Blue Jay wins Rap battle for Bushfire stage
MBABANE – New and upcoming rapper, Blue Jay took the crown as the Rap King, and secured a spot to perform at the MTN Bushfire Festival.
The festival will be held at Malandela¶s from May this year.
This feat came after winning against four other contestants at the Francophonie Festival this past 6aturday.
The 5ap battle was part of a festival, which was held at the Alliance Française in Mba bane.
The competition was between five contest ants including the ultimate winner, Blue -ay, the second runner up was /arow.
The others who took part in the battle were M]wa the man, :ayne and -ames the th.
There were five rounds where the con testants were given different tasks. These included free styling, raping with a beat and without, and also being given a random word to rap about.
Judges
The panel of Mudges for the rap battle were D- 6peech 8mlangeni, rapper Ncwiki Fle[ and 6i]o. The Mudges shared that they were looking for a uniTue and very engaging rap per, who was going to be able to meet the MTN Bushfire standard. The Francophonie refers to men and women who share a com mon language, which is French. It is estimated that there are over million French speak ers across five continents globally. To cele brate the language and its cultural diversity, the Francophonie Festival showcases a vari ety of cultural events involving sports, /it erature, film, breakdance, talks and debates. This festival is presented by the embassies that are part of the international organisation of la Francophonie represented in Ireland, in association with the Department of Foreign Affairs and many Irish cultural partners.
Communications
Alliance Française Communications Officer Karyn Groening, revealed that MTN Bushfire was sponsoring the event, hence the grand pri]e was an opportunity for the winner to perform at the festival and the second runner up who went by the name /arow walked away with a general ticket to the festival.
Among the crowd was Bushfire festival dDi rector, -iggs Thorne with his wife, 6asha and their children. It is worth noting that there were many other activities that were available at the venue including performances by :aterford gumboot dancers, King Don Thobela and the 6hepard Brothers, among others. There were also various stalls for attendees to visit includ ing a Moroccan stall, which served different foods from their home country, toy stalls, food and candy stalls.
A section of attendees enjoying a few goodies at the Moroccan food stall, also among them was musician John Philip.