Kosher Nights is An Events Management Company focused on providing an ambiance of various music genres, social interaction and a display of performing and fine arts.
The company has been in existence since 2010 and has since emerged as Gaborone’s answer to urban entertainment, promoting Hip Hop, RnB and Dancehall one weekend at a time themed as Kosher Sessions.
They are a grassroots movement that continues to play a vital role in the development of Botswana’s music.
“The Festival is called ‘I love Hip Hop’ a concept that we conceived in 2012 but needed time to plan it properly to ensure we execute a worth while experience in the end,” said founder of Kosher Nights DJ Fauz.
He said on August 2 the country must look forward to a hip hop festival with performances from Kuli Chana, AKA, ATI, Sasa Klass, Kasper Nyovest and many more.
“We have chosen Airport Junction as the venue and will start the event at 2pm until 11pm with the after party continuing at Presidents Hotel, and the event is annual going forward,” he said.
Fauz said the purpose of ‘I love Hip hop’ is to grow Botswana hip hop by giving local artists a chance to interact in a fitting environment.
“Hip hop goes so far beyond the music. It’s a movement and that is what Kosher Nights is looking to instil,” he said.
Lyrically said Fauz, rappers have always been evangelists of freshness. He saw them as conspicuous consumers preaching what to believe, how to dance, what to say and naturally how to dress.
“We have local fashion designers and legendary stores like Mafia Soul who host local brands that feed such needs and on the day these will be showcased in stalls. We want to give them a platform to show and sell their merchandise,” Fauz said.
He said he learnt over the years that hip hop is the most popular music genre in Botswana amongst the youth but it is worrying that they are simply not buying it.
This to a great extent hampers the growth of local artists and events such as these will give followers of the music the much needed education and encouragement to support local artists. Kosher Nights will through ‘I love Hip Hop’ showcase the tremendous growth of Botswana hip hop to date with emphasis on the lyrical content, flow and clothes.
He said the likes of AKA and Kuli Chana are South African hip hop artists who share the same sentiments and have for some time now been contributing to the growth of local rappers through collaborations and mentoring.
“Constructive criticism every now and then should never be perceived as hating if an artist is yearning for growth,” said Fauz.
He has noticed an unwelcome trend among local hip hop artists of a lack of willingness to work and apply themselves hard enough. He said they tend to have a sense of entitlement which at the end of the day puts them at a disadvantage.
“Batswana are so talented, in fact their lyrical content is probably the best in Africa in terms of depth and direction, but they fail to understand that talent on its own is not enough in this industry. The world sees hip hop as a lucrative business through which one can earn serious money but it’s never going to come easy,” he said.
Fauz said people like Jay Z have built empires for themselves through hip hop but it is with an innate understanding that it is not anybody else’s job to put food on ones table and that it is hard for everyone.
He said through this annual event he encourages such dialogues to be had towards the growth of artists in Botswana.
