BloomTV: Asheru & HHP Intruduce the BloomBars South Africa Excange

On January 14th, 2010, Hip Hop Pantsula (HHP) or Jabba, one of South Africa's leading Hip Hop artists for the last decade, will travel to Washington, D.C. for a two-week Artist-In-Bloom residency at BloomBars, a Washington-based non-profit organization that works to inspire and unite communities through the arts while nurturing artists committed to serving the community.

The goal of the residency will be to build a bridge between Hip-Hop communities in South Africa and the United States and promote cross-cultural awareness about critical issues affecting those communities, namely education through the arts and HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness. In addition to performances and workshops at BloomBars and other venues in Washington, D.C. and New York, Jabba will spend much of his time speaking at high schools, juvenile detention facilities, and lecturing at colleges and universities.

Throughout the residency, Jabba will be traveling and collaborating with Gabriel Asheru Benn, a widely acclaimed Hip-Hop artist, educator, youth activist, and recipient of the prestigious Peabody Award. As an Artist-in-Bloom Resident Fellow, Asheru will serve as Jabbas guide and ambassador to the larger Hip-Hop and education communities.