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Shoko International Spoken Word and Hip Hop festival
Magamba Cultural Activist Network
August 30, 2011

The Shoko International Spoken Word and Hip Hop Festival continues to attract high profile international names. Slated for the 21st - 24th September the Harare-based festival has this week added to its list of confirmed acts the phenomenal Brooklyn rapper, Hired Gun, as well as DJ Bionic, the legendary SA hip hop DJ.

Hired Gun is a Hip Hop/Spoken Word educator and performer extraordinaire. An affiliate of the American based International Hip Hop label Nomadic Wax, and head of "Fresh Roots" his music and workshops have a specific focus: Roots, Truth, and Culture. "HG" has appeared alongside legends like Slick Rick and The Last Poets in such famous venues as Nuyorican Poets Café and the Bowery Poetry Cafe. Since 2008 Hired Gun has toured extensively in the US, Europe and South America. Named by URB magazine as one of ‘2009's Next 100' HG will be performing at Shoko while giving cutting edge talks on hip hop for social change as well as conducting freestyle workshops.

Another confirmed act for Shoko is Bradley Williams, better known as DJ Bionic. Bionic is one of South Africa's local hip hop legends with more than a decade of expertise as an independent label-owner, producer, A&R, concert promoter and innovator in the world of music and brands.

He has done extensive work for Levi's Original Music, Heineken Music and MTV Base to name a few. From behind the mixing boards supervising music for TV commercials and movie scores to brand's music sponsorship strategies to developing independent artists for MTN's independent music portal MTN Xploaded. This SA hip hop legend will be spinning vinyl at the Shoko Festival.

"We are blessed to have these two great artists gracing Shoko as they have so much to give towards the growth of our spoken word and hip hop movement in Zimbabwe," said festival director Comrade Fatso. "And we have a powerful movement that they too can learn from."

The Shoko International Spoken Word and Hip Hop Festival is being hosted by Magamba, Zimbabwe's leading spoken word and hip hop organization. Shoko will be a celebration of poetry, hip hop and urban culture that strives for positive social change: music with a message. It will be a living laboratory with concerts, workshops, debates, social media, urban culture stalls and more. Shoko will be at various venues including Alliance Francaise, Book Café, Zimbojam and the Mannenberg. Other headline acts include Akala (UK), Tumi and the Volume (SA) as well as Drea (Botswana) alongside trailblazing Zimbabwean acts such as Outspoken & the Essence, Synik, the Monkey Nuts, Comrade Fatso & Chabvondoka and many more to be announced soon.

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