Nomadic Wax is a fair-trade international music, film, and events production company with a social and global focus. It specializes in hip-hop and underground music. Nomadic Wax works with a network of artists and musicians worldwide who use art as a medium for activism, social change, and community development. American Ben Herson founded Nomadic Wax in 1999, while living in Brooklyn, New York. Herson graduated with a B.A. in African Studies and Anthropology from Hampshire College in 2000 and did post baccalaureate studies in Wolof (a West African language) at Columbia University.
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Nomadic Wax has since expanded, with an additional office in Washington DC run by Creative Director, Magee McIlvaine.
Background
During the summer of 1999, Nomadic Wax founder Ben Herson discovered a local independent hip-hop scene in Senegal and became fascinated by the music which contained politically and socially conscious lyrical content . His attempts at persuading existing labels to publish the music met with difficulties.
Film and Television
Nomadic Wax began working with film in 2007, with the film “African Underground: Democracy in Dakar" co-produced with non prodit film company Sol Productions. The film is a feature-length documentary that explores the role of youth hip-hop activism in the 2007 Senegalese elections. On December 11, 2008, “Democracy in Dakar” was screened on LinkTV. In 2009, it was screened on WHUT in Washington DC. Since then, “Democracy in Dakar” has been shown at dozens of film festivals and universities internationally.
“Democracy in Haiti” is Nomadic Wax’s third documentary project. It follows a variety of young people to examine why Haiti’s youth have become so separated from mainstream Haitian society and the democratic system.