Rashid Kay Gives An Insight Into Back To The City
Rashid Kay Gives An Insight Into Back To The City
Rashid Kay Gives An Insight Into Back To The City! Back To The City is one of the biggest music festivals in South Africa and one of the few that helps upcoming artists to gain exposure and funds. We recently sat down with one of the event organisers Rashid Kay who gave us an insight into the work that goes into organising the event.
1. Back to the city is one of SA’s biggest hip hop show, how did you rise to the state you are? What are the humble origins of Back to the City Festival?
RASHID KAY: Back To The City started in 2007 as a free event. 3500 people attended. We keep reinventing and innovating every year to keep up with the times. The secret is to approach each festival like it’s our first time, we never assume that people already know.
2. How did you manage to assemble the team that you would call your core team?
RASHID KAY: Team members came and went, now we are left with experienced, knowledgeable, dedicated and hardworking team members.
3. Back to the city was one of the first festivals to put SA Hip Hop festivals on the map how would you say the festival has managed to cement the culture?
RASHID KAY: Back To The City is the only Hip Hop festival, others are just Rap festivals with no other Hip Hop elements. We cater for the Hip Hop culture in its entirety.
4. In terms of grooming the culture and the upcoming artists how have you managed to achieve this?
RASHID KAY: We can’t take credits for grooming the culture, but we do play our role in contribution to the culture.
5. What advise would you give artists who want to be apart of the festival and the ones who do get to perform what advice would you give them towards using this platform to catapult their careers?
RASHID KAY: For new artists to be noticed by us, they’ll have to put in some work, create a buzz, build a brand, and most importantly, keep the music on point.
6. With Hip Hop the biggest it has ever been what was the selection process in the artists you chose? Especially the Big names.
RASHID KAY: Activity, relevance, talent, and a demand.
7. International act, anything u can tell the people?
RASHID KAY: Pharoahe Monch is one of the greatest spitters in the world, with a track record of classic records.
8. How can people get involved with the festival help out and get in touch with the team?
RASHID KAY: If people wanna assist Back To The City they must approach us 4 months prior the event. By April, everything is basically done by then. Come join us before the buzz.
