and so a young Kris Parker started off his legendary diss South Bronx, simultaneously big upping his hood and dissing on the QB projects and equally legendary MC Shan, Juice Crew, and DJ Marley Marl.

A legendary – controversial – figure in hip-hop, KRS-ONE’s credibility and history is untouchable: responsible for countless rap classics, the Teacha has toured the world, performing solo and with the legendary Boogie Down Productions; put his credibility towards campaigns for Nike, Sprite, and more; founded the Temple of Hip-hop, one of the organizations responsible for stewarding hip-hop culture; and served as an elder (if unpredictable) statesman for years.

During the second evening of the Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival, as the crowd swelled for the Saturday night concert (which KRS-ONE headlined and closed out), a small group of press passes and video cameras gathered, selected by the organizers to partake in a closed-door session with Blastmaster KRS-ONE.

As the volume steadily grew to a raucous clamor outside, KRS shared insights with the audience:

on technology

the need to master (and not be mastered by) our tools

The need for hip-hop education

how hip-hop should be taught and available in school curriculum

on rap’s death and hip-hop’s growth

and – making a strong display for why he deserves his name, the Teacha, he broke down the history of New York urban radio, from WBLS and KISS FM’s radio/DJ battles, to the founding of Hot 97 – and its later abandonment of what he considers to be real-school hip-hop

Last, before rushing out the door, he broke down what he considers the hip-hop lifestyle to be – not flossing or throwing around stacks, but knowing how to get by and survive and thrive

Throughout the weekend, the local Temple of Hip-Hop members (big up to Trinity College Temple of Hip-hop – the nation’s first collegiate chapter!) were showing out for KRS-ONE’s new book, The Gospel of Hip-Hop. At the close of this session, his associates passed out complimentary copies to all the journalists in attendance, as the teacha was whisked away to his green room.

What’s good, party people?

This past weekend, Nomadic Wax’s first-stringers must have all bailed on them, because Ben was desperate enough (all praises due) to issue me a press pass to the 5th annual Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival. As part-time c-list blogger (and so d-list journalist), I was hyped to see how my online credentials would transfer into the real world. And so, last Friday, with Bboy Andrew in tow as my enlisted photographer, I jumped into a borrowed car and headed north from New Haven on I-91.

Pulling into Hartford a quick hour later with Alchemist and Clipse records on blast, Andrew and I cut our way through the Trinity campus in stealth mode. The festival actually started that morning with a series of in-class lectures, but we planned to hit town just in time for dinner; so we made our way to registration just in time to collect our press passes, introduce ourselves to some familiar faces, and hit the invited delegates’ networking dinner

[Flick 2: Bboy Andrew, me, Jasmine, and DJ Nio]

Over that dinner – throughout the weekend – the Nomadic Wax/Trinity Hip-Hop crew did a strong job of creating community between the invited hip-hop writers, emcees, DJ’s, and activists. Whenever event organizers mingled with the crowd, they were building with guests and introducing delegates to one another – artists, workshop presenters, and even press members all bore the event sponsors’ co-sign. And so it was easy to connect and politic with anyone around – anyone displaying a TIHHF badge was already screened and trusted by at least some true hip-hop heads.

The atmosphere throughout the festival was full of this positivity, with a rare level of mutual respect and comfort among the attendees. The vibe was almost family reunion-style – I heard “brother” and “sister” thrown around like a 70s Blaxploitation flick. I’ve seen “networking”, especially at hip-hop events, often turn into a rodeo of promotional gimmicks and self-important rants. But there was a sense of purposefulness to most of the acts gathered in Hartford.

Many groups – Senegal’s Wagebele, Palestine’s DAM, the multinational Readnex Poetry Squad – have explicitly tied their musical identities to bigger issues, like African/Middle Eastern politics, social justice, and urban education. And even those hip-hoppers without explicit social agendas, such as RAH Zemos, still came across as driven by a vision of hip-hop culture as deeper than rap (no Rick Ross), pushing the culture further and bigger than the mainstream image of hip-hop as 45-second commercial interlude soundtrack. With this shared understanding, it makes sense that we would see each other as brothers- and sisters-in-arms for hip-hop.

