Balozi Dola Presents on "Global Hip Hop, Youth and Politics" at Fordham University in New York

Balozi Dola will present during the massive Hip Hop Week conference at Fordham University's Rose Hill Campus in the Bronx.  His presentation will take place on Saturday April 9th Collins Auditorium from 5:30 - 7:30 pm.  The panel discussion is on "Global Hip-Hop, Youth and Politics."  The presenters on the panel are: MCs Balozi Dola (Tanzania), Chosan (Sierra Leone), Immortal Technique (Peru/NYC) and La Bruja.  Balozi Dola will also perform at an After Party at 8 p.m. together with Immortal Technique, C-Rayz Walz, G.A.M.E. Rebellion, La Bruja w/ the x-executioners, and African emcee Chosan.

The full schedule follows:

Hip Hop Coalition @ Fordham University presents

Balozi Dola Performs During the "Embracing Darfur" Campaign at Princeton University in New Jersey

Dola will be performing twice as part of the “Embracing Darfur” campaign going on from April 3-8th at Princeton University.  This is a week of events to increase awareness and raise funds for the victims of the crisis in Darfur, Sudan.

 Educate yourself on the current events in Darfur and on previous genocides by attending lectures, panel discussions, film screenings and dinner discussions

Celebrate African culture by joining African hip-hop artists at Campus club Friday April  8^th

Film screening of “Stopping the Genocide” on Darfur and an overview of the conflict by the documentarian Professor John Weiss, Cornell University.

Student rally with the following speakers:

Entertainment: The Tiger Tones, African Hip Hop artists:  Balozi Dola (Tanzania), Chosan (Sierra Leone)

Film screening of “The Killing Fields” on the Cambodian genocide

 Thursday April 7^th

Lecture on Darfur by State Department Official, Richard Sims

Panel discussion on solutions to Darfur with Professor William Burke-White and Professor Gary Bass

Film screening of “Ararat”, on the Armenian Genocide and its aftereffects

Africa night with African cuisine and hip hop artists: Balozi Dola (Tanzania) and Chosan (Sierra Leone)

The Hip Hop documentary Hali Halisi (the real situation) from Tanzania won the hearts of New Yorker’s on November 7, 2004 by winning the International Hip Hop Film festival award for best short hip hop documentary. The documentary was filmed in Dar es Salaam and Arusha , Tanzanian 1999 by Madunia Inc’s, Martin Muhlenberg and Thomas Gesthuizen (designer of the Africanhiphop.com website.) This is a great day for East Africa, Tanzania because this is the first African hip hop documentary to receive such a prestigious international award.

Thomas Gesthuizen co-producer of the documentary received the award on behalf of Martin Muhlenberg (Mongo Star) who is recovering from a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. The award was presented to him by the rising female emcee Jean Gray. It was a truly star studded event graced by the old school legends such as: the “Chief Rocker”, Bizzy Bee, Grand Master Caz (Rappers delight original, before the Sugar Hill gang) he had some steam to let out man he was on fire. He murdered the MIC. He definitely has longevity. Others were Afrika Bambaata, Furious Five, Roxanne Shante, DJ Kool Herc, Special Ed, UTFO, Mc Lyte, Dres (Black Sheep) and Lord Jamar (Brand Nubian), Jojo of (KC & Jojo), Keith Murray and Tanzanian Hip Hop legend Balozi Dola, who is featured in the documentary Hali Halisi. The new School hip hop artists. At the same occasion, honors awards were given to pioneers Kurtis Blow, Queen Latifah, RZA (Wu-Tang) and Russell Simmons (Def Jam).

Madunia received congratulations from many people at the awards, including pioneering filmmaker Melvin van Peebles and the legendary female emcee Roxanne Shante.
 

H2O Hip Hop Film Festival publicity flyer

Dj Jumanne holding the Award

Rapper Balozi Dola from Tanzania with Grandmaster Caz, one of the first rappers who started out with Cold Crush Brothers in the late 1970's

Balozi D with Keith Murray, rapper from Def Squad (Redman and Eric Sermon)

Female rap legend Roxanne Shante with UTFO. Roxanne and UTFO had a big argument in the mid 1980's which they expressed through their raps. Roxanne has since studied and became a lawyer, this was a rare appearance in public.

---

Balozi Dola performed at the Knitting Factory  Sunday, April 25, 2004

Location:

 Knitting Factory
Old Office
74 Leonard Street
New York City , NY 10013
212-219-3132
Price: $7.00 / Date: Sun, Apr 25 / Start Time: 7:30 PM

=================================================================================

Balozi Dola also performed in New York at the Museum for African Art in Queens, New York on January 10^th, 2004 (rescheduled from an earlier one cancelled due to the snowstorm). The show was titled: Africa Alive! and was sponsored by the Queens Council of the Arts and another show is scheduled to be at the Five Spots Cafe, Brooklyn. 

It's featuring:

1. Super Manden and the Abdoulaye Diabate Ensemble 

    (Traditional Griot Songs from Mali, Guniea and Cote d'Ivoire)

2. Balozi Dola (Tanzanian Hip Hop)
3. Coco Sukali (Congolese Soukous and Rumba Music)

Location: 

Museum for African Art (Queens Boulevard), 36-01 43rd Avenue at 36th Street, Long Island City, NY  11101 - read more Africa Alive in Long Island

To read more about the Africa Alive show visit the the link: New York Daily News
the story " Continent in harmony" is at the bottom of page.
 
 

The second show took place on January 15^th , 2004 in Brooklyn, New York at the Five Spot. A second show was organized to give Brooklyn residents yet another dose of the motherland's African hip hop flavors. Those that were able to attend the show were excited to seeing Shiffai and Balozi perform again. They were very impressed by both performances and to hear Balozi Rap in Swahili.  Balozi performed songs from his second album – ‘ Kwenye Chati and Niko Simpo’. 
 

The show in Brooklyn Five Spot featured:

              1.) Shiffai (Senegal)  - www.shiffai.com

              2.) Nemiss (Chicago/Brooklyn) 

              3.) The Dug Out (NYC) 

              4.) Balozi Dola (Tanzania)

              5.) Legacy Star (NYC)

              6.) Chosan (Sierra Leone/England/Harlem)  www.silverstreetz.com

The MC for the night was Toni Blackman.a performer, educator, founder of the Freestyle Union. She is the first hip hop artist to be designated as the U.S. Ambassador of Hip Hop by the U.S. Department of State. Blackman has traveled and performed all around the U.S. and the world. Her work has extended to Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, England, France, and Angola. 

Balozi Dola is currently in the studio right now and has finished recording a new single titled Kwenye Show at Nomadic Wax Records, in Brooklyn, New York with producer ‘Ben’ . It is set to be release early February, 2004 in Dar Es salaam, Tanzania.  It is the first single to be released in two years. Fans in Tanzania are eagerly awaiting this single. Balozi is also featured on Mr. II a.k.a Sugu's new album in a track titled 'Mbio' from the upcoming highly anticipated album of Tanzania's top rap star. Balozi had these few words to say, " I am working on my third album now which will have more of an international sound with different languages Swahili, English, Spanish and Portuguese. It will also have a mixture of Jazz, Reggae, Soul and traditional African beats."  More information about this album will follow soon.
 

To hear a live interview of my producer "Ben Herson" of Nomadic Wax and emcee Shiffai from Senegal discussing the African Hip Hop Underground series on Transpacific Sound Paradise radio click on  http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/10016
 
(Bonyenza hapa kusoma kwa kiswahili)