Pay goes to Atlanta and Auke (AQ) flies to Cameroon, central Africa. Two different continents. Two different worlds than their own safe haven Amsterdam. But on a same quest: In search of Hip Hop. Pay and AQ talk about their upcoming adventures.
Auke: “To put it in a nut shell, the financial business of free speech in Europe is kinda collapsing. So I pack my stuff and travel abroad to a place where free speech is seriously questioned. Resulting in the idea there should be a enough work… I said cynical. Well to be honest, my wife is from Cameroon. We go on a family visit. As job opportunities are scarce here in Amsterdam, I’ll have a look over there. Looking for youth and Hip Hop. Last time I was there, I was surprised to hear DMX and Destiny's Child pumping out a boombox at a high school in the middle of nowhere. Well, that’s a bit disrespectful. It was in Batibo, a small village. A question raised: How big is the change that these kids, who are also in love with Hip Hop, some even become part of the culture, will ever see a concert live involving some good and great artists from abroad? Came the following question how is Hip Hop lived over there? How is the scene? How does it adapt into the local culture and structure? And how does the rebel spirit of Hip Hop handle the lack of free speech?”
Pay: "As most of my travels consist of trips to the States, I can never get enough of tasting and breathing the Hip Hop culture over there. Especially New York of course. New York just oozes out Hip Hop to me. But I have been there so many times already (it's like my second home) and my last two trips were to the Westcoast, Los Angeles, I now decided to head back to Atlanta. I have been there twice before but for short periods and this time everything is planned proper. I have a whole bunch of great things lined up as I will let rapper 4IZE (known from his features on Ludacris' first albums) be my guide through the city and the music scene of what they now call Black Hollywood. It starts with my birthday this weekend, it will be the kick-off for a rollercoaster ride for 2 weeks down in the south, in ATL. I will post whenever I can, about events, happenings, encounters, etc. Interviews will be edited proper when I get back though. Stay tuned into Pay&AQ's blog."
Pay & AQ