[Flick 3: DJ Boo on the 1's and 2's]

That sense of positivity wasn’t just unifying people across regions or languages – all elements of the hip-hop culture were representing side-by-side, from Emceeing, DJing (big ups to DJ Boo [NYC] and DJ Nio [Italy]), Graf writing, Bboying, to Knowledge (the hip-hop scholars out in full force, along with the Temple of Hip-Hop). After waking up on Saturday, I drove over to Trinity’s campus and joined the emcee showcase, hosted by Self-Suffice and Undakova backed by DJ Nio, while local graf artists pieced up canvases feet away.

The second half of my afternoon was dedicated to an ill bboy battle, with a bracket filled by crews from the region. Bboy Andrew and his partner were knocked out in a close battle (1 vote away from a tie) in the first round, but I stuck around shooting flicks and politicking with the bboys in the spot. My Mighty Healthy ASIAN tee was getting a lot of looks and compliments from the heads in the crowd (what up my pinoy bboys and fly girls?) – i noticed that the asiatic representation in the bboy crews was much higher than among the emcees. An observation to come back to in the future.

[Flick 4: Warming up for the bboy battle]

As I broke it down with bboys, dj’s, and emcees alike, a troubling thought that remained in the back of my head was that, as much unity and love as we were seeing, one area of segregation that remained was between the diverse elements of hiphop. While we all came out to the same locale, I saw MC’s, DJ’s, and journalists building with one another, bboys sticking to themselves, preferring to vibe out to the music or warm up in tight circles; and i didn’t even have a chance to get at any of the graf writers in the spot.

During a 10 minute interlude between the first and second round of the bboy battle, Zulu Nation emcee K-Swift and a couple of other acts performed – but most bboys scattered to eat, drink, or practice, with only a fraction of the crowd sticking around and dancing or vibing to the intermission acts.

I would have loved to see more cross-elemental communication – the visual artists, musicians, and dancers seemed to all have their own spaces during most of the day. Most of the day, that is, until KRS-ONE took the stage to close the Saturday night concert.

Anyone who knows the Teacha a/k/a Blastmaster KRS-ONE knows that he has been at the very forefront of preserving and bringing together hip-hop’s elements, from his legendary crew Boogie Down Productions, to classic albums like Criminal Minded, and the Stop the Violence movement. Having seen his live performance on two previous occasions, I thought that I would have gotten used to his presence – but as soon as he took the stage, he didn’t let up for a minute until it was time to go home. The consummate performer.

Perhaps most inspirational, though, was how generous he was with the spotlight. Calling out the graf heads for their pieces on the walls, inviting bboys up from the crowd to rock with him, and then ceding the stage to other emcees to let them spit for a good ten minutes, he ended the weekend with a bomb of truth, love, and power – reminding us all that, in the end, hip-hop is bigger than any one of us, our elements, labels, or movements.

[Flick 5: culture on display]

As I drove back to New Haven late Saturday night (early Sunday morning?) alone with my thoughts (Bboy Andrew headed off with his Style Weapons crew earlier in the night), I bumped that same Alchemist record that I had been playing on my way up to Trinity, and reflected on the weekend.

In many ways, it was inspirational – more than the mixtape spots, offers for future shows, and prospects of the 2011 festival, the weekend reminded me that my art – emceeing, writing, photography, and more – is linked to something deeper than the individual products of my skill. It reminded me of that initial sense of a worldwide unified culture – bboys toprocking in France, dj’s cutting in Italy, emcees writing verses in China, and graf heads getting up across metro lines all over the world – and a vision of global brotherhood, sistahood, and positivity that it’s easy to forget when I’m solo in the studio mastering a track.

See yall in 2011!

[Stay tuned for more specific recaps of various elements of the festival, including musical acts, the bboy battle, and more]

-GRAND MASTER

“Distant Relatives” Event Dec. 12 – A Conversation on the Deep-Rooted Connections and Evolution of Reggae and Hip-Hop; Moderated by MTV VJ Sway, Made Possible by VTech;

National Geographic Live will wrap up its fall event series with a groundbreaking evening featuring some of hip-hop’s most legendary figures. “Distant Relatives,” sponsored by VTech, will introduce hip-hop icon Nas and Grammy-winning artist Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley in a panel discussion about the complex history and under-examined relationship between reggae and hip-hop.

