SOUTH AFRICA: Hip-hop icon Jay-Z arrives in Johannesburg and promises his South African fans drum rhythms, soulful sounds and a mind-blowing show

Record ID: 455862

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Hip-hop icon Jay-Z arrives in Johannesburg and promises his South African fans drum rhythms, soulful sounds and a mind-blowing show
  • Date: 13th October 2006
  • Summary: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (OCTOBER 1 .0, 2006) (REUTERS) JAY-Z ENTERING ROOM AND SITTING DOWN PHOTOGRAPHERS AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST JAY-Z SAYING: "Just going on world tour, you know, seeing places, connecting with people who I have been exposing my music for 10 years or so and never had a chance to see me 'live'. So, when I was preparing for that, well, I don't want to just go and play the show and just leave the place, so, I want to go out and touch with communities. So, I was looking for a cause that I can take up and water was the first thing I came to. It is number one on the charts, the most of the basic necessities, your body is 75 per cent water, you can't do anything without water, you can't hold down medicine without water. For someone who is not a politician, just seemed like a logical first step for me and it also to solve the problems. It just needs someone with a voice to bring awareness to it. That's why my team teamed up with MTV and the UN because, MTV being a huge vehicle, they have a huge medium they have to reach the youth and the UN with their connections people global." MEDIA ATTENDING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST JAY-Z SAYING: "The numbers are staggering of people who do not have access to clean water and what people consider as access is like, I guess, half a mile, that's not access, access is you going on your bath and you turn your water on, you go to your tap and you turn your water on and you have water, that's access, a half a mile that's not access that's a trip." MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA AT THE NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST JAY-Z SAYING: "To me it (hip-hop) plays a major part because that's the voice that we have but I want people to also know that it is entertainment. It plays a major role because, even as I am out here now, it is world-wide thing, it is a global thing, the youth all over, they are connected to it. It is actually the first music in a lot of places and that was not so, I guess, ten years ago. I was in Bratislava and everybody knew the words. So, it is a global thing now. So, I think it plays a major role and I just want you to know that it is entertainment." PHOTOGRAPHERS AT THE NEWS CONFERENCE JAY-Z SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS AT FRONT OF PRESS COFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 28th October 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVADFVSUGA25QT86TU2GHNLY5NVD
  • Story Text: Music icon Shawn "Jay-Z" landed in South Africa, one of the destinations of his Global Express Tour on Tuesday (October 10).
    At a news conference in Johannesburg, Jay-Z told the media that he had formed a multi-faceted partnership and collaboration with MTV and the United Nations designed to highlight the worldwide water crisis.
    As part of his Global Express Tour, which includes three South African dates, Jay-Z will travel to several regions around the globe affected by the world water crisis. These visits will be documented by MTV for a TV special, Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life, which will air on MTV channels around the world in November 2006. This special program will document Jay-Z's personal journey of discovery as he meets children and families who suffer as part of the more than one billion people worldwide who do not have access to safe drinking water. MTV cameras will follow Jay-Z visiting locations where sustainable, environmentally friendly solutions are in place or being developed to bring fresh water to devastated communities.
    "Just going on world tour, you know, seeing places, connecting with people who I have been exposing my music for 10 years or so and never had a chance to see me 'live'. So, when I was preparing for that, well, I don't want to just go and play the show and just leave the place, so, I want to go out and touch with communities. So, I was looking for a cause that I can take up and water was the first thing I came to. It is number one on the charts, the most of the basic necessities, your body is 75 per cent water, you can't do anything without water, you can't hold down medicine without water. For someone who is not a politician, just seemed like a logical first step for me and it also to solve the problems. It just needs someone with a voice to bring awareness to it. That's why my team teamed up with MTV and the UN because, MTV being a huge vehicle, they have a huge medium they have to reach the youth and the UN with their connections people global," Jay-Z told reporters in South Africa.
    While much of the world has good access to water, there is a global crisis in which 4,500 children die daily from preventable diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. Four out of every ten people - 2.6 billion people - do not have access to even a simple pit latrine, and thus must defecate daily in plastic bags, buckets, open pits, agricultural fields and public areas for want of a private hygienic alternative. This also means no source of safe drinking water and no access to a protected well or spring within reasonable walking distance of their homes.
    During his tour, Jay-Z will visit both untouched, devastated areas, as well as hopeful communities that have already received some aid - to demonstrate what attainable progress can be made.
    Jay-Z said he had been looking for a way to help people, and when he visited Africa previously he was struck by how many of the world's poor lacked such a basic necessity.
    The South African leg of the tour, which is presented by Heineken in association with 5fm, also features Rihanna, and local Kwaito superstar Kabelo.
    Jay-Z is one of the most formidable icons in both business and entertainment. Apart from being President and CEO of Def Jam Records and Roc-A-Fella Records, Jay-Z is also the chairman of multi-million dollar clothing line Rocawear, co-owner of the NJ Nets, sold over 40 million albums, been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award by Prince Charles, received ASCAP's Golden Note award for excellence in song writing, been named one of Time Magazine's 'Most Influential People of 2004 and won a host of awards, including Grammies, MTV Video Music Awards, American Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards amongst others.
    "To me it (hip-hop) plays a major part because that's the voice that we have but I want people to also know that it is entertainment. It plays a major role because, even as I am out here now, it is world-wide thing, it is a global thing, the youth all over, they are connected to it. It is actually the first music in a lot of places and that was not so, I guess, ten years ago. I was in Bratislava and everybody knew the words. So, it is a global thing now. So, I think it plays a major role and I just want you to know that it is entertainment," the artist said of his role as an entertainer and rolemodel.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register