Around 50-years-ago, on Aug. 11, 1973, to be more precise, Clive Campbell, better known as DJ Kool Herc and his sister hosted an end-of-summer party in the recreation room of an apartment building at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, New York. With tickets just twenty five cents for the ladies and fifty cents for the fellas, what was initially intended to be a simple summer bash turned into ground zero for one of the most significant musical phenomena of the century—the birth of a movement, a sound, a culture: the birth of hip-hop.
To celebrate this milestone in the genre’s history, the hotly-anticipated youth and contemporary culture festival, SOLE DXB, is thrilled to announce its lineup, a moment we’ve all been waiting for. As the official host for Mass Appeal’s “Hip-Hop 50” event in the Arab world, this year’s edition commemorates half-a-century of rap and features some of the genre’s heavyweights.
On Saturday, Dec. 9, We Gonna Make It rapper Jadakiss is set to make his UAE debut on the festival’s main stage. Also performing on Saturday is Grammy-winning enigmatic Nigerian-American artist Tobe Nwigwe, who will bring his near-breathless wordplay to the stage, and the legendary former Juice Crew member Big Daddy Kane who will perform some of his biggest hits like Warm It Up Kane and Ain’t No Half Steppin’.
Sudanese-American artist ODDISEE, known for merging elements of jazz, funk, and go-go into his hip-hop rooted production, will also hit the stage, as well as the master of instrumental hip-hop and composition, DJ Shadow. The main stage will also feature Nadine El Roubi, a Sudanese singer, songwriter, and rapper based in Cairo.
Visionary artist with punchy and powerful flows, Sampa the Great, and Syrian-American rapper and spoken word poet Omar Offendum, will both perform the following day on Dec. 10. Also on the billing for Sunday is Nigerian rapper ODUMODUBLVCK, who is set to unleash his commanding deep voice over a mesmerizing fusion of afro and drill beats.
The festival will close out with a performance from the legendary American spitter, singer, songwriter, record producer, and overall pioneer in hip-hop since the ’80s, Busta Rhymes, who will be headlining on Dec. 10.
This year also brings UAE Mixtape, a showcase of the region’s rap artists, including The Recipe, Tac (who graced the stage last year), Tayeb Santo, A’Y, Maxi Zee, and Moh Flow, hosted by Mazzi of Def Jam.
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The festival will take place from Dec. 8 to 10 at Dubai Design District (d3), in partnership with TECOM Group PJSC. Tickets for the event are now available for purchase on www.soledxb.com and Platinum List.
Stay tuned for more additions to this dynamic lineup.