Moderated by MTV VJ Sway Calloway, “Distant Relatives” will feature a multitude of the indusry’s key contributors, including the infamous Kool Herc, Rakim, Daddy U-Roy, King Jammy, Jeff Chang, Pat McKay, Waterflow and DJ Red Alert.

International record label Nomadic Wax organized the African representation for the panel, bringing in Papa Moussa Lo a.k.a. Waterflow.

Waterflow is at the forefront of Wagëblë, a Senegalese hip-hop group formed in 1997, and an international “voice for the voiceless”. Wagëblë’s messages are universal, but their primary fous is to empower the youth of Africa, bringing politics to the head of the global hip-hop scene.

Waterflow has participated in numerous tours, shows, panels and workshops with Nomadic Wax, and maintains a presence in peace organizations like One People and at the schools and universities of Sénégal. As one of the world’s leading hip-hoppers using music as a platform for social change, Waterflow’s presence at “Distant Relatives” will add a historic, global perspective to an already established group of panelists.

The event will take place at National Geographic’s Grosvenor Auditorium in Washington D.C. on Saturday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. Tickets are sold out, but the event will be streamed live and broadcast online for free at Natgeomusic.net.

An open-mic party will be hosted at the popular Washington nightclub, Zanzibar, following the event. Ticket holders will receive free admission with proof of purchase. For more information visit www.zanzibar-otw.com.

Hip-hop has evolved from its expressive African roots, traveled through the Caribbean and American colonies by way of the slave trade, sprouted up in Jamaica, and cemented itself in the streets of New York City as the multi-billion dollar indusry and all-encompassing culture we know today. Discussions will revolve around the social implications hip-hop and reggae culture have on the global community, and explore the origins of a music that traces back to African sounds and expressions.

About Nomadic Wax – Nomadic Wax is a fair-trade international record label and production company dedicated to producing and promoting global urban music and media.

About National Geographic Live:
National Geographic Live is the performing arts division of the National Geographic Society. It features live concerts, films and dynamic presentations by today’s leading explorers, scientists, filmmakers and photographers, covering a wide range of topics, including exploration and adventure; wildlife and habitat conservation; natural phenomena; world cultures and ancient history; and relevant issues such as climate change and sustainability. Proceeds from speaker series help fund future National Geographic initiatives in field research, exploration and education. For more information, visit www.nglive.org.

About Nat Geo Music:
Nat Geo Music, a division of National Geographic Entertainment, was established in 2007 to inspire people to care about the planet through the power of music. Content developed by Nat Geo Music is utilized across all National Geographic platforms, including online media, radio, print media, film and television. The Nat Geo Music label, launched in January 2009, records, releases and promotes modern music from around the globe from a variety of artists and genres. The Nat Geo Music Channel programs music from every corner of the planet and showcases global legends, local stars and up-and-coming artists. For more information, visit www.natgeomusic.net.

About ‘Distant Relatives’:
Damian ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley and Nas, whose success as a duo was fermented in 2006 with the double-Grammy-Award-winning ‘Road to Zion,’ have created the album ‘Distant Relatives’ to explore and celebrate the correlations and connective history between reggae and hip-hop, paralleling both sounds to the motherland. ‘Distant Relatives’ is neither a remix nor a featured guest spot on a single track, but a fully collaborative effort opening new avenues of musical expression.

For interviews, media inquiries, or for information about other projects, etc. please contact Nomadic Wax via Ben Herson at (917) 225-8472 or ben@nomadicwax.com, and Magee McIlvaine at magee@nomadicwax.com.

###

Words By : Amanda Macchia : mandee.macchia@gmail.com

Joining them for this conversation, moderated by MTV VJ Sway, will be key players in the development of both musical genres, including Kool Herc, Rakim, Daddy U-Roy, King Jammy, Jeff Chang, Pat McKay, Waterflow and DJ Red Alert.

