From Berlin to Casablanca in 39 days with no money but with plenty of rhythm and flow, 39 Days – A Road Trip was a bold experiment; a musical expedition through Europe and Northern Africa in the late summer heat.
When hip hop band Jamie, David, Max and Hanno threw their luggage, equipment and hopes into the trunk of their black Defender jeep on August 1, they weren’t sure if their goal could be reached in time. They had 39 days to travel from Berlin to Casablanca and no money. They had to cross seven countries earning their keep through staging rap shows, selling their homemade CD, Scattered Colours On A Rubiks Cube, and their own T-shirts.
They drove a total of 7,870km, sold 300 CDs (and gave away another 70) and 200 T-shirts (and gave away 50 freebies), they jammed and recorded with local underground musicians on the way, making stops in great European capitals like Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, and Lisbon. They also gave little gigs, playing free rap shows on the streets and in cafés.
At the end, a road weary but happy Jamie a.k.a. Jolly Jay, said: "We had no plan – so, if we could do it, ANYONE can!“
So which city was the hardest to get by, financially and artistically? ”Without a second thought, Madrid,“ says Max, “I had trouble breathing because it was so hot (48°C), the whole city seemed died out with the exception of the police, who were on our backs constantly!“
In Barcelona, angry neighbours threw bricks at them from the fourth floor of a La Rambla building. One brick missed the crew only by inches and destroyed the group’s laptop.
"The people in Nice and Cannes related the least to our music and project, “ recalls Hanno. But at least the lasds saw Michael Caine drive by in a limousine, broke into an abandoned villa and spent a sunny afternoon on the very welcome and refreshing sea.
But it wasn't all about mixing with the glitterati, they also had to rough it, sleeping on on top of the Defender. And they made many friends along the way, in the parisien neighbourhood of Stalingrad, they made new friends, met old ones, worked on new songs and promoted their album. They had days in the French mountains near the Swiss border and nights at the beach.
Finally they arrived in Africa, the spitirual homeland of hip hop where members of Casablanca's thriving underground scene welcomed them as kindred spirits.
They threw a block party for the 39 days crew with friends the boys made and met on previous trips to Morocco, like Amine Bendriouich, Bizz2Risk and Flip & Flow. David, their fourth member, who had to leave the excursion halfway following his heart to Lausanne, where his girlfriend lives, would have been proud of them.
Now that the 39 days are up, the boys now know what fuelled their trip: the love of music and an undeniable hunger for adventure. 39 Days was a unique experience, and one that will stay with each of the guys and everybody who shared their journey.
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