Peterborough rap artist to feature in live streamed UN backed-concert this week

The concert has been organised by the Universal Hip Hop Museum (UHHM), which is set to open in 2022 in the Bronx, New York, with the aim of creating the world’s largest collection of hip-hop memorabilia.

The museum hopes to celebrate and preserve the history of global hip-hop music to inspire, empower and promote understanding.

The Hip Hop 4 Peace concert will take place on the International Day of Peace and will be live streamed on YouTube at 7pm New York time (around midnight UK time).

Artists from over 25 countries will take part in the concert that is backed by the UN.

Proceeds will go towards the museum’s educational programs that will help disadvantaged young people living in urban communities.

Xidus has submitted a video entry that has been shot locally and will feature on the bill alongside musical icons Rakim, Chuck D and Roxanne Shante’ and many more.

He said: “It was an honour for me to be asked.

“My music contains a lot of social commentary and promotes goodness. It is important to point out the facts but to look for the positives and to help people work together and bridge gaps wherever they exist.”

“Multiculturalism is really important and I have worked with such a diverse range of people in schools, universities and youth clubs in Peterborough and the rest of the UK.

“I’ve worked with five-year-olds up to students in their 70s. Music is something anybody can latch on to.”

Xidus has provided master-classes across the world but is based in Peterborough, after growing up in the city and attending Stanground Academy.

He got his first job in music at the age of 14, running club nights for people of his age at The Junction in Cambridge and now has his own studio on Norfolk street, called Chime Studios.

It is here that he works alongside music producers Lee Ashton and Benni Turner as a Director of Beat This. An organisation set up in 2009 after noticing a lack of extracurricular music activity in Peterborough.

He said: “There is a lot of funding available for young people between 11 and 18 but once you turn 19, you’re left to fend for yourself and aren’t sure where to go.

“This is when people are open to insecurities, depression and joining gangs. I have been involved in interventions for people and that is why we aim to use music positively.

“We allow people to be themselves but encourage positive affirmation. It’s good to work with the people we do because if they weren’t here they could be all sorts of things they get caught up in.

“We’re open to all different communities and that creates a good cultural mixing pot of people learning to work together through music.”

Xidus has also teamed up with BBC Radio Cambridgeshire as part of their ‘That Friday Night Feeling’ show. Here he has the opportunity to put forward some of these tracks to be played, giving young people in the city a platform to gain further exposure.

He also works closely with Finding Rhythms, who are an organisation that offer young people, as well as rehabilitating prisoners, the chance to work together and record an album and have it professionally produced. Participants can also earn a BTEC in Employability and Personal Effectiveness.

All of these good works, helped Xidus work his way up to becoming Manager of the UK sector of Generation Hip Hop.

The not-for-profit organisation operates in 65 countries, working in communities to educate through rap, whether than be workshops in lyrical composition, graffiti, production or dance. The Executive Producer/Brand Ambassador of Generation Hip Hop is Curtis Young, the son of the world famous rapper Dr. Dre, with Ndaba Mandela (grandson of Nelson) as Chairman.

This has opened up the possibility of working with many famous faces from the world of Hip Hop. Xidus has collaborated on many projects such as ‘Hip Hop 4 Haiti’, in New York, alongside Snoop Dogg and Aloe Blacc. He has also worked on ‘Stop Shooting,’ a project that takes a stand against gun violence. This involved working alongside Yusuf Salam, the subject of popular Netflix drama ‘When They See Us,’ which chronicles his journey after falsely being charged with assault and rape in New York’s Central Park in 1989.

He added: “A lot has taken off in lock down and I’ve been having all these zoom calls. It’s surreal getting to speak to all of these people.

“It feels like a game show, you’ll be on a call and all of a sudden, this celebrity will pop up in a square and start talking to me in LA, while I’m sitting here in Peterborough.

“What’s great as well is that we’ve spoken about them coming to Peterborough when it’s safe and it would be great to get them to host a talk for young people at Kingsgate, to generate headlines for Peterborough in a positive way.”

Alongside all of this, Xidus has been releasing his own music and has been releasing a new project each month for the last 22 months.

His music can be found at xidus-pain.bandcamp.com/music and for bookings anyone interested can contact [email protected].