The event will take place at National Geographic’s Grosvenor Auditorium on Saturday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased online at www.nglive.org, via telephone at (202) 857-7700, or in person at the National Geographic ticket office between
9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. Tickets purchased online can be picked up in the lobby prior to the event.

Hip-hop, now a multibillion-dollar industry, originated as a vital form of cultural expression in Africa that was translocated by the slave trade to the Caribbean and the American colonies. It blossomed a half century ago in the dance halls of Kingston, Jamaica, and soon migrated to the parks jams and recreational centers of New York City, where the culture became known as hip-hop.
This evolution forms the basis of the “Distant Relatives” music project, a collaborative effort by Marley and Nas, which will comprise an album set for release in early 2010, a documentary film, performances and a series of public discussions, the first of which is this event hosted by National Geographic.

An open-mic party will be hosted at popular Washington nightclub Zanzibar following the event. National Geographic ticket holders will receive free admission with proof of purchase. For more information on the Zanzibar event, visit www.zanzibar-otw.com.

This event also will be streamed live and broadcast online at www.natgeomusic.net.
About National Geographic Live

National Geographic Live is the performing arts division of the National Geographic Society, featuring live concerts, films and dynamic presentations by today’s leading explorers, scientists, filmmakers and photographers, covering a wide range of topics, including exploration and adventure; wildlife and habitat conservation; natural phenomena; world cultures and ancient history; and relevant issues such as climate change and sustainability. Proceeds from speaker series help fund future National Geographic initiatives in field research, exploration and education. For more information, visit www.nglive.org.

About Nat Geo Music

Nat Geo Music, a division of National Geographic Entertainment, was established in 2007 to inspire people to care about the planet through the power of music. Content developed by Nat Geo Music is utilized across all National Geographic platforms, including online media, radio, print media, film and television. The Nat Geo Music label, launched in January 2009, records, releases and promotes modern music from around the globe from a variety of artists and genres. The Nat Geo Music Channel programs music from every corner of the planet and showcases global legends, local stars and up-and-coming artists. For more information, visit www.natgeomusic.net.
About VTech

VTech is one of the world’s largest suppliers of corded and cordless telephones and a leading supplier of electronic learning products. It also provides highly sought-after contract manufacturing services. Founded in 1976, the Group’s mission is to be the most cost-effective designer and manufacturer of innovative, high-quality consumer electronics products and to distribute them to markets worldwide in the most efficient manner. For further information on VTech’s blogs and its array of products, please visit www.vtechphones.com.

About “Distant Relatives”

“Distant Relatives” is an album created by two great artists to explore and celebrate the correlations and deep-rooted connections between reggae and hip-hop, tracing both sounds back to the African motherland that is both the cradle of humanity and the wellspring of mankind’s music. Unlike all previous collaborations between Jamaican and American artists, “Distant Relatives” is neither a remix nor a featured guest spot on a single track but a fully collaborative effort filling an entire album, opening new avenues of musical expression. Who better to fulfill this long-overdue mission? The youngest son of the legendary Bob Marley, and a hip-hop icon since 1991: Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and Nas, whose success as a duo was proved in 2006 with the double-Grammy-Award-winning “Road to Zion.”

It was only four years ago that the Bonnaroo staple and culturally transcendent ensemble known as Toubab Krewe crystallized as a cult favorite of jam festival-goers and African music enthusiasts. While most of their classmates at Wilson College were having identity crises, the quintet was redefining the notion of identity altogether, earning a grant to travel to the Ivory Coast, Guinea and Mali to study traditional African instruments and techniques. They emerged having fully incorporated their African education with the folk and rock they grew up playing together.

