The hip hop festival is now over an intense weekend on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 September at the Vauban faculty in Nîmes.
“It’s a page that is turning”according to Ghislain Nouguier, from the Da Storm association, creator of the Tout simplement hip hop festival in 2007, which became TSHH. Like this shortcut, the festival is now concentrated on a weekend, “a short moment and in the same place”with intense programming.
“We had multiplied partnerships and we had lost a little coherence”he continues. The partnerships remain, they feed a season all year round, but the highlight of the festival will take place on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 October, at the Vauban faculty, where several members of Da Storm wore out the benches a few years ago. In charge of culture at the university, Karine Weiss is delighted to “to host the entire festival, for our students but not only because the event is open to everyone.”
More precise and sharper positioning
Times have changed since the festival began. Today, rap is everywhere. “We need to find a new place, with a more precise and more pointed positioning, with styles not necessarily known to the general public and artists who have a message”continue Ghislain Nouguier, Félix Baudry, Thibault Rayne and Zoé Chadourne, who wish to present the emerging scene and attract a young audience to cultural venues. Thus, in parallel with the evening concerts, the festival will host a free and festive time on Saturday afternoon in the moat of the fortress.
A free afternoon of discovery
At 2:30 p.m., Raphaël Da Cruz and Sandra Gomes, journalists specializing in the rap scene, will present a conference “Emergence in rap”. At 3:30 p.m., Da Storm welcomes young Etane, who was part of the group Minuit4 and will be in residence in October at Paloma. At 4:30 p.m., a panel will bring together three rappers from the region, Le Double from Montpellier, Deelee S from Toulouse and OgLounis from Nîmes. All afternoon, graffiti workshops will allow families to learn the art, with professionals.
During the evenings, outdoors in the university courtyard, there is room for discovery. “A varied and coherent program, in all the categories of French rap”specifies Ghislain Nouguier.
Evening concerts
Friday, the evening begins at 7 p.m. First, discover a regional artist, Ekloz, who opened for Dadju and Tayc in the arenas this summer. Parisian Jewel Usain will present his latest project, applauded by critics, accompanied by four musicians including a trumpeter. Zuukou Mayzie, member of the Franco-Senegalese collective 667, is part of this new generation that likes to hybridize hip hop with sounds from elsewhere, notably pop or electro. Lesram, member of the Panama Bende collective from which PLK comes, is a fan of rap that plays very technically with words and rhymes.
Saturday evening, the concerts will follow one after the other from 6 p.m. From the Nîmes group VSO, Pex presents his new project Astronaut and his music that he defines as digital poetry. Danyl, who will be at the Olympia at the beginning of next year, mixes hip hop, pop and raï. Recently discovered, Jolagreen23 likes to try lots of different, complex and nuanced sounds. Toulouse native Zinée, a unique voice on the hip hop scene, returns to the stage after health problems for a total artistic renewal. NeS, just 20 years old and already with thousands of rhymes under his belt, brings a breath of fresh air with a strong taste for writing. Prince Waly, who lost his voice to cancer, returned with authentic music, inspired by this particular journey.
If the festival goes from a month to a weekend, Da Storm keeps the same desires and multiplies the projects outside the festival, notably No Limit with young people with disabilities or Voie(s) which will take urban art to the countryside, along the greenways of the department.
Friday 27 September, 7pm-12:30am. Saturday 28, 1:30pm-5:30pm (free), then 6pm-12:30am. Unîmes, Vauban site, rue Dr-Salan, Nîmes. One-day pass €27, 2 days €37. Info dastorm.fr
