Dakar, Senegal - In a country where journalists are banned from saying or writing what they want, hip-hop artists have stepped up to speak for those who can’t. Moussa Lo, a.k.a. Waterflow, is one of Senegal’s most famous hip-hop artists. He said he became a hip-hop singer not for success or his own glory, but to be “the voice of the voiceless.” “Hip-hop in Africa needs to grow,” Waterflow told ABC News, “because we are the journalists for the people.”

While Senegal’s daily news papers praise the government’s action – new roads being built for a recent summit, urban renovations — Waterflow denounces the corruption and the poverty that plague his country. “Most people,” he said, “the masses, don’t have everything they [need] to live a normal life. They don’t have running water, often they don’t have electricity.” (more…)

I saw this cat open up for Kweli once, and he ripped it. Soobax, (pronounced “sohbah”) the first single from K’naan’s upcoming album “The Dusty Foot Philosopher Deluxe Edition,” is percussion-fuelled protest music at its finest. Set in K’naan’s native Somalia, the song is a fervent look at life in a war-torn country ruled by competeing warlords and their gangs. (more…)

Sudanese hip hop artist and former child soldier Emmanuel Jal participated at last week’s three-day African hip-hop conference held at Harvard University. The conference, sponsored by Harvard’s Cultural Agents Initiative and the Ford Foundation, drew 38 panelists from 11 countries.

Jal, who was forced to fight in the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army from the time he was about six years old until he dramatically escaped the rebel army when he was about 13, sees hip-hop as one avenue to peace, tolerance and literacy for millions of African youth. (more…)

Nickson Mberam has carried a machete and been ready to kill. “In this situation,” says the dreadlocked Kenyan hip-hop artist, “you turn into somebody you’re not.” Rapper Richy Rich agrees. “We’ve been through chaos,” he says. “We’ve felt anger and guilt. I’ve looted, I’ve stolen food - because I had nothing to eat.”

Along with other hip-hop artists - including 23-year-old Tim Mwaura, who mops floors by day in a fast-food restaurant, and performs fast-flowing poetry by night in the Kenyan capital’s ghetto clubs - they have formed the Hip Hop Parliament, a collective determined to denounce, through rap, the violence engulfing their communities. (more…)

PEOPLE in Need (PIN) Namibia, a Czech Republic-funded organisation for families affected by HIV-AIDS in Namibia, plans a Virus Free Generation Hip-Hop Tour as part of an HIV-AIDS awareness campaign.

According to the head of PIN, Zdenka Haukova, hip-hop artists Snazzy from Namibia and Tina from the Czech Republic will perform at an open-air concert scheduled for March 3 at Keetmanshoop’s J Stephanus Stadium. Other local artists will also perform. (more…)

While the American presidential race has been front and center in the news these days, very little coverage has been given to the atrocities currently taking place as a result of last week’s presidential election in the Republic of Kenya. When the election results were announced this past Sunday, the shocking outcome sent thousands of protesters into the streets and now hundreds have brutally lost their lives in violence that appears to have no end in sight. 

This was an excellent opportunity for a young democracy to grow in a part of the world where the common people often have little if any voice at all. It was a chance for Kenya to become an example for other African nations in the transformation to democracy. However, it was not to be and it now appears that Kenya, a once promising African nation, may be taking a dangerous turn for the worse. (more…)

Many Americans view commercial hip hop as little more than a venue for scantily clad women and shallow lyrics about drugs, fast cars and fast cash. But on the West African stage, hip hop is proving to be a political weapon, capable of inciting rebellion and change.

“We don’t talk about the girls and the bling bling,” says Abdoulaye Aw, the founder of Propagand’Arts, a firm that introduces African artists to the American hip hop industry. “We use our music to educate the people and talk about the real issues.” (more…)

African musicians in Dakar, Senegal have collaborated on a new album aimed at preventing HIV infections, which has long been an epidemic in many of their countries.”

Sixty percent of our population is under 18,” said rapper Didier Awadi. “So as a rap artist this is my target, all these boys under 18.” (more…)

From harrowing experiences as a child soldier to international recognition as a hip hop artist, Emmanuel Jal’s life has followed an extraordinary path. At the age of seven, he was taken away to fight with rebel forces in Sudan’s brutal civil war. After his escape, Jal is now working on a new album and documentary about his life.

Watching Jal’s performance on stage, it is hard to imagine his life as a child soldier in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. (more…)

Hip-Hop is not dead, at least not in Africa. That was the consensus after a recent screening here of the forthcoming documentary, “African Underground: Democracy in Dakar.”

The documentary, due to be released by Christmas, focuses on the role of the youth hip-hop movement in the Senegalese elections of 2000 and 2007. (more…)