Kathmandu, February 19
The US Embassy in Nepal organised a workshop titled Blending Sarangi and Hip Hop, at Sangeet Pathshala, in Handigaun on February 18 where Nepali and American artists played music together.
American artists Mazi Mutafa, Substantial and DJ Flag, who came to Kathmandu as cultural ambassadors, listened to Nepali musical instruments and the tunes, played by Fusion Jatra, a Nepali band. Following that, the American musicians started rapping and DJing to the tune of Nepali traditional music.
The workshop was part of the embassy’s Arts Envoy 2024: Let’s Talk event where American and Nepali artists shared the same platform and performed together.
According to the US Embassy, the workshop aimed at cultural exchange between Nepali folk singers and American artists.
“The workshop will be important to acquaint Nepal’s original musical instrument sarangi and artists with hip-hop music and its elements,” the embassy said in a statement.
The embassy also hopes that by mixing the melody of sarangi with hip-hop, the way for musical collaboration will be opened in the future.
The Embassy is going to organise a similar workshop in the eastern city of Biratnagar along with Kathmandu. on February 21, it is organising a concert and hip-hop street festival in Biratnagar. Likewise, on February 24, a similar event is scheduled in Kathmandu.
The events are organised by the US Embassy in collaboration with the Nepal Hiphop Foundation.
