“Back to the City”, which is one of the longest running and most popular hip hop festivals on the continent, has announced its return after a three-year absence.
“Back to the City” has been a mainstay on the local festival calendar for the past decade but has been absent since the Covid-19 pandemic hit. With the pandemic’s restrictions now lifted the festival is gearing up to host its standard 20 000-strong crowd at its home at Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown.
“We’re back outside, join us on the 1st of October at Mary Fitzgerald Square as we celebrate South African Hip Hop and practise our Freedom Of Movement. Tickets are available at any Pick n Pay Store nationwide or online from webtickets.co.za/v2/Event.aspx?… #BTTC2022 #BTTCxHennessy”
We’re back outside, join us on the 1st of October at Mary Fitzgerald Square as we celebrate South African Hip Hop and practise our Freedom Of Movement. Tickets are available at any Pick n Pay Store nationwide or online from https://t.co/EgH0IkIpOr #BTTC2022 #BTTCxHennessy pic.twitter.com/Z7aefZMaXK
— #BTTC2022 (@BacktothecitySA) August 23, 2022
The headliners for the show include A-Reece, Blxckie, Big Zulu, Emtee, Costa Titch, Nadia Nakai and Touchline. Despite the strong line-up it’s worth noting that several big names are missing, most notably heavyweights AKA, Cassper Nyovest, K.O, Kwesta and Nasty C.
The festival will also be collaborating with MacG’s “Podcast and Chill”.
“We're happy to announce our collaboration with @MacGUnleashed and the Podcast and Chill crew for this year's Back To The City family reunion. 🙌🎉 Shout-out to all fellow chillers! 👊 Here's a snippet of this year's lineup. 📢👊🔥”
This year’s announcement comes in the midst of arguably the most exciting period in SA hip hop for years following all the commotion around Big Zulu’s “150 Bars” diss track which came out on August 19. K.O and Kwesta have come out firing with responses of their own. Zakwe is said to be preparing his response.
The festival joins other festivals such as the DStv Delicious Fest, Corona Sunsets Fest and Rocking The Daisies in making a return in 2022.