The South African rapper, Emtee, who broke out with the hit track Roll Up is the headlining act for the 7th edition of the Zimbabwean urban culture showcase, Shoko Festival running from the 29th to the 1st of October. This was announced today at a press conference hosted by the organisers at Moto Republik.
He was announced alongside a bevvy of local acts who are killing it at the moment. The local contingent is led by top ZimDancehall chanter Souljah Love who is currently riding the wave with a hit track Zvinhu. Also on the line up is Takura, Simba Tagz, ExQ, Takura and Calvin. The comedy night will be headlined by Mpho Popps a top South African comic act. Popps is a well-travelled act having also had stage time at the legendary Laugh Factory.
Other international acts that will hit the Shoko stage are UK Artist DJ Yoda, Norwegians Taro Cooper and Julian Sommerfeldt. The Norway acts are coming courtesy of the partnership between Shoko Festival and the Oslo Afro Arts Festival.
The festival returns to last year’s venue which is the Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences and the HubUnconference will be held in the Harare City Library. In another interesting development, the prize money for the winners of the Hub awards has been raised to $4 000 for each winner. THe Zim Hip Hop Summit is another event that will happen during the course of Hub Unconference. This is a welcome initiative as the Zim Hip Hop sector has been struggling and the need for dialogue to pave a way has risen.
However, it is interesting to note that there is a serious lack of female acts in the local lineup, but Comrade Fatso who is part of the organisers said that there will be releasing more names as time goes on. We hope our ladies will get a chance to shine seeing that we claim that we are at the forefront of women empowerment.
