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In the first UK event of its kind, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme came together with hip hop music to raise awareness and funds for the 1 billion children living in poverty-stricken conditions across the world.

It wasn’t just another rainy Friday evening on April 30th 2004, as hip hop artists from the US and UK joined forces for ‘The Message’ – a United Nations urban music concert held in association with clothing label, Ecko Unltd.

Nicholas You (Chief of Best Practices for UN-Habitat) opened the gig by thanking everyone for attending what was in effect, the launch party for future UN urban music events. As wide screen televisions played show reels of village slums on stage, You explained that hip hop artists in various countries have signed up to help spread ‘The Message’ about inner city poverty, and raise funds for community rehabilitation projects. On hand to keep the crowd moving during intervals were UK hip hop’s finest, Rodney P with new urban music sensation Gemma Fox, and the Mixologists, who played hip hop favourites.

Hip hop and the United Nations may seem an unlikely combination given the extravagant ‘care free’ lifestyle frequently portrayed by our transatlantic stars, but UN-Habitat recognizes that through its ‘Urban Youth Challenge’, the genre can help to make a positive connection between itself and the street kids in desperate need of rebuilding their lives. Currently there are more than 1 billion people who live in slums and inner cities, mainly without clean water, sanitation or even sufficient shelter. This has a damaging effect on the livelihoods of all that exist in these environments, especially the youth, who without a stable support system and education, cannot find a way out. The main concern for UN-Habitat is the rapid expansion of urban populations, which every day attracts poor people looking for better prospects. Instead, the bleak reality draws them to a magnet of crime, disease and poverty. With the worldwide urban population estimated to rise to 6 billion by 2050, UN-Habitat has been prompted to raise funds for urban youth now.

Killa Kella was first to heat up the enthusiastic crowd with thundering bass beats on his rendition of Justin Timberlake’s ‘Rock your Body’. Always one for leaving crowds in awe wherever he beat boxes, smooth transitions from one hip hop classic to another proceeded before the talented performer gave the audience a vocal a capella of Donna Summer’s ‘Love To Love You Baby’. Accompanied with spot on vocal beats to match the famous 70s hit, the inevitable rip-roaring applause was highly deserved. Est’elle soon followed, sporting a new short and sleek hairdo plus blue ribboned killer stilettos - much to the envy of my eye! Rapping on the instrumental of Jay-Z’s ‘Encore’, the chemistry was tight between the crowd and V2’s new artist, while a guest appearance from rapper Babyblue added further flavour to the set.

Anyone who thought great hip hop only lived on homegrown or American soil was put straight by Palestinian rapper Tamar. Telling the audience: “I know you don’t understand me but you’re gonna learn Arabic”, his energetic and straight up persona brought Middle Eastern hip hop to the forefront. Meanwhile, for UKHH fans, Ty’s new material ‘Wait a Minute’ and ‘Look for me’ was appreciated with a feel good vibe following his two-year gap from the music scene. Joining him onstage was backing singer Michelle Escoffery who stole the show by belting some blinding chords while Ty performed his latest single ‘Oh You Want More’ (and believe me this is exactly what the auditorium wanted even before the duo had finished!). The ‘Look for me’ featured artist was refreshing as she not only blew the roof off vocally but also proved that big ladies are just as hot as the Beyoncé replicas strutting around in urban music at the moment.

Special guest DJ Jazzy Jeff brought everyone to a standstill, playing an hour-long set that included nostalgic tracks by Biggie Smalls, G.L.O.B.E. and Dimples D. GZA Genius described the legendary scratch master as ‘the illest mother******’ and the same could be said for him as the auditorium went into overdrive during renditions of unforgettable Wu Tang and Liquidswords classics. However, before Shepherd’s Bush could recover from GZA’s much loved lyrics and metaphors, US headliners Dead Prez blew up the spot with an unforgettable gig finale.

The celebrated songs ‘Hell Yeah’, ‘W-4’ and ‘I’m An African’, addressed the common issues facing black people living in America’s projects and reminded us of the injustices within western society’s rich/poor divide. Perfect headliners for this event, Stic.man and M-1 are long-time activists for social and economic improvement within poor ethnic communities. Through experiences of broken families, drug dealing, jail sentences and homelessness, they have become the voice for millions of street kids on masterpieces like ‘They Skool’, ‘Radio Freq’ and ‘Hip Hop’, amongst others. Wearing a ‘Revolutionary but gangsta’ t-shirt, Stic.man also used the opportunity to urge everyone to be ‘self-aware’ about world issues, especially third-world poverty and war torn Iraq.

On the whole it was an entertaining evening and great to see international and UK hip hop artists perform on the same stage. However, I left the gig wondering whether ‘The Message’ really had represented the people it needed to within Britain. There was no mention of anyone in the audience who had been invited from inner city areas or who may work for youth projects. This to me would have added further weight to UN-Habitat’s advertising slogan ‘There are 1 billion kids dying to be heard/ United Nations and hip hop join forces to deliver the message’.

It was also unclear how the British urban youth would benefit from this and similar events for their communities. Video images of street kids playing in village slums brought home the importance to raise funds for the third world, but for many of us we probably went home remembering the line up rather than the real reason for being there. In addition, it was questionable why urban sportswear brand Ecko was sponsoring ‘The Urban Youth Challenge’. Their presence only seemed to be via the available free merchandise, leaving the query: ‘Was this another advertising avenue to target the fashion-conscious youth culture of western society?’ Dead Prez openly expressed their dislike for white owned companies like Ecko that buy into ‘black culture’ without giving something back, but other artists chose to wear the sponsor’s clothing. Perhaps we should be thankful that the multi-million dollar company has decided to invest in the kids of hip hop and youth culture that it claims to have ‘strong roots in’.

Nevertheless, UN-Habitat has yet again gone one step closer to helping the world’s deprived communities when many of us merely flick the remote button. By bringing their campaign to the UK, we are to some extent, more aware of the urban population crisis and the role hip hop music will play in spreading ‘The Message’.

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