MBABANE – Freedom 250-supported production brings together DJing, MC’ing, dance, live music and cultural exchange between Eswatini and the United States.
Eswatini artist, curator and creative economy advocate Lution is set to present The Elements: A Freedom in Motion, a multidisciplinary Hip-Hop experience taking place on Saturday, September 26 2026, at the Eswatini Theatre Club.
Supported through the Freedom 250 grant, the production explores freedom through the foundational elements of Hip-Hop, DJing, MC’ing, breaking, graffiti and knowledge, all while bringing together artists and audiences in an experience that celebrates creativity, cultural identity, expression and possibility.
Rather than presenting Hip Hop simply as a genre of music, The Elements approaches it as a culture and a language through which people can tell their stories, express themselves and create opportunities.
For Lution, the project is deeply personal.
“For me, The Elements is much more than a show. It is a celebration of Hip-Hop as a culture, as a language, as a form of self-expressiont and ultimately as an expression of freedom,” says Lution.
Lution also added that when he thought about Freedom 250, he didn’t want to simply create a concert with a Freedom 250 logo attached to it. “I wanted to explore what freedom means through the language that I know best Hip Hop,” he said.
The Freedom 250 grant provided Lution with the opportunity to take the concept from an idea and develop it into a live production involving multiple creative disciplines and practitioners.
The project reflects a broader belief that investment in the arts can contribute to the development of the creative economy.
Behind a live performance are numerous professionals whose work contributes to the final experience from musicians, dancers and DJs to sound engineers, lighting technicians, graphic designers, videographers, photographers, stage managers, producers and other creative practitioners.
For Lution, The Elements is, therefore, also an opportunity to demonstrate what becomes possible when creative work is treated not only as entertainment, but as an economic and cultural asset.
“The Freedom 250 grant gave us an opportunity to take an idea and turn it into something tangible. It is not simply about giving an artist money to make a piece of art. It can give an artist the ability to bring other people into the process and create an ecosystem around an idea,” he said.
One of the defining aspects of the production is its emphasis on cultural exchange.
Hip Hop originated in the United States but has developed into a global cultural movement, with artists and communities across Africa and around the world adapting its elements to their own histories, languages and lived experiences.
The Elements uses this shared cultural language as a bridge between Eswatini and the United States. The production features Konshens The MC from Washington DC, alongside Lution and a selection of local creative practitioners.
The collaboration provides an opportunity for artists from different backgrounds to share a stage, exchange perspectives and demonstrate the international connections that can emerge through culture.
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