The Krewe are two percussionists and three string players alternating between electric guitars, basses, the souk, kamel ngoni, and the kora. Their mostly instrumental, heavily improvised music recalls jam-bands like Phish, the Americana folk of Deer Tick and the Afropop tambours of Osibisa. Their 2005 debut LP, consisting primarily of re-arranged African standards, turned heads in the realm of “world music” and solidified their international, acclaim. Afropop Worldwide raved that the release “set a new standard for fusions of rock ‘n’ roll and West African music.”
Their most recent album Live At The Orange Peel is an on-location performance recording featuring all new material including the surf riffs of “51 Ft. Ladder” and the lush percussion of “Maliba.” The album is an incredibly layered and bountiful offering produced by the Grammy-winning Steven Heller (Chet Atkin, David Wilcox). At Santos Party House on November 19th, they will be resurrecting that magic on the best sound system for live music in the city. The coalescence of many musical strains will no doubt reach an unprecedented climax.

“A Toubab Krewe show typically begins in the past, with a brief percussive disquisition on West African rhythms; gradually picks up velocity as more surf, jazz, dub, and hip-hop ideas are stirred into the mix; and ultimately climaxes in a futuristic, psychedelic, neo-griot frenzy.” (THE VILLAGE VOICE)
TOUBAB KREWE HOMEPAGE

BREAK SCIENCE (closing)
BREAK SCIENCE ON MYSPACE

MAMARAZZI (opening)

MAMARAZZI ON MYSPACE

Tickets available at:
OTHER MUSIC
15 East 4th St
New York, NY 10003

Facebook Event

-October ‘09, Washington DC.

Its a chilly 40 degrees outside…overcast, windy, its been raining the past few days. I keep asking myself- why don’t I live in West Africa?

I returned home to DC a few days ago from a 10 day trip to Burkina Faso. As I stepped off the plane, ominious NE winter winds greeted me, forcing me to pull a jacket up over my brand new Burkina Faso soccer jersey (of course i gotta rep!). Back in the US, cold, yet satisfied, and with a bag full of CD’s and footage.

I was in Burkina Faso for the 9th annual Waga Hip Hop Festival, held each year in Ouagadougou, the capitol city of Burkina Faso, West Africa.

The homeys at Stay Calm Productions and Umane Culture had organized two screenings of our film Democracy in Dakar. The screenings would be the West Africa premiere of the film. After a two day journey criss-crossing the continent with Air Ethiopia, I was picked up at the airport in dusty Ouagadougou by Mathurin aka Cool Matt J, co-head organizer of the festival. An amazing guy, Mathurin is responsible for most of the graphic and web work of the Burkina Faso hip hop community. His team and him have created an incredible hip hop festival that pulls in the best in International Hip Hop Talent each year, all in tiny Burkina Faso. Amazing.

We drove past the famous FESPACO Headquarters (the most famous and oldest African Film Festival. It was an honor for me just to be near it!), through the paved and not-so-paved streets, weaved around motorcyclists and arrived at Waga Jungle, a recording studio/house where I was to stay for the next few days. The studio is run by a former french paramilitary soldier and is one of the oldest and most well respected studios in the country. The studio has supported most of Burkina Faso’s artists at some point in their career. I said hello…and went straight to sleep (over 24 hours in a plane to get there. DC-Rome-Addis Ababa-Lome-Ouagadougou is not the most direct of flight-paths).

Several hours later, I woke up and took my first moto ride back into the city. The motorcycle immediately got a flat tire, so my arrival at festival headquarters was somewhat delayed. At the French Cultural Center, I got my first look at other Festival attendee’s and participants. I finally got up with Shivani of Big Up GB (Guiniea Bissau. Nuff respect). Was great to get up with her after so many emails. Peep the project we did together here: http://nomadicwax.bandcamp.com/track/big-up-gb-mixtape

I also got up with Abramz from the Breakdance Uganda project. What a great guy! Another guy I had been building with via email and whose work I had been admiring from a distance for a long time. It was a pleasure to finally build with him, and seem him learning french and tirelessly building with Burkinabe b-boys.

We moved on from there to my first West African emcee battle. The outdoor arena was filled to capacity, with people sitting on the walls that surrounded the theater. While most of the puchlines (in french), went over my head, the crowd enjoyed it immensely, the emcees were on point, and the freestyling was legit. The rule stands, even in Burkina Faso- spit a written in a battle and get booed off.

