The Hip Hop Artists for Empowerment Project is dedicated to providing youth education, HIV/AIDS awareness, female empowerment, cultural development and artistic growth, through Hip-Hop culture, in Uganda, East Africa.

Overall Goals:
1. To provide artistic, and culture-appropriate music-based educational opportunities for youth and adults in the most populace regions of Uganda.
2. To increase awareness and education needed to combat HIV/AIDS, STDs and other transmissible diseases that impact public health in Uganda.
3. To aid in achieving one of the UN Millennium Development Goals for Africa to promote gender equality and empower women.
4. To strengthen the artistic and entrepreneurial skills of Uganda’s youth, with a focused target on the female population.
5. To establish an End of the Weak (EOW) chapter in Uganda; with the core lessons learned and successes utilized to pursue funding to establish End of the Weak Chapters beyond Uganda in Tanzania, Kenya, and throughout Africa.

Overall Objectives:
1. Bring musicians from North America and Europe to Uganda to encourage cultural and musical exchange; to foster a positive atmosphere for youth; to help youth build the local music industry and flourish in the international Hip Hop community through collaborations with international artists; to ensure the youth of Uganda have artistic outlets within which to share and expand ideas.
2. Through performances, workshops, and panel discussions the international artists will build ideas with local artists to strengthen cultural growth, also to implement a mentoring program to fortify progress with the youth. All performances, workshops and panel discussions will be bilingual to stress the importance of local musicians developing their craft in the native language.
3. Bring awareness of gender equality issues to the community in order to empower the female demographic. By working in alliance with women’s organizations, such as Isis Women’s International Cross-Cultural Exchange, the
EOW Uganda chapter will host events to disseminate information through nationwide concerts and activities.
4. Establish the EOW Uganda chapter as a platform for local musicians and artists to prosper in their communities and to contribute their vision to the global Hip Hop nation. International EOW artists will work in conjunction with an existing open mic to produce an MC Challenge competition that will take place in December 2009, during the summit. The winner will represent Uganda at the next International Challenge to be held in Berlin in February 2010.

History:
At the heart of Hip Hop music is the desire to spread knowledge and create a community united through stories of displacement and struggle.

End of the Weak (EOW, LLC) is a New York City based movement towards cultural improvement, which over the past nine years has established a platform for artists in 8 countries across 5 continents (Berlin, Paris, London, Brazil, Argentina, Spain and New Zealand) through the MC Challenge. Participants include poets, artists, teachers, musicians and activists. The EOW events have discovered now-well-known artists and have showcased legends of Hip Hop music. What separates EOW from other Hip Hop events and showcases is an evolved version of the ‘rap battle’ called the MC Challenge. The MC Challenge is a wholistic test of the skills and ability of MCs (rappers). Over the past decade it has become the global standard for MC competitions. The International MC Challenge is an annual event which features the top MC Challenge winner from each country competing in their native language. Establishing the international MC Challenges has helped to catalyze the evolution of Hip Hop music worldwide.

In the early 1990’s, Hip Hop in Uganda originally caught on with students of Makerere University and other institutions, but now radio stations play the latest R&B, Reggae and Hip Hop from the rest of the world, including USA and Jamaica. The Bataka Squad, originators of the Luga Flow method of Hip Hop, encourages Ugandan rappers to flow in their native language, Luganda. By promoting confidence and national pride, this style of emceeing has given young musicians courage and determination to be a part of the local music industry. For the past six years, Silas Balabyekkubo aka Babaluku and Alex Kirya aka Saba Saba of Bataka Squad have produced the Uganda Hip Hop Summit in conjunction with Rouge Entertainment, the Uganda Hip Hop Foundation, and the Bavubuka Foundation. Less than two decades after the students of Makerere University began to appreciate Hip Hop, the annual Uganda Hip Hop Summit has grown to bring together local musicians, dancers, fashion designers, and spectators from Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Canada, Great Britain and the United States.

In 2005, Babaluku established the Bavubuka (“youth”) Foundation to create multi-media programs for youth and their communities. In Kampala, the Foundation conducts workshops and community activities to give youth inspiration and guidance to become entrepreneurs and social activists. Bavubuka Foundation believes connecting youth with music and the arts can transform lives and unify diverse communities. Foundation leaders are dedicated to creating educational programs and spaces to nurture and empower a new generation of young leaders. Much like the Bavubuka Foundation, End of the Weak provides a haven for artists to develop their craft, speak their minds, and relieve their struggles. Both organizations use music and art as a tool to enlighten minds and uplift spirits. By combining forces, the US and UK Hip Hop communities will foster the positive growth of the music scene in Uganda, thereby giving youth the means to pave their own way. Success of the Hip Hop Artists for Empowerment Project will be measured by attendance of the workshops and the Hip Hop Summit; additional events that manifest after the initial summit; the longevity of the MC Challenge in Kampala, participation in the MC Challenge and cultivating a winner to advance to the world championship, and the ability to establish End of the Weak chapters throughout East, West, North and Southern Africa. In response to these various platforms, the youth of Africa will be better suited to build a sustainable community of artists and educators, in turn, empowering the female population, and spreading awareness of HIV/AIDS.

Current Programs, Activities, and Accomplishments:

END OF THE WEAK:

• NYC’s longest running Hip Hop open mic, EOW incorporated in 2000.
• MC Challenge seasons established in NYC, Paris, London, Berlin, Spain, Argentina, Brazil and New Zealand, with the annual International MC Championship location rotating, 2010 will be held in Berlin.
• Members of EOW:NYC have worked in conjunction with schools across the United States on events, forums, workshops, lectures and discussion groups addressing topic such as HIV/AIDS awareness and anti-violence programs.
• Members of EOW:Germany manage a variety of youth-oriented programs, including youth centers, music and dance workshops and other forms of education through music and Hip Hop culture.
• The Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition was presented to End Of the Weak (EOW, LLC) in recognition of outstanding and invaluable service to the community in 2008 and 2009.

BAVUBUKA FOUNDATION:

• Youth Programs: The foundation provides youth education, music, art, dance and graphic design programs, sports activities, and homework assistance. Adults teach classes, but students that show initiative are encouraged to be leaders.
• Music Activities: Spoken Truth is a movement of free expression started in 2008 at Club Rouge in Kampala. This weekly event gives youth the opportunity to challenge the status quo while building a positive image for the next generation in Uganda to live up to. The youth who rap and break-dance with the Bavubuka All*Stars practice and train every day at the Bavubuka house, giving them the confidence and motivation to succeed in their daily lives.
• The Uganda Hip Hop Summit: Annual event in its seventh year. The aim of the summit is to empower the youth and create positive awareness through music and culture. The Hip Hop summit is not just a concert, as during the daytime there are seminars and workshops administered by Uganda Hip Hop icons and role models. The summit also touches other areas of Hip Hop culture by featuring a DJ scratching demonstration, a break dance battle, a Graffiti art display, and a Hip Hop fashion show.


Contact Info
Email:
AHHUME@GMAIL.COM
Website:
http://eodub.com/
http://www.bavubukaart.org/