SOUTH SUDAN: Hip-hop legend DMC, a founding father of the music, visits newborn South Sudan to spread a message of peace for International Peace Day alongside the nation's most famous rapper Emanuel Jal

Record ID: 349586

  • Title: SOUTH SUDAN: Hip-hop legend DMC, a founding father of the music, visits newborn South Sudan to spread a message of peace for International Peace Day alongside the nation's most famous rapper Emanuel Jal
  • Date: 24th September 2012
  • Summary: DMC AND JAL SING TOGETHER ON STAGE MAN IN CROWD DANCES AND MAKES PEACE SIGN WITH HIS HANDS DRUMMER DRUMS JAL AND DMC SING
  • Embargoed: 9th October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Sudan
  • Country: South Sudan
  • Topics: International Relations,Arts,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA2EXNNVPVX6DMQMY9P0X2LWMDU
  • Story Text: Hip hop legend DMC, one half of the world-famous RUN DMC duo, made a special visit to the world's youngest country South Sudan to spread the gospel of peace on International Peace Day and promote their single "We want peace - reloaded."
    South Sudan is emerging from a brutal 22-year civil war that killed some two million people and left the country in tatters.
    The U.S. rap star joined forces with the African nation's own talent, including former child soldier Emmanuel Jal, to sing about peace in the South Sudan's capital Juba.
    "Once the young people start having dialogue with other young people they will realise that if don't do something now, educate ourselves, empower ourselves and be concerned with our society, our communities and our nation, we're the solution that's going to make it better 25 years from now. Hip-hop will be the force, the catalyst to the youth becoming part of the solution to all the problems the politicians, the elders and the educators go through," says DMC.
    Since independence last July South Sudan has been wracked with inter-tribal violence driven by tit-for-tat cattle raiding, abductions and revenge killings.
    In April this year cross-border skirmishes with the Sudanese army took the rival countries to the brink all-out war over unresolved secession issues like oil and disputed borderlands.
    The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan hope to ease tensions and sign a deal this week that would restart South Sudan's oil production after an 8-month shutdown.
    Despite this, DMC said that he was deeply impressed by his time in South Sudan, dispelling his fears of visiting a country with such a record of conflict.
    "First of all, the way people talked about it I thought it was going to be 150 times worse. People said you got to get your shots of this and that and saying it ain't like the States, just from when you hear about all the history of the country with the war and the stress and the strife I thought it was going to be total chaos but truth be told it's just like any other hood in any other neighbourhood in any other country or any other place in the world," says DMC.
    South Sudanese rapper Emmanuel Jal, who says he was a child soldier during the war, wanted to highlight the role that hip-hop and positive young role models could have on promoting peace in his homeland.
    "This concert is to mobilise people, there's going to be a lot of work. There's peace in South Sudan compared to a long time ago when people died every day. People can travel to see their family members and development is happening. We have to keep on pushing the reconciliation which is most difficult part," says Jal.
    Singing their joint single "We want peace - reloaded", DMC and Jal entertained hundreds of iPad waving South Sudanese and expatriates for the evening.
    The single also features former President Jimmy Carter, former UN chief Kofi Annan, Beatles star Ringo Star, George Clooney and Alicia Keys.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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