This year, our Spring Series covers South Africa. In this episode, we have a conversation with South African Hip-Hop pioneer Emile YX?.

Emile is part of the pioneering Hip Hop group Black Noise, one of the earliest Hip Hop groups in South Africa. He later co-founded the Hip Hop NGO Heal the Hood, which is based in the Cape Flats community of Cape Town, South Africa. A Hip Hop elder statesman, scholar, and educator, Emile visited the Hip Hop in Africa class to talk to us about his work and his scholarship.

Check out his book, Reconnect the String: the African Origins of Hip Hop Culture & It’s Healing Power

Follow Emile YX? on Instagram, Youtube, TikTok, and Facebook