New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Buma Rotterdam Beats) During the second edition of Buma Rotterdam Beats, the new business platform and showcase festival for hip hop, R&B, soul, reggae and tropical bass, the main musical focus is on international talent. Alongside featuring new and upcoming artists at several locations around Rotterdam on November 17, 18 and 19, Buma Rotterdam Beats is also the ideal meeting point for bookers, managers and deejays who travel the world searching out the latest artists for their festivals, record labels and venues.
Following on from last year's inaugural edition, the festival program is filled with fresh musical talent including 23-year-old Stacy Barthe, one of the most exciting revelations in soul and R&B, who will be giving one of her first European shows, and her first in The Netherlands. She will perform on the same night as probably the oldest ever soul music revelation in the form of Charles Bradley, who debuted aged 64, after a life of working as a professional musician hidden from the limelight. Alongside that one of the most spectacular new hip hop names from the US, underground sensation (and food connoisseur) Action Bronson, will come to The Netherlands for the first time.
On November 17th the city will host the Dutch annual
State Awards, presented by BNN and Buma, at De Nieuwe Oogst. Following on from that, the festival offers a program brimming with international music talent on November 18th and 19th. The very best hip hop names from around
Europe will be performing, including the collective L'Entourage, a hot commodity from France, London's latest hip hop sensation the colourful Piff Gang, and local Dutch legends Jiggy Djé and Kraantje Pappie. Additionally there is a venue dedicated to Dutch young unsigned talent, with performances of artists from the Homegrown-project created by
Music Centre Netherlands and Top Notch.
The festival also offers a range of evenings celebrating various genres. The Tropical Bass-night focuses on the success of dance with Latin American, Dutch and Caribbean roots, featuring sets and shows by Dutch deejays and producers Munchi and Fellow, Marfox from Portugal, and Bert on Beats from Estonia. During Jamaican Bass-night, Rotterdam reggae talent Rass Motivated presents his debut EP next to sets by influential dancehall deejays Waxfiend (Jamrock),
Silver Bullit Sound (Belgium) and Robbo Ranx (BBC
Radio 1Xtra). Dubstep label Subway presents a special night with sets by Benny Page & Zero G, Taiki & Nulight, Nicon, Lowriders
Collective and NoizBoiz (live), a.o.
During the day Buma Rotterdam Beats hosts a two-day conference featuring a range of key international figures, including movers and shakers, bookers, deejays, agents and managers. Alongside the names already mentioned above, the conference will be welcoming bookers from many of the main international pop festivals, managers of well known artists and records labels, bloggers with international influence, as well as artists and professionals who will share their knowledge with visitors in interviews, master classes and interactive workshops.
The conference is aimed primarily at encouraging the exchange of knowledge, and helping professionals and aspirant professionals to establish new and useful contacts.
Prominent hip hop managers Sha Money XL (vice-president Island Def Jam; business partner of 50 Cent) and Dave Lighty (CEO OdLight) will interact with the audience in an open mic session. And bookers of the international pop festivals Splash!, Hipnotik, Hip Hop Kemp and Southport Weekender will be sharing their experiences and looking for new (live) talent.
Successful Dutch deejay Chuckie will be talking about his international career, and the immense influence of Dutch electronic dance music on modern urban music. Pavan Mukhi (Foreign Beggars) will explain how he translated local and national fame with hip hop, grime and dubstep to a global level. Jamar Chess is hosting a master class on publishing ('From Duke Ellington to reggaeton') and British managers, as well as father and son, Keith and Hamish Harris (a.o.
Stevie Wonder and Jamie Woon) present a master class on artist management.
The second conference day will also host the special Next Beats program, with master classes, workshops and interviews especially aimed at young and old music and industry talent. With contributions by, among others: Sticks (Fakkelteitgroep), Jiggy Djé (Noah's Ark), Kees de Koning (Top Notch), Blaxtar (Raen Music), Aiky (Zware JongenZ), Negativ (Nindo), Badboy Taya (Wilde Westen), Tim Beumers (VSOP), DNS (Shit is Bangin'), Boaz (Nouveau Riche), Lee
Stuart (Will
Style For Food), Venz (22Tracks),
Thomas Abera (Puna) and Koos Groenendijk (Grey Men). Next to the young singers-showcase "Harvest ME", by De Nieuwe Oogst, there will also be a
Music Students-showcase of "Breek Brood" an initiative of Hip Hop Label Noah's Ark and the
Herman Brood Academy.
Last year 500 delegates attended the first edition of Buma Rotterdam Beats, to network, do business, and exchange knowledge and a further 2.100 guests visited the festival program. Buma Rotterdam Beats believes the program of this second edition is an important next step towards becoming, like its counterparts Eurosonic Noorderslag and Amsterdam Dance Event, the most important European platform in its genre.
Buma Rotterdam Beats takes place on November 17, 18 and 19 in Rotterdam and is organized by the Buma Rotterdam Beats Foundation, an initiative of Buma and De Nieuwe Oogst. For more program information on the festival and its conference, please visit: www.buma-rotterdam-beats.nl
