SPLA : Portal to cultural diversity
Zimbarts

African Hip Hop Blog Named Best Blog on Africa

Genre : Society news
Principal country concerned : Column : Media
Release/publication date : 2015
Published on : 18/05/2015
Source : http://www.zimbojam.com/arts-culture/music/item/3596-african-hip-hop-blog-named-best-blog-on-africa 11 May 2015



The African Hip Hop Blog, which was founded by a Zimbabwean student in 2008, has been named the most prestigious title of "Best Blog About Africa" at the second edition of the African Blogger Awards.





The blog beat a field of over 1,000 entries that was dominated by South African and Nigerian blogs to claim the continental title.



The African Blogger Awards, which are now in their second year, aim to highlight the best blogs and social media influencers from around the continent.  



This year the awards received over 1,000 entries in 36 categories.  The awards gauge metrics such as audience size, blog relevance and how far the blog's content resonates outsides its own community.  



After measuring all these factors a panel of judges ruled that The African Hip Hop Blog was deserving of the award's most coveted prize,  winning the 'Best Blog About Africa' category (The category was formerly known as Best African Blog).



The African Hip Hop Blog was founded in 2008 by Zimbabwean, Ross Hagan while he was a student at Rhodes University.  Since then the blog has grown immensely and now boasts 6 writers in 5 countries.



The website is now run by Ross Hagan, Phil Chard (both Zimbabwean) and Twaambo Haamucenje who is a web designer based in Zambia.



"This is an incredible honour" said Chard "it is very reassuring to know that people outside our community recognise all the hard work we put in and all those sleepless nights were not in vain.  Everyone on the team has worked extremely hard to get the blog to this point and without them The African Hip Hop Blog would not be what it is today"



"A lot of work has gone into winning this award. There have been many long nights learning how to code and building relationships with artists to help build this brand. We have all invested a great deal of time, effort, and money into getting this blog to where it is today and I thank the African Blogger Awards for recognising our effort." said Hagan who is now based in London.



This is the African Hip Hop Blog's second award after winning Best Online Media at the 2014 Zim Hip Hop Awards.  It was also nominated for the same category in 2015 as well as a nomination for Best Media at the 2014 edition of The Zim Achiever's Awards that were held in London.



The idea, when the blog began, was to help distribute the '25toLyf' mixtape which featured artists from Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. It also included a song featuring the legendary Inspectah Deck from Wu-Tang Clan. 



After that the artists in the 25tolyf movement got caught in the responsibilities of life and stopped making music. It was then that Ross started posting content from other artists around Africa and the African Hip Hop Blog was born. 



Ross invited recruited Haamucenje to take care of the web design end of things and then invited Chard to help run the site. 



Soon, they took on two other writers; Ts'eliso Monaheng and TNG Live who are both based in South Africa. 



Together, they keep track of hip hop around the continent and help to shine a light on those keeping the game alive in various countries.



And where is this entrepreneurial team planning to take their project? "We are hoping to keep growing and secure more writers across the continent as well as producing more music and documentaries on the movement," says Chard.



Partners

  • Arterial network
  • Zimbabwe : Culture Fund Of Zimbabwe Trust

With the support of