Opportunity for Batswana singer-songwriters to collaborate
Staff Writer | Friday April 9, 2021 17:21
Following the recent Eastern Africa edition, it’s now time for Southern African singer-songwriters to collaborate with Grammy Award winner, Vincent Berry II and add another potential hit to the growing library that includes five songs with over 50 legally recognised African songwriters.
With international interest in the songs heating up, all official collaborators stand to be part of African music history.
The arrangement is part of the build-up to the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) at The Intra-African Trade Fair 2021 (IATF2021) which will take place in Kigali, Rwanda from December 8-14. This dynamic programme will bring together Africa’s creative industries in the most important and memorable creative gathering of the year.
The Cookout Africa series with official IATF goodwill ambassador, Berry II is just one part of an on-going virtual programme that aims to build a way to engage, educate and encourage creatives globally to collaborate.
The Cookout Africa 2021 Southern Africa invites all emerging and professional songwriters to register to be part of this interactive masterclass on April 20 at 18:00 CAT. Participating songwriters will have the opportunity to create a song in real time, contribute lyrics to locally created beats through a truly collaborative process (creatively & legally).
This collaboration with IATF2021 will enable the creative industry of the future to continue to produce fresh, conscious and emotionally available content in a sustainable and cutting-edge manner.
Berry II is most celebrated for being the lead writer of ‘Sandcastles’, on Beyonce’s highly acclaimed project, Lemonade which instantly became a pop culture phenomenon.
The album and film provoked an intense worldwide discussion about race, feminism, social media and the music industry. Berry II had the distinct honor of being part of this 59th Annual Grammy Award-winning Project.
Continuing the path of success, Berry II has participated in six Grammy-nominated projects in the past eight years, most recently participating with J. Cole & Dreamville on the Revenge of the Dreamer III, a 62nd Annual Grammy Award nominee for the Best Rap Album of the Year. BerryII has also written for Akon, Ari Lennox, Babyface, Brandy, Chris Brown, Estelle, Mary J. Blige, Migos, Sean Paul, Shaggy, Ty Dolla Sign and Usher.
To take part in this free song writing masterclass, songwriters are encouraged to sign-up and register on: https://bit.ly/3ua2s9y.