Czeching 2018 winner announced: Eurosonic will welcome rapper Hellwana

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Radio Wave's Czeching project supports up-and-coming Czech musicians on their way to international listeners and audiences. The 2018 edition featured a very varied selection of nominees: aside from Hellwana, the other nominees included the rave-rock band 1flfsoap, the vintage rock band The Atavists, the indie folk duo teepee and the sophisticated songwriter Jaro Korbel with his band Jaro. The nominees were again judged by an international jury consisting mostly of programmers and editors from EBU radio stations, such as BBC Wales, Radio Rai 2, Radio France, the Bavarian PULS, FM4, VAL 202, Radio Pötöfi, Rádio FM a many others.

“Similarly to last year's winner Zagami Jericho, Hellwana will get a chance to record and release a new EP, shoot a music video and her music will be featured in EBU's music exchange. Moreover, in October she will play a gig at Radio Wave and Rádio FM's Czech-Slovak project Audioport in Bratislava and in January she will perform at the biggest European showcase festival Eurosonic Noorderslag, focusing this time on Czech and Slovak projects,” explains Iva Jonášová, Editor in Chief of Radio Wave

Young rapper and singer Hellwana attracted attention last year with her debut EP Sunbeam influenced by grime, r’n’b, neo-soul and trap. The EP proves that Hellwana is both an excellent rapper and singer, and her concerts show that she is also a great performer. She is currently working with the members of the Trash Gang collective on releasing her next EP which will also include tracks in Czech.

“I will always prefer Czech, even if it doesn't show in the proportion of Czech and English songs. My musical expression is better in English but I prefer Czech even if I still fumble for the right words. My family, both of my parents, are not from the Czech Republic. My mother has been living here for a very long time and her Czech is perfect. I grew up in the house of my grandparents whose Czech is also good but they call many things with their own words which sometimes slip into my speech. I am better at writing lyrics in English because I often speak English with my sister and I have many foreign friends so I am better at expressing myself in English,” says Hellwana about her language preferences.

“Rapper and singer Hellwana brings inspiration drawn from grime and British dance music into Czech context while maintaining an aura of authenticity, a vital level of individuality and an awareness of contemporary sound. Plus she brings into play important topics that Czech rap has lacked so far: she speaks about the body, stereotypes and beauty ideals. She raps and sings in English but wants to release her next EP in Czech. So for Czeching, she is an ideal export musician,” says Radio Wave's music programmer Jiří Špičák about the result of the international jury's vote.

Czeching 2018 featured again an educational programme supported by the Czech music export office SoundCzech. The special two-day event Czeching Skills for young managers and musicians focused on organizing skills and music management. Lectures and brainstormings were led by Danny Fahey, founder of the Thirty Pound Gentleman initiative and exchange programme Grime Beyond Borders, and Mirca Lotz, manager, promoter and founder of the [fwd: like waves] agency. Czeching also included a debate with Christoph Lindemann, Head of Music at the German PULS radio station and one of Czeching's jurors, and Dan Koplowitz, an expert on music licensing and founder of the Friendly Fire label and agency. The main star of the evening Nabihah Iqbal introduced her new project Weighing of the Heart released earlier this year on the Ninja Tune label.