Lauryn Hill Explores ‘The Rich Tapestry’ Of Africanness At Diaspora Calling!
Yes, world Lauryn Hill's back at it. And we do mean 'world'. Ms. Hill is presently co-curating a three-day series of art and music at Brooklyn's historic Kings Theater, a festival produced in association with Tidal X and entitled Diaspora Calling!With a particular focus on Haiti, a variety of contemporary visual art and performances from Africa and its diasporic children will be highlighted in the showcase. Diaspora Calling! is coming on the heels of a Fela-inspired performance in Brick City, New Jerusalem at BET’s 10th annual awards show Black Girls Rock! Ms. Hill indulged the crowd to the classic track Lost Ones off her seminal Miseducation album over her band playing a rendition of Fela Kuti’s track Zombies. Even democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton made an appearance at the awards show, commenting that (despite her “super predators comment”) black girls do indeed rock.
Ms. Hill says of the event, "Diaspora Calling! is a collection of works intended to celebrate the rich tapestry of artists from the African Diaspora while also illumining persistent and irrepressible themes… Even if we work independently, we are a resounding collective voice, both reconciling and embracing our relationship to history, our origins, our future and to ourselves.”
The gallery is co-curated by Ms. Hill in collaboration with MoCADA, Nader Haitian Art, and The Haiti Cultural Exchange. Tonight’s show will be headlined by Ms. Hill and will feature performances by Machel Montano (Trinidad), Stephen 'Ragga' Marley (Jamaica), Stonebwoy (Ghana), Mr. Eazi (Nigeria), EL (Ghana), Wondaboy (Nigeria), JoJo Abot (Ghana), and Paul Bearbrun (Haiti).
Ms. Hill is set to bless the stage later tonight at 9p.m. Tickets, not surprisingly, appear to be sold out. For those that can't make the event IRL, be sure to stream it on Tidal, which we all probably still have following Kanye's "album of a life" The Life of Pablo.
