BRAIN, AN ARTIST WITH STONE TOWN RECORDS; ZENJI BOI, OWNER OF STONE TOWN RECORDS; A STONE TOWN RECORDS CUSTOMER. (PHOTO BY LAMONT JONES JR.)
by Anthony Todd Carlisle and LaMont Jones Jr.
For New Pittsburgh Courier
“The future of Hip-Hop and rap music, whether people like it or not, is Africa—all 54 nations. It ain’t nothing new. People like, ‘Oh, man, they spitting over in Africa now.’ No, they ain’t new, you new.”
– Chuck D of Public Enemy on “Sway in the Morning,” Jan. 26, 2023
STONE TOWN, ZANZIBAR—In a nondescript rowhouse on a narrow side street in this bustling heart of Zanzibar, past rows of shoes and up a darkened staircase, Zenji Boi sits in front of a computer screen in his dim recording studio, dropping beats and advice for a young artist rapping into a microphone. The Hip-Hop rhythms emanating from other rooms in Stone Town Records don’t distract the record label’s founder, a practicing Muslim just back from his Friday noon prayers and still wearing a white robe.
A COURIER SPECIAL REPORT
A few minutes away, Rico Single is all b-boy bravado as his Hip-Hop tracks boom, song after song, inside his intimate Island Records studio. Black baseball cap pulled down over his eyes, blue bandana draped around his neck and sporting a black shirt and jeans, he pays sartorial homage to the American Hip-Hop trailblazers who inspire his artistry.
Zenji Boi and Rico Single reflect Hip-Hop’s diversity, global reach and influence in Africa as the evolving U.S.-born musical genre and its innovative offshoots celebrate 50 years of cultural impact. Since its emergence in 1973 from the home parties and public parks of New York City, Hip-Hop has leapfrogged across continents and grown into a multibillion-dollar global industry. From Europe to Asia to Africa, its rappers, deejays, emcees, break dancers and graffiti artists find kinship with their American progenitors in their zeal to tell authentic stories of their…
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