Hip-Hop and Africa: Ethiopia and Haiti (Negus World)

Ethiopia and Haiti: these two counties hold their heads up proudly when it comes to defeating colonization. Ethiopia was able to avoid the land-grabbing by Europeans during the Scramble for Africa, and Haiti gained independence in 1804 after a revolution by slaves and former slaves.

With the history of these two countries,  it's no wonder that there is an organization based on music, dance and self empowerment that bring them even closer together. It is called Negus World and founded by two Haitian brothers. In some Ethiopian languages, "negus" means king, and the goal behind the Negus World project is to educate a hip-hop-listening youth on specific words and derisions commonly used among popular music communities. The founders, two artists named Johwell and Bennchouny, chose the name specifically because of Ethiopia's strong and powerful heritage. The two have been recording together for years along with Negus Okai. All three men put the word "negus" in front of their names so as to have a "kingly" prefix.

One goal that the Negus World team aims to achieve is to educate communities about the use of the word "nigger" in hip-hop and other forms of urban art. The world is so heavily used in the hip-hop and Black communities that the founders wanted to rename themselves and uplift their own spirits. They say they are not trying to replace "nigger" as a movement: instead, by using "negus" as a prefix, they hope to show their fans that according a sense of royalty to their personas might improve esteem overall.

The latest video from Negus World, "Nou Sou Wout" was just featured on Afropunk.com, and they have a new video entitled "Waddup King" that will be released today on 11/11/11 at 11:11pm.

Here is the current trailer to their new video.

J.E.M.B.A Uganda at Bavubuka Foundtion