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Back To Africa Festival 2013

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Back To Africa Festival 2013

Back To Africa Festival 2013

By Aude-Emilie Dorion on Wednesday, April 17, 2013 - Photos by Aude-Emilie Dorion - 1 comment

The second edition of the festival took place in Gambia in January.

January 21st, in the early hours of the afternoon, the journey from Banjul airport to the rural area of BatoKunku on the coast began. The journey was set to do a video report in the village of BatoKunku (literally the farm by the sea) where Mad Professor and Ariwa studio organize ‘Back to Africa’, their annual dub festival.

Today is the very beginning of the festival, women from all the neibourhood are wearing their celebration clothes. Women from the fishtown of Tanger come and join the dance. Drums are rolling and the sound fills the whole atmosphere. There is a rich cultural heritage here and the oral literature is considered some of the best in the world. A celebration of traditional music, Reggae and Dub for the next three days to come.

This year it seams that Ariwa decided to put female artists under the spotlights, with artists such as Ariane (Brisbane), Zekiyah (UK), Miss Fritty (Italy) and the amazing Redhed (UK) who’s releasing an album soon...

In a genre dominated by male for decades, female come a long way in holding their own in the industry.

Dancehall music, rebellious and masculine has finally let the women go on a steady path upwards with a slew of Good female deejays making their marks...