allAfrica.com

W. Hassan Marsh
Dakar

The organizers of Festa 2H, a Senegalese hip hop festival running in Dakar this week, want to make the West African capital city the capital of the hip hop empire.

"We want to host a festival in Senegal that creates a meeting point for all the hip hoppers of the world," said Matador, a prominent Senegalese artist and founder of the festival's host organization, Africulturban.

"It's the first time that we've had 20-something artists from other countries come and we really have to capitalize on it," he said at a press conference last week. "Everybody can meet in Dakar and exchange."

Rap music was introduced in Senegal in the late 1980s with the debut of artists like MC Solaar and Positive Black Soul. Today Senegalese rap is prominent on the continent. Several documentaries have been made on hip hop's scope and scale.

The festival - the third - features all the major elements of global hip hop culture - rap, slam poetry, deejaying, break dancing and graffiti art. More than 20 international artists from countries such as Canada, France, Switzerland, Cameroon and Benin have joined more than 200 Senegalese acts for a week of performing, talent development and exchange. There are four major concerts and a number of smaller shows and workshops. Everything is free.

Matador created Africulturban to help his local community of Thiaroye and other impoverished suburbs of Dakar, at the same time creating a structure that could extend beyond Senegal. One way to render the name of the organization in English is "African urban culture." Its literature says that its goal is "to develop a favorable context for willing youth to learn how to become tomorrow's cultural actors."

Saturday June 21st at Crystal Restaurant and Lounge. 1401  University  Blvd, College Park, MD 20783.  Opens at 10:00pm. Possible appearance by Boobah Siddik.