Political Hip Hop from West Africa – Didier Awadi & band at Berlin Bohannon on Friday, 18 Octobre 2013, 9pm

Decidedly political, musically independent, humanly upright – Didier Awadi, the pioneer and star of Senegalese and West African Hip Hop will make you both dance and think. Accompanied by one Senegal’s best live bands, he will be presenting his new album “Ma Révolution” at Berlin’s Bohannon Club – a great mix of Hip Hop, West African melodies and Reggae. Faithful to his role models Patrice Lumumba, Malcolm X and Thomas Sankara, he in his raps condemns neocolonialism and the exploitation of Africa and gives a voice to West Africa’s youth, the “Conscious Generation”. After the concert DJ Omso and others invite you to continue the party. Presented by AfricAvenir and Sunugaal as part of the Tabaski-Celebrations (Islamic sacrifice feast).  nBorn in Dakar 1969, Rapper, DJ and producer Didier Awadi is one of the pioneers of the Senegalese and West African Hip Hop movement. After his first band, “Didier Awadi’s Syndicate”, he founded together with Amadou Barry, alias Doug-E-Tee, the internationally acclaimed “Positive Black Soul” (PBS) in 1989 and released, in 1994, the album “Boul Faalé” – a worldwide success. In his so far four solo albums, “Kaddu gor” (Word of Honour, 2001), “Un autre monde est possible” (A different world is possible, 2005), “Sunugaal” (“Our Boat/Pirogue” 2006) and “Présidents d’Afrique” (2010), he reflects on Pan-Africanism, takes a clear stand against neocolonialism and the exploitation of Africa and recalls the great personalities of Africa’s independence movements. Again and again, he takes a stand on important, urging topics like in his song “On ne signe pas” (We Won’t Sign) against the EU free-trade-agreement with Africa (EPA) or in “J’accuse” (I Accuse), a clear statement against US imperialism in the world. nHis most recent album „Ma Révolution” (International Release in September 2013) once more testifies of his political engagement capturing the popular discontent on the African continent. In the hit single “Coup d’État Démocratique” (Democratic Coup) he elaborates on the “civil” coups, often legitimized by electoral fraud or changes to the constitution, which have sadly become very common in the region during the last years. In “Génération Consciente” (Conscious Generation) he expresses his discontent with the military actions of the NATO or France in Ivory Coast and Libya by the means of “staged” or instrumentalized rebellions and exposes in “Ce qu’ils disent” (What they Say) the hypocritical discourses on development cooperation of the so-called international community .n„Ma Révolution“ is also a musical journey to new horizons, e.g. the inclusion of Reggae in several songs. Standing out is the cooperation with Tyronne Downie, pianist of Bob Marley’s Wailers. His musical openness is equally confirmed by several encounters with artists of diverse musical backgrounds like Wyclef Jean of the Fugees, Doug E. Tee of PBS, Mary Ndiaye (Sweden), Hyde (Canada) ,Viviane Ndour or Bakhaw of DA BRAINS.nWith elements of hardcore rap, Dirty South, acoustic music and Mbalax the album is of great maturity, musically rich, thoroughly written as always and full of subtleties. Awadi himself described it as his best work in the past years. He emphasizes that his goal is to make this album a classic of the “Conscious Generation”: “The challenge is to make you dance while simultaneously giving you an impulse for reflection and to make you think.”nAftershow party with DJ Osmo and others!nDidier Awadi & Band
Political Hip Hop from West Africa
Friday, 18 October 2013, 9pmnTickets at all known booking offices or
directly at Soultrade_Recordstore, Sanderstr. 29, 12047 BerlinnOnline at: http://www.koka36.de/didier%20awadi%20%26%20band_ticket_55506.htmlAdvance Booking: 12 € at Soultrade / 13,70 € online at KOKA36
Box Office: 15 €nFacebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/181226202059491/ nBohannon Dirckensenstr. 40, 10178 Berlin
5 minutes walking from S/U Hackeschermarkt (S5, S7, S9) or
S/U Alexanderplatz (U2, U8, S3, S5, S7, S9)nThe event is jointly organized by AfricAvenir International e.V. and Sunugaal e.V. and takes place in the frame of the Tabaski-celebrations (Islamic sacrifice feast). nWith kind support of the Senate Chancellery of the City of Berlin and the Office for Cultural Affairs of the City of Munich.nPresented by [030] MAGAZIN BERLIN, radio multicult.fm, Rap2soul.de – Black Music Portal, Peli One FM.

In Cooperation with Bohannon, Planète Métis, dem Club der Freunde von RFI, Berlin Poche, Exberliner, AK Panafrikanismus, Afroport, Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland (ISD), Afro Heat und Bureau Export – french-music.org.nhttp://www.youtube.com/user/Awadimusic/videos nAwadi will also play in Munich on the 19.10.2013 in the framework of the 4th Pan Africanism Congress Munich. See: http://www.muffatwerk.de/de/events/view/1259