American rapper Awkword, has released an international collaborative song titled “I AM” featuring 9 artists from four continents including: ModeNine (Nigeria), Wakazi (Tanzania), Holstar (Zambia), The Assembly (South Africa) and Third Eye (Malawi).
The project was initiated by Akword as part of his ongoing effort to connect artists and fans worldwide through hip hop music and culture as well as showcase the motherland, the diaspora and women in hip hop. Awkword connected with Nigerian born Canadian producer, Teck-Zilla, Nigerian songstress Maka and French DJ J Hart to recruit an all-star cast of emcees to join him on the “I AM” global posse cut.
Apart from the African emcees, other artists featured on the song are Latasha Alcindor (USA) and Five Steez (Jamaica).
Speaking in an interview with MTV Base, Awkword said the song features 9 emcees sharing truths about their lives in their respective home countries across Africa, the Caribbean and the United States.
“The song will appear on my 2016 EP “Mid-Flight”. All proceeds from the sale of the song will go towards financing the production of its music video so that all the artists featured can truly show who they are and where they’re from.” explained the hip hop activist.
In 2014, Awkword released an album titled ‘World View’ that featured contributions from every continent. Proceeds from the album were donated to Guns 4 Cameras, a non-profit organisation that strives to end gun and gang violence through Hip hop inspired education and empowerment of “at-risk” youth.