Saturday, April 12thwas a historic day for the Gambian music scene, especially for the hip-hop community. Straight from Jupiter Entertainment presented the first ever international rap battle in collaboration with Alliance Francaise.
The event, which featured the 2009 World Beatbox Champions, UnderKontrol and our own Killa Ace was described as a huge success.
It was also the first time for the Gambian rapper to perform tracks from his debut album with a live hip-hop band.
UnderKontrol did a very amazing performance, creatingrhythms and sound effects using their mouths. Although beatboxing has gained an international following, it was a completely new experience for most of the Gambians that attended the rap battle at Alliance Franco on Kairaba Avenue.
On the stage was also the Cypher Street Rap Battle winner, Lil Omz. The teenage rapper went head-to-head with Senegal’s Freestyle Battle champion, Redlion. It was an intense battle with three rounds of lyrical talent. At the end, Redlion was declared the winner by the judges.
“Overall the event was a success and was history. The crowd was satisfied and got their monies worth, witnessing an event like no other.”
The judges were Abas Secka (Artistik), Bilal of Poetic X, Fla the ripper and Gambian hip-hop pundit, Bankie Grey-Johnson.