Malawi Hip Hop Awards and festivals in the offing
Malawi will soon join the list of countries such as USA, South Africa and Zambia among others which have annual Hip Hop Awards and festivals to celebrate the culture.
For the first time in Malawi music history, Wize Scholar Entertainment a newly established entertainment outfit which has pledged itself in full time Hip Hop events management said plans are in final stages for the inaugural Hip Hop Awards and festival.
Speaking in an interview, Geoff Chirwa also known as Black Mind revealed that Wize Scholar Entertainment intends to host Hip Hop events including awards, festivals and conferences in the country.
“Elsewhere in the world, people celebrate Hip Hop through Awards and festivals. We shouldn’t be the only country out of the picture,” Black Mind noted.
He added, “After seeing a void where much effort is put in urban music, I thought it wise to start something which will focus more on Hip Hop as a culture. I started this idea 3 years ago but now am going full throttle.”
The Wize Scholar manager pointed out lack of sponsorship in Hip Hop events to bad publicity that the older generation has been exposed to through the mainstream media.
“Most of the companies are owned and managed by old people who have a bad feeling towards Hip Hop. They shun us because they don’t understand us. So, since they don’t understand us and can’t help us, we are going to do it ourselves,” he challenged.
He then blamed mainstream media for using the culture in advocating immorality.
“This genre is more than music. It’s more than what people hear on the radio or watch on TV. It is a culture that promotes peace, love, unity and having love. But, on TV, all you see is sex, drugs, guns and alcohol which is contrary to what the culture advocates,” he explained.
He then said dates for inaugural events will be announced later in the year. So far, the first event will have himself, 3rd Eye, Dominant 1, Kenny Klips, Genii Black, L-planet, Trudocsy, Kananji, DJ Milatino and other new rappers as headliners.
According to Blackmind, the events are also meant to bring sanity between new and old school artists wrangle which has currently rocked the industry.
He then emphasized that he would still be putting music, saying becoming an organizer doesn’t mean he was quitting making music.
Black Mind has been in the music industry since 1995.
He accredits that he learned and got influenced from Malawi’s Hip Hop pioneers such as Black Boy, Bywell C, Nyasa Vibes Crew, Boyz Lazy, Solo and LC Definition.
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