Sole DXB: Bringing Hip-Hop & Street Culture to Dubai | Rajat Malhotra
Rajat Malhotra, partner at Sole DXB – Dubai's annual footwear, music, art and lifestyle festival — joins on the afikra podcast to talk about bringing street culture to his city. He shares what it was like building the festival alongside his partners Hussain Moloobhoy and Joshua Cox (Sole DXB's co-founders alongside Kris Balerite), and reflects on his favorite acts from over the years, and on what it's actually like to curate an event of this scale. Rajat also talks about Dubai's unique nature as a city that people of mixed heritage can easily make home, what Saudi Arabia's immense cultural investment might mean for Dubai's cultural eco-system, and whether political Hip Hop can thrive in the GCC.
Rajat Malhotra is a partner at Sole DXB alongside Hussain Moloohbhoy and Joshua Cox.
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Sole DXB is an annual footwear, music, art and lifestyle festival that takes place in the Dubai Design District in the UAE. It launched in 2011 as a modest gathering for sneaker enthusiasts and has since grown into a regional platform that brings global brands and performers to Dubai. afikra partnered with Sole DXB in December 2023 to facilitate and moderate some talks as part of the festival.
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The Afikra Podcast
The afikra Podcast is our flagship series featuring experts from academia, art, media, urban planning, and beyond, who are helping document and shape the histories and cultures of the Arab world through their work.
