MIXING IT UP Finale: Queer, Urban Performance by Ajah/Taurus Bar and Restaurant

Lyrics by Samira Arhin-Acquaah (aka Lucid) & Jaheda Choudhury and hip hop and funky underground sounds by Jaydev Mistry

To hear tracks from the gig go to Ajah's my space page, a link to which is located in the artists's website tab of this blog.

Beyond da Box project challenged the homophobia of mainstream, urban music, especially hip hop, through the development of a series of educational workshops. The latter, aimed at queer-identified, local youth, culminated in a series of queer, hip hop performances by the participants as part of queerupnorth 2007. Artists Samira Arhin-Acquaah (aka Lucid), Jaheda Choudhury, both a part of the Beyond da Box project, and Jaydev Mistry, build on the concept through a new performance which also considers sexuality as it intersects with class, race, and gender.

In particular, the artists, who are collectively known as Ajah, mine the spatial politics and characteristics of the venue, The Joseph Perrier Lounge, Taurus Bar and Restaurant, in which the performance takes place to re-situate urban music. Taurus Bar and Restaurant is located in the heart of Canal Street as part of the “Gay Village” and imbued with a politically “queer” and commercial sensibility. Ajah will meditate on these geo-specific differences in dialogue with gender and class as it intersects with race and sexuality on Curry Mile, Oxford Road, and Canal Street.

Based on a concept developed by the Beyond da Box project commissioned by queerupnorth, PeaceOutUK, and Contact