The next few days consisted of motorcycle, meeting, filming, motorcycle, meeting, filming, motorcycle…. I met with many different emcees, underground to famous (Ouagadougou Famous). Highlights included Faso Kombat. We shot an awesome video for their new single for their third album (to be released soon inshallah). I got to sneak peak their new album and its fire.

I got up with Burkina Faso heivyweight Smockey and we talked hip hop and politics. I saw revolutionary Thomas Sankara’s tomb, hidden away in an overgrown cemetery. I got up with international superstars Yelen and watched as they performed a unique, organic hip hop acoustic track together in multiple languages in their living room. I met up with many different groups. One of the other highlights was building and shooting the new posse cut video for Burkina Faso’s hardcore hip hop underground stars OBC. OBC, with its over 30 affiliate members, has a very Wu-Tang meets Africa feel, but don’t get it twisted. These guys are completely original. I really enjoyed shooting the video with them, each of the 7 verses in a different neighborhood of the whole city, each emcee with his own unique style of delivery and inflection. Watch out for that video, its going to be a banger.

In exploring the neighborhoods and meeting with all the members of the local Ouaga scene, I missed much of the days’ events during the conference.

Our two screenings of Democracy in Dakar were very well attended. The first night produced an extremely interesting post-screening discussion with local emcees comparing the scene in Senegal to the one in Burkina Faso. I trekked to each of the performances each night.

The highlights for me where Mic the 7th, currently based out of Toronto, and AmKoullel, representing Mali. AmKoullel put in more work for his set than most emcees I have ever seen. The post-show Sound System’s where dope, as the mic was opened up to the entire local scene (shout out to Fils du Ghetto- too famous). Moona from Benin also represented as one of the few female hip hop acts. Also, shout out to King Ayisoba (Ghana)’s snowshoe sandals. I’ve never seen anything like it.

A week in Ouaga heat and dust had me exhausted. But the ciphers, the energy of the hip hop scene there (so hungry!) kept me going. I was energized by the skills and unique styles represented by the different Ouaga emcees that I met. I can’t wait for Waga Hip Hop Festival 2010. Shout out to Mathurin, Renaud (Stay Calm Prod.), and Ali Diallo. Nuff respect.

Global Hip Hop Throwdown
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=149654867152&ref=ts

Start Time:
Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 7:00pm
End Time:
Friday, October 23, 2009 at 2:00am
Location:
92YTribeca
Street:
200 Hudson Street
City/Town:
New York, NY

Global Hip Hop Breaks Down Barrier’s NYC International Hip-Hop Event

NYC- Global music and media company NOMADIC WAX & public relations/social media/music promoter THE BLOOM EFFECT have joined forces once again to co-produce this year’s CMJ GLOBAL HIP-HOP THROW-DOWN. The event will unite the talents of a creative and diverse group of lyricists, DJs and visual artists from The Netherlands, the Middle East, Canada, Europe, and North Africa. The event takes place at the 92YTribeca http://www.92ytribeca.org 200 Hudson St- Downtown Tribeca on Thursday October 22nd 2009. The event will begin at 7 PM and will last until 3 AM and will feature live international hip-hop music and DJs spinning music and a freestyle session ending the night.

The College Music Journal Marathon (CMJ Marathon) is New York’s largest music, film and media conference and will host hundreds of live performances, films, lectures and networking events. “CMJ is a perfect place for a global hip-hop event like this” said The Bloom Effect CEO, Fiona Bloom. “An event that unites MCs from a variety of backgrounds, countries and nationalities is exactly the kind of event that we want to be promoting at a global music conference like CMJ. I’m still baffled that we’re the only showcase of its kind. As big as the movement’s growing- 1 Intl Hip Hop showcase doesn’t really give it the attention it deserves but we promise to deliver a night of historic measures”.

“The CMJ Global Hip-Hop Throwdown has been the only event at CMJ to support international Hip-hop talent. It’s really a true honor to have artists like this fly in from all over the world and is testament to the fact that international hip-hop is becoming more accepted by the mainstream.” said Nomadic Wax founder Ben Herson.

This years event will be hosted by Blitz the Ambassador (Ghana) and will feature rising stars; Coolooloosh (Israel), La Melodia (Holland), Nomadic Massive (Canada/Haiti), At Versaris (Spain) and Alfaress (Morocco) as well as DJ Boo (Philippines/US) and DJ Phat Phillie (Croatia) who will be playing international hip-hop.

“It’s incredible to see such diversity in an event like this” said host Blitz The Ambassador. “To have artists from all over the world performing on the same stage together shows how global and powerful hip-hop culture has become”.

This years event will be sponsored by WNYE (New York Public Radio), Fusicology, World Hip-Hop Market, Myxer, End of the Weak, Popular Printing, Hip Hop Loves, MVMT and others.
URL’s of artists:

Phat Phillie (Croatia) – http://www.myspace.com/phatphillie
DJ Boo (Philippines) – http://www.myspace.com/djboo
Coolooloosh (Israel) – http://www.myspace.com/coolooloosh.com
La Melodia (Holland) – http://www.lamelodia.com
Alfaress (Morocco) – http://www.myspace.com/akaalfaress
At Versaris (Spain)- http://www.myspace.com/atversaris
Nomadic Massive (Canada, Haiti, France) – http://www.nomadicmassive.com

Ben Herson
Founder/Creative Director
Nomadic Wax

(917) 225-8472
AIM: nomadicwax
Skype: nomadicwax
ben@nomadicwax.com

http://www.nomadicwax.com

http://www.benherson.com

Global Hip Hop Throwdown
October 22nd 2009 – 7 PM to 2 AM

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=149654867152&ref=ts

Jamhuri wear clothing is hot like fire and this is why it’s hot. It’s coming from the most blazing continent on earth, Africa, and transcending an evolutionary fashion statement.
For a long time, I’ve been waiting for an African inspired street wear company to give us clothing that screams freedom of expression. Jeffrey Kimathi, designer and owner, is inspired by two worlds juxtaposing in fashion, style, culture and creative interpretations of the cities, Nairobi, Kenya and NYC, NY. For those of you who don’t know about Kenya, let me give you a first hand experience. African people beat the streets in a hustle and a bustle, businesses, culture, clubs, matatu’s (Nairobi’s fast and furious mini-bus transportation system) and all that exudes a typical city life in Africa.
This is particularly important because finally, it is cool for Africans to represent their diversity in cultures, history, philosophers, freedom fighters and the African plight for equality, justice and expression. Many people only are exposed to one side of Africa, the poor and famished side. Everyone wants to go to Africa and feed the children. But Africa is so much more than that. African youth, like Kimathi, would make the elders proud because his clothing tells the story of Africa and why it is so important not only to Black people of African descent but to the entire world. There was a time, where showing an Afro-centric style or a love for Africa was ridiculed. Now, it’s not only cool to show off Africa in fashion but it makes a statement that says, “ I am African-and proud!”
Kimathi not only gets his inspiration from his native Nairobi but he also gets it from, “ New York City and the 8 million stories that we encounter passing us everyday.” Jamhuri wear is definitely international as well with having shipments being shipped to as far as Japan. Jamhuri has a diverse customer base of “global thinkers and no-limit type of people.” Jamhuri is unique because its inspiration comes from the everyday life in two lively, upbeat and diverse cities. It also shows Kimathi’s visions for a creative outlook of the world around him.
I asked Kimathi to tell me something about his line of clothing that ultimately represents his story. Here’s what he said, “ Inspired by two worlds and two different cities, New York ad Nairobi, it’s the beginning of the Jamhuri wear journey. My life, in design, is to provide a more clear and hopefully a HD clarity picture and open communication and dialogue between Africa and the rest of the world. [I aim to] paint pictures that help clear out questions between stereostypes and human types, perceptions versus reality.” That is absolutely astonishing so when you want to feel proud, diverse, unique and comfortable check out Jamhuri clothing. You can come to their co-op store in Harlem called Bebenoir and check out their new collection, Heritage Rich, on 2164 Federick Douglass blvd. ? ? ? ?
Written by: Shamarla Rasheda McCoy
Freelance writer for Nomadic Wax