On Friday, Diaspora Calling curated by Lauryn Hill and hosted by Dave Chappelle featured the lineup of Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, YG Marley, Zion Marley, Giggs, Fireboy DML, Seun Kuti and The Compozers, alongside DJ sets from DJ OBI and Michael Brun and a surprise appearance by Kano during Giggs’ set. Over 35,000 people from the UK and globally gathered at Milton Keynes National Bowl to witness these to experience these artists in all their glory.
Hill and Jean celebrated the thirty years of “The Fugees’ landmark album The Score, revisiting defining songs including “Ready or Not” and “Fu-Gee-La.” The set also moved through their individual catalogues, with Wyclef Jean performing “911” and Hill delivering solo favorites including “Ex-Factor,” “Doo Wop (That Thing)”, joined by Erykah Badu, and “To Zion.” YG Marley and Zion Marley joined Hill and Jean onstage, while The Compozers performed alongside Hill during the closing set” (Diaspora Calling Press Release). Chappelle introduced artist, framed some of the day’s biggest events brought his distinctive voice as a comedian, storyteller and cultural commentator to the National Bowl stage. Badu performed many hit songs such as ” “Apple Tree,” “Window Seat,” “On & On” and “Back in the Day.” Among the night’s biggest surprises, Kano joined Giggs during his set for “P’s & Q’s” and “Rudeboy,” bringing together two of the most influential voices in British rap. Fireboy DML represented the continued global reach of Afrobeats, while YG Marley performed his global hit “Praise Jah in the Moonlight.” Zion Marley performed his grandfather Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” before delivering his own song “Best of Me,” while Seun Kuti brought the force and political tradition of Afrobeat to the National Bowl” (Diaspora Calling Press Release). DJ OBI started the live programme and maintaned high energy through early sets, “while Michael Brun later delivered a dedicated DJ set, bringing his Caribbean-rooted, globally connected sound to the National Bowl. MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy also addressed the audience during the evening, delivering a special message from Ms. Hill about reparatory justice, the importance of strengthening connections across the African diaspora, celebrating Black excellence and creating the spaces, institutions and opportunities needed for communities to shape their own futures” (Diaspora Calling Press Release).
All the performers captured the bigger picture behind Diaspora Calling which is connecting decades of Black music and culture while celebrating those shared influences that travelled between Africa, the Caribbean, the UK, the US and communities across the global diaspora. The peformances in full can be watched below:
