The Cookout Africa 2021 will launch virtually across Africa, with the first session focusing on Eastern African songwriters launching on 31st March at 1900h EAT. This is following the success of the Cookout Africa Masterclass series launched in 2020.
The Cookout Africa is part of the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) at The Intra-African Trade Fair 2021 (IATF2021). This program for Africa’s creatives will take place in Kigali, Rwanda from 6th-12th September 2021.
The series, with official IATF Goodwill Ambassador Vincent Berry II, is part of an on-going virtual program that aims to build a transformative way to engage, educate and encourage creatives globally to collaborate.
Songwriters will have the chance to create a song in real time, contributing lyrics to locally created beats, through a truly collaborative process. This collaboration with IATF2021 will enable the creative industry to continue to produce fresh, conscious and emotionally available content in a sustainable and competitive manner.
Vincent Berry II is celebrated for being the Lead Writer of Sandcastles, on Beyonce’s highly acclaimed project Lemonade. The album and film provoked an intense worldwide discussion about race, feminism, social media and the music industry. He has also written for other stars including J. Cole, Akon, Ari Lennox, Babyface, Brandy, Chris Brown, Estelle, Mary J. Blige, Migos, Sean Paul, Shaggy, Ty Dolla Sign and Usher.
Interested applicants have been encouraged to take part in the free songwriting Masterclass.
Only songwriters from Kenya, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte, Réunion, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda are eligible to apply. This edition of The Cookout Africa 2021 will be hosted in English.
Follow-up editions of the Cookout Africa 2021 will roll out for other regions of Africa as follows
- April – Southern Africa
- May – Anglophone Western Africa
- June – Francophone Eastern, Central & Western Africa
- July – Northern Africa.