The UAE’s most popular streetwear festival is set to return. After a hugely successful 2022, Sole DXB is set to return to Dubai from December 8 to 10.
The team has also teased on their Instagram that this will be the region’s official celebration of Hip Hop 50 with Mass Appeal. What does that mean exactly? This is being declared the 50th anniversary of hip hop, so expect a huge focus on that legacy this year, and hopefully some big names from the annals of the artform to come.
Who could be making a stop in Dubai? Well, we’ll leave it to you to speculate.
Ok no, we’ll do some speculating too.
Perhaps another Wu Tang Clan reunion? Nas? Jay-Z? Q-Tip? Erik B & Rakim? Perhaps Kanye will have rehabilitated his image by then and we can even pull our Yeezys out of the closet? The possibilities are endless.
In the mean time, here are some of our favourite photos from 2022, taken by the acclaimed friend of the brand Aqib Anwar.
What is Sole DXB?
The celebration started out as a niche gathering of like-minded people embedded in the then-budding sneaker culture of Dubai in February 2011. Sole DXB was founded in 2010 by Hussain Moloobhoy, Joshua Cox, Kris Balerite, and Rajat Malhotra. The first Sole DXB event was classified as a “sneaker summit” at thejamjar, a warehouse art gallery in Dubai’s Al Quoz area. Like the city that plays host to it, Sole expanded dramatically – exploring a slew of conceptual inspirations, transcending borders in its representation of artists and their creations. As Dubai has acted as a melting pot of nationalities, cultures, and values, Sole has followed suit.
Melding music, fashion, visual arts, and sports, Sole is a celebration of the creative underground of the region, often not given the global recognition it deserves. In a world of Dubai Blings, Sole DXB is the antidote. The counter-narrative. This mission is reflected in the musical line-up, performing alongside the headliners are regional talents many residents have been following from their humble beginnings. Artists across genres hailing from the UAE, Kuwait, KSA, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt and beyond.
See you there!