Different Rwandan rappers that will headline Rap City season 1, slated for Saturday, September 17, have said that everything is in order to ensure that the first of this kind event becomes successful. The concert, an all Rwandan, all hip-hop event will showcase the best of old and new school hip- hop artistes, live graffiti, cyphers, lyrical battles among others, all with the aim of growing the hip-hop culture in Rwanda. Rap City season 1 will also be the official launching of the naming rights deal between QA Venue Solutions and BK Group worth $8 million signed in May. Speaking at a presser held this Friday, Bulldog, one of the pioneers of hip hop in Rwanda welcomed the recognition of the genre, noting that it is a move that will attract more refined rappers to shine in Rwanda’s art sector. “There is no music style that suffered in Rwanda like hip hop but such initiatives indicate that people’s way of thinking changed. It is a big achievement for us to perform at the BK Arena as only rappers,” he said. According to Oda Paccy, one of the few female rappers in Rwanda, Rap City comes at the right time when hip hop has just started getting recognition and with this show, the genre will experience a huge boost. This, she said, will also attract females to take on the music genre which is best known for boys. On his part, Aaron Gaga, Deputy Venue Manager of QA Venue Solutions said during the presser said, “since the naming rights deal was announced, we’ve partnered with two very successful events, Tay C Live in Kigali and The Ben, Rwanda Rebirth Celebration. Rap City is the third event, and the biggest one for us. Through these activities, we want to continue engaging with the community, building our industry and ensuring we develop homegrown events that we will consistently bring back year after year.” Bank of Kigali’s Corporate Communication Manager, Bob Rutarindwa also noted that BK group believes in the youth and it is constantly innovating to meet their needs, which is why the BK Arena Prepaid card was developed to help the youth migrate to fully digital payments, and allow them to do transactions they might have never been able to make such as international payments and pay for subscription services, as well as give them amazing benefits at BK Arena, like a free ticket to the concert. The event will be hosted by Ariel Wayz and Kivumbi King while; Riderman, Ish Kevin, Bulldog, Fireman, Bushali and more will be bringing the roof down as some of Rwanda’s biggest artists go head-to-head in Rwanda’s hub of Sports and Entertainment, BK Arena. Tickets are on sale on TiCQet on www.ticqet.rw and people with BK Arena pre-paid cards will attend the show for free.
