UKCCA Hip Hop Festival – London

From 20-21 February 2010 the UK Centre for Carnival Arts will be hosting a Hip Hop Film Festival with some of the best Hip Hop films and documentaries as well as a performance from one to watch for 2010 Lady Lykez and workshops with old skool legend Kenny Baraka.

Saturday 20 February will see film ‘The Endz’ being showcased; a documentary that front lines the streets of London with the aim of exposing the good and bad sides of North, South, East and West London. Then the Hip-opera ‘Making of Inferno Documentary + Inferno’ ends the film showcase getting you in the Hip Hop mood and setting the tone for Lady Lykez in concert.

Lady Lykez may only be 19 but she has already recorded with Malachi of The Dungeon Family in Atlanta, played at Glastonbury, T in the Park, Underage and Hip Hop Kemp and has now completed her debut album collaborating with such artists as Chipmunk. An exciting young Hip Hop/Grime UK female artist with a rising reputation, Lady Lykez combines ‘rough edged grime and hip-hop with often wise and witty wordplay’ – DJ magazine.

She recently completed an album in Mali, Africa with Akala, Bashy, Kele Le Roc, Silverstone for ‘Routes to Rootz’ funded by Bigga Fish and she’s now back in the UK and ready to showcase her unique sound, “echoing the distinctive UK take of an artist like Dizzee Rascal mixed with the vocal dexterity and off kilter song structures of Missy Elliot.” As one of the country’s most versatile breakthrough artists, Lykez and her band can rock out heavy, smash a live hip hop set and fill the dance floor with pumping electro pop beats while Kele Le Roc and Zarif provide explosive guest vocals. According to Dazed and Confused she is, “set to follow Dizzee Rascal and Wiley into the big leagues in 2010″

Sunday kicks off with film features including the documentary ‘Rize’, revealing a groundbreaking dance phenomenon that’s exploding on the streets of South Central, Los Angeles. Taking advantage of unprecedented access, this documentary film brings to first light a revolutionary form of artistic expression borne from oppression.

Then something that Hip Hop lovers and patrons of old skool lyricists will not want to miss! ‘The History of Hip Hop Music’ is an interactive workshop with hip hop guru Kenny Baraka who has performed across the world with the likes of Estelle, Mos Def, Omar, Tippa Irie, Supernatural, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Rodney P and Burning Spear.

Baraka is a journeymen griot; born in Eritrea, raised in New York and now residing in London, he has been sharpening and sharing his craft with diverse communities and musicians the world over. A teacher, lyricist, song writer and author Kenny B has brought his brand of street-smart intellectualism to classrooms, venues and periodicals for over 10 years. The Lyricist Lounge, a legendary hip-hop institution, hailed him of the Years Best early in his career and he has since gone on to become an institution himself in the realms of Urban Poetry in the Hip Hop world.

Afterwards stick around for the final film of the night ‘Wu: The story of the Wu Tang’ to finish off a truly Hip Hop weekend!

Films are £4 each or two films on the same day at £7. Patrons who attend both films on Saturday gain free entry to see Lady Lykez in concert and those who pay to see both on Sunday can attend the Kenny Baraka workshop for free.

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