My first live performance post pandemic was at the Protest Festival 2022 in Kristiansand, Norway. It had been some years since I was invited to rock the Protest Festival so I was pretty pumped up about it. As I got filled in on the details I learned that I would actually be a part of honouring Leo Ajkic who was to receive the Erik Byes award for his works as a journalist. I felt honoured and wanted to do something special for the event.
Being invited to participate in honouring Leo Ajkic was the inspiration behind digging up the old track I had written some 20 years ago “I Want peace”, reworking it and finally officially releasing it. Seeing Leo’s story starts with his family fleeing his country due to the civil war in Yugoslavia, I felt I Want Peace fit the bill perfectly. I have always wanted to release the song, but due to unforeseen circumstances I never got the chance to. Two months prior to the Protest Festival I finally released I Want Peace, followed by the video a month later. Now all that was left was to debut the song live.
As the day of the event grew near, I was contacted by the head of the Protest Festival who asked if I would consider also performing earlier in the day of the event at a banquet dinner they were having for Leo Ajkic. I of course agreed to do it as I was honoured to be asked.
The banquet dinner was invitation only with a guest list that included some of the cities most important figures which included the mayor of Kristiansand, Jan Oddvar Skisland. As I prepared to perform at the banquet I took a moment to reflect and just be grateful. It's hard to believe at the times just where Hip Hop has taken me over the decades. Hip Hop has without a doubt changed my life from the moment I was introduced to the culture back in 1977. I am one that is quick to admit that the culture actually saved my life. I don't know where I would be if not for the culture of Hip Hop. I more than likely would have never even set foot in Norway as it was due to Hip Hop that I first began traveling to Europe in the first place. I feel as though I owe the culture and I never hesitate to give back when the opportunity presents its self.
My audience at the banquet aside from a couple of the other artists that I would be performing with that evening were definitely not Hip Hop. Regardless of that fact, everyone including the mayor seemed to enjoy it. Many were taken by the message of Peace I was relaying. With all the negativity that has been surrounding Hip Hop in the last decade specifically the element of rap, I felt that performing "I Want Peace" again was absolutely perfect. Though the song was over 20 years old the relevancy was still spot on in more ways than one.
It is moments like performing at the Protest Festival that I am reminded of the power that Hip Hop is. The reaction of the people I performed for was absolutely priceless. For that moment in time there was Peace, there was Unity, I felt the Love, and we indeed had a lot of Fun. Everyone came together as one and honoured a man that deserved to be honoured. It was a day I will not forget. No record contract, nor platinum plaque can even come close to giving me what this event did. This is what being a part of the Hip Hop culture is all about for me, uplifting the people. It always has been, and always will. It was never about becoming rich and famous. It has always been about making a difference. The simple fact that a number of those in attendance came up to me to express that, they never liked rap because of the things they heard being said. But that after hearing me they completely changed their minds about the genre. That meant everything to me.
When the Protest Festival was over and done with, I knew that I Want peace was more than just another track. This was to become my mission...
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