in Brazil later this year.

Additionally, various performers and experts will showcase their talents in skateboarding.

"People should come in numbers to experience natural hip hop with no playback and instead with pure live performances," he said.

French Embassy Cultural and Sport Officer Etienne Pellausy said France has been supporting Tanzania in various sectors.

"In entertainment and sport, we thought to support hip hop to bring people together and enjoy what they like. We are also supporting women boxers to encourage females in the industry," said Pellausy.

According to him, in Tanzania boxing is rapidly gaining popularity, despite still being a traditionally male-dominated sport.

Presently, a growing number of young Tanzanian women are taking up boxing, driven by the dream of forging a professional career in the sport.