Cologne Organizes Urban Africa Festival
Music festival supported by TURN Fund
April 14th, 2016
Germany’s Reality Check” (GRC) is Germany’s largest international street ball and urban music festival, which takes places every year in Cologne. The latest hip-hop, rap, R’n’B, Afrobeat, street dance and dance workshops have been an integral part of the festival since it began in 2006. The initiators and organizers of the GRC are Mbimba Jon Mavinga and Blaise Aundu Munguba, who grew up in Kinshasa, Luanda and Paris. Both are founding members of the African-German artists’ collective Brothers Keepers.
Under the artistic direction of the music journalist, blogger, DJ and producer Georg Milz, the 2016 edition of the music festival will present the latest trends in the urban music and dance scenes of Nairobi, Accra, Luanda and Kinshasa for the first time. The festival program will center on the musical encounter between German and African rappers, DJs and MCs, but also on dance exchange, workshops and competitions based on Azonto and Kuduro, which are popular street dance styles in Accra and Luanda. Although these dance trends have gained increasing international attention in social networks and African diaspora communities, they are still largely unknown in Europe and Germany.
The 2016 edition of “Germany’s Reality Check” will open with a concert by B-Town Busted featuring the duo Johnny Strange and Solange Mirinda and concerts by Sarabi and Lexxus Legal (DRC). The festival has invited numerous musicians to perform in concert, e.g. Muthoni the Drummer and Octopizzo from Nairobi (KE), E.L. & Azonto Dancers from Accra (GH) and DJ Satellite from Luanda (AO), whose pioneering styles and musical directions are energising the musical scenes in their cities. The invited German artists include Patrice, Sammy de Luxe and Max Herre. The final concert will culminate with a new song, produced during the festival.
Artistic director: Georg Milz; Initiator: Mbimba Jon Mavinga,
Artists: Muthoni the Drummer (Nairobi/ Kenya), Octopizzo (Nairobi/ Kenya), E.L. & Azonto Dancers (Accra/Ghana), Lexxus Legal (Kinshasa/Democratic Republic of Congo), DJ Satellite (Luanda/Angola), B-Town Busted (Berlin/Germany), Patrice, Samy de Luxe (Hamburg/Germany), Max Herre (Stuttgart/Germany)
References:
Maurycy Barański, Berlin Global
