It’s confirmed– Sole DXB, the UAE’s homegrown urban culture festival has dropped the dates for its 2023 edition. From December 8-10 2023, expect an action-packed weekend full of live music, DJ sets, talks, workshops, film screenings, and shopping.
But that’s not even the headline. The big announcement is that the contemporary culture festival has teamed up with American rapper Nas’ entertainment company Mass Appeal. As part of the collab, Dubai gets front-row seats to the Hip Hop 50 experience – a cross-platform initiative celebrating 50 years of Hip Hop.
The exact details of this year’s events and the line-up of performers are yet to be revealed, but if previous editions’ headliners are anything to go by – hip hop heavyweights Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, and Stormzy, NBA player Scottie Pippen, creatives like designer Hiroshi Fujiwara and photographer Petra Collins – the 2023 edition will pack a punch.
What’s the story of Sole DXB?
Known for bringing the UAE’s sneakerheads, streetwear enthusiasts, and hip-hop aficionados out of the shadows and into the limelight, the annual festival started as a sneaker summit in jamjar, a warehouse art gallery in Al Quoz by Hussain Moloobhoy, Joshua Cox, Kris Balerite, and Rajat Malhotra.
The idea said co-founder Hussain Moloobhoy, in a 2019 interview with The National, is that Sole DXB functions as a platform to educate UAE residents about hip-hop culture.
Since then, the event shifted its base to the Dubai Design District which has been its home continuously. Last year, d3’s sprawling venue accommodated 33,000 people from 85 countries.
And that’s discounting the 80 performers and brands as well as designers and speakers who were in attendance. The three-day event saw d3 popping with music, culture and a community of like-minded people.
Now that you’ve got a sense of JUST how integral visiting Sole DXB is to clocking up on some street cred, block those calendars! All the cool kids and their cool kicks will be there.