GOING SOUTH:A NEW FESTIVAL CELEBRATING SOUTH ASIAN MUSIC

GOING SOUTH, the largest and loudest festival of South Asian music in Britain, comes to London this November for the first time. GOING SOUTH will give a platform to British South Asian talent in the electronic, rap, alternative and grime genres, and help combat the invisibility these artists face in the British music and festival scene. The festival will bring the best of British brown excellence in music together, from the pioneers of the genre to the newest talent performing in one venue across 3 stages, and more.

Emerging South Asian breakthrough star Priya Ragu, hot from her critically acclaimed UK performances at The Great Escape and Electric Brixton, will be showcasing her irresistible energy at the festival with her vibrant electro beats and distinctive silky R&B vocals. Headlining also will be UK producer, rapper and pop icon Panjabi MC to bring his Bhangra block party vibe, renowned DJ Bobby Friction will play an adrenaline-fuelled set of warped Sufi Rhythms & Bass heavy Bollywood influenced Bangers and Nabihah Iqbal will perform her genre hopping kaleidoscopic DJ set. Incredibly talented Gracie T will be there, and DJ Kizzi will perform her special mix of hip hop and afrobeats. DJ Manara, the ‘queen of blends’ renowned on underground club circuits for her legendary mixes will also perform, as well as south Asian gay rights activist, storyteller, and performer Reeta Loi.

The UK’s freshest South Asian rappers will be showcased, including JJ Esko, whose lyrics delve into deep personal struggles, Manchester based Kami Kane will rap in multiple tongues whilst Punjabi producer/rapper and artist Joash will have his eclectic music taste influence his set. New Wave Punjabi vocalist Luqy will meld traditional lyricism with trap and drill beats and British Pakistani rapper Freezy will share his bars.

The festival will also see MC Solomon play, who spends his time between Goa in India and the UK to blend both musical styles together in a British / Asian hip-hop fusion. Chande, a

member of the brilliant South Asian Daytimers crew, will also thrill audiences with his mixes. Indian Man DJ will bring his influences of hip-hop and garage, and Inder Paul Sandhu and Niki Kini will also be taking the stage. Experience what OZY Magazine called, ‘where Punjabi Folk Meets Aretha Soul’ through Amrit Kaur, a sarangi player and vocalist in the genres of Punjabi folk, R&B and soul. Also performing is TablaJedi, one of the UK’s most respected tabla players.

Performing at the event is award-winning spoken word artist Jaspreet Kaur who has committed to using writing about taboo issues within the South Asian community, and ‘Brown’ Poet Laureate Hussain Manawer will share his thoughts on living in the United Kingdom through these turbulent recent years.

GOING SOUTH will host the first rap cypher between two nations India and Pakistan, with artists based in Pakistan and India partaking online through technology based at the festival in the UK. Expect the two countries to musically come together through the power of technology and hip-hop, shown at the event on screen.

The three founders Bobby Friction (BBC Radio 1 & Asian Network), Chris Tofu (Continental Drifts, Glastonbury and Global Local) & Ajay Chhhabra (London Mela, Nutkhut) said: “The invisibility of British Asian faces across the music ecosphere, especially on stage doesn't tally up with the growing & radical new South Asian artists already making music in this country. With GOING SOUTH we intend to fix that and use it as a pivotal point for some of the most exciting new music being made in the world today!”

On Friday 11th November, GOING SOUTH will explore the roots of the British Asian music scene with a screening of long-lost documentary This England that hasn’t been seen since it broadcast in 1998. Originally made for BBC 2, the RTS award winning documentary is an intimate film exploring the complex mother and son relationships between the first and second generations of the British Asian community set against the explosion of creativity that was the Asian Underground Music scene. The director Aysha Rafaele will be present to discuss the film and topics raised. Bobby Friction will be opening the festival with a DJ set and Tabla Jedi will perform live.

Most importantly, GOING SOUTH will showcase the new generation of South Asian artists and musicians currently changing the very face of UK Music & Arts as we know it.

GOING SOUTH has been supported by Arts Council Funding.

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