| Weird
MC, aka Da Rappatainer, is Africa's First Lady of hip hop. She
divides her time between London, England and Lagos, Nigeria,
and her music reflects that: it's a hybrid of hip hop/afrobeat/R
& B and more! In other words her style mixes the hard urban
style of London with African rhythms and melodies.
Weird MC was born in London
and grew up partly there and partly in Lagos so she identifies
with, and has been influenced by, the music of both places.
She says her main musical influences are Fela Kuti, Lauryn Hill,
Miriam Makeba, Jimi Hendrix and others.
On stage Weird MC has performed with Femi Kuti,
Tony Allen and Lágbájá
and has toured extensively, including being a major attraction
at WOMEX and at the All Africa Games in Nigeria in 2003. She
is very well known in Nigeria and is part and parcel of the
Afrobeat and hip hop scene in London, regularly performing at
venues such as Cargo in London. She is equally at home with
her own band or with a smaller crew and DJ.
Concerning
Weird MC's specific songs, these include the smash hit 'Allen
Avenue', the anthemic 'African |
photo:
© Tonia
Ede
Woman',
'Ijoya' (meaning 'Time to Dance' in Yoruba), 'Palava'
and 'What are you waiting for?'. The latter two are tracks on
the compilations World 2003 (EMI, selected by Charlie
Gillett) and Have You Got Skills? (JJC's
Backbone Music) respectively. She also features on the track
'Eparapo' on Tony Allen's Home
Cooking album.
Weird MC not only is a lyricist and performer, she is a programmer
and producer having taken music technology and music production
courses in London.
Finally, how did she come to be called Weird MC? She used to
be in a 6-member group called the Weirdoes so she took out the
'o' and added MC: hers is a name and a sound that definitely
turns heads!
Go to Weird MC's own site rappatainer
for discography, videos and much more.
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Weird
MC 