ABSTRACT

Balozi, a Tanzanian hip hop artist whose stage name is Dola Soul and an original member of the group Deplowmatz, steps out of a subway train in the Bronx with a map in hand looking for a specific location. After a few seconds he seems to have found what he was looking for, puts the map in his back pocket, and walks into a barbershop. In the barbershop Balozi meets up with Ez Mike, original DJ with Bronx's pioneer hip hop group Grandmaster Flash, and asks to be directed to where he could find the real hip hop. Ez Mike offers him a seat and tells him he first needs a hip hop haircut. After giving Balozi a haircut, Ez Mike turns him around and announces to the rest of the people in the barbershop that Balozi is from Tanzania and he is looking for real hip hop. 1 Grandmaster Caz, a pioneer MC from the Bronx, who is also getting a haircut, responds by rapping that “the real hip hop is here,” as he is joined by others including DOA, a verbal percussionist, who provides the background beat.