Shoko Festival Artist Info and Profile

NATTY

The dreadlocked Reggae artist from North London posses a thoughtful take on what it is to be young in the inner city today with soulful accuracy.
He is born of a mother from Lesotho,a tiny kingdom that is found in the borders and an English father of Italian descent.
He learnt playing the guitar at 10 and he spent his teenage years creating beats for rapping mates.His bedroom mastery of music production earned him a job at premier recording studio Sphere,in Battersea,London.He worked at the studio for four years and everyone passed through that studio from Duran Duran to Mos Def,he says.He then picked up his guitar when he turned 18 beginning to write his own tracks during the studio's downtime.After leaving Sphere,Natty started gigging around London around London attracting a buzz that resulted in his starting the Vibes and Pressure Nights,a magnet for the underground music scene.Things quickly picked up for Natty with a recording contract with Atlantic Records,the release of "Man Like I",his debut album and it had a #1 hit single "Badman" in Japan.Thats when he embarked on his first European tour including gigs with Adele,Lee Perry and Baaba Maal.  
Natty's band comprises of his collaborater and guitar player,Jahmel,a bass and percussion player with Reggae roots and of course him on the vocals.
He is one of the international artist's who will be gracing the the much anticipated Shoko Festival.To follow him check him out on @nattymusic on twitter and Natty on Facebook.

Women Demand Media Rights

Influential women such as Human rights and media Lawyer Beatrice Mutetwa and chairperson of the Women Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCOZ) Virginia Muwanigwa  blasted the media for not  honouring the women's rights in the media while addressing journalists at the Quill Club recently.

Beatrice said that media has to give women a voice and it should work hand in glove with women human rights defenders to help stand for the rights of the women and create security for women.

Virginia said that they want to be seen as equal members of the community who need the same coverage of media that other men,members of the community are getting.

She said that the media has objective coverage of women and for instance if the Prime Minister would claim that women are clogging drainage system with the sand they  use when they clean pots,the media would ask them to comment about that issue and not to comment the more important issues like the new constitutional draft.

Beatrice also said the media has to empower  women and not undermine the women like what they do when they are covering only women for loitering and prostitution but they do not also say who they are loitering for who happen to be men.

They also said that they are disapointed in the media and they are hoping that the media will change towards the benefit of the women.