Social media will never replace real-life, human interaction. This was the surprising, but reassuring theme of Social Media Week 2011 in NYC (there were also events in nine other cities). Both big events I attended at Red Bull Space on the first day kept coming back to that idea; that social media is a wonderful tool, but at the end of the day, success is determined by the quality of your relationships with other human beings. Shocking, right?
Hip-hop was center stage at East Rutherford, New Jersey’s Bamboozle festival this year. So much so, that the Genre had it’s own dedicated ‘B-Boy’ tent featuring artists like Drake, Wiz Khalifa, Mike Posner & More. Included in the group was D.C born rapper Wale, or Olubowale Victor Akintimehin as his mother would call him.
It’s pretty rare to come across an act the caliber of Somali-Canadian-Earthling K’naan. I can safely say he’s the only artist at SXSW whose last gig before jumping a jet to ATX was playing at the UN General Assembly. That probably makes him the only person to have rapped for Nas and Desmond Tutu. Lucky badge-holders are already lining up to catch K’naan’s next set at one of the festival’s most interesting evenings of music showcases, Afro-Punk, which will be hitting Austin Music Hall Thursday night. The collection of artists are all leading the charge away from over-commercialized rap and into uncharted territories. Big Boi will be playing with a punk band along with Janelle Moreau, K’naan and Dallas Austin.
