Make an African Connection and stretch your horizons

As part of Africa Lives On the BBC, Radio 1, 1Xtra and BBC Radio 3 have got together with BBC New Talent to launch a competition called African Connection.

The lucky winners will get a chance to collaborate with internationally renowned African artists like Keziah Jones, Daara J, Thandiswa Mazwai and Ba Cissoka.

They'll then go into the studio with those artists to record tracks for play on Radio 1, 1Xtra and Radio 3. Top producers such as Basement Jaxx have been approached to work on the finished tracks.

Everyone who enters will be asked to submit a track that shows some kind of African influence on their music-making. You can choose to either:

1. Remix a track
Download and remix a track by Issa Bagayogo

:: Download remix clips

2. Submit your own original composition
Listen to tracks by African artists and then submit your own original composition that's been influenced in some way by those artists or tracks.

:: Hear the tracks and artists

A shortlist of approx 20 entrants will be invited to an 'audition' in the autumn where they'll get to work with African artists and producers. From those, 4 winners will be selected to collaborate on the finished tracks.

The final stage of the competition - culminating in the recording - will take place to coincide with the WOMEX festival of world music which is being held in the UK in October.

Closing date is August 8th 2005. It is only open to UK residents, who are welcome to enter as solo performers, bands or producers. Competition rules and regulations.


You can also find out more about the African artists involved and listen to some of their tracks online.

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