Thursday night at the National Eisteddfod in Swansea will see a celebration of Welsh hip-hop music as revolutionary band, Llwybr Llaethog, perform a special set in Barons nightclub to celebrate 20 years since they released the first Welsh rap material.

Exactly 20 years ago the first Welsh hip-hop track was released as part of "Dull Di-drais" cassette – a joint-project with the Welsh Language Society and Anhrefn Records. The cassette was released to support Ffred Ffransis, who had been imprisoned as part of the Welsh education campaign at the time. A special launch was organised outside the prison in Preston with the music played over aloudspeaker. A limited number of 200 copies were produced and sold out within a fortnight.The material was totally different to anything else seen in Welsh before and has encouraged a great number of musicians to experiment with rap and hip-hop to create the exciting scene which exists at the moment. Amongst those who have developed the scene since are the Tystion, Skep, MC Mabon, Pep le Pew, MC Saizmundo, Cofi Bach a Tew Shady and Kenavo to name but a few.Toni Schiavone was chairman of the Welsh Language Society at the time, he commented:"Llwybr Llaethog were one of those undergroud bands who didn’t get much attention at the time, and the Society was keen to support that sort of band at the time. It felt right to combine with this experiment of Welsh rap."The close relationship between Llwybr Llaethog and the Welsh Language Society will continue with this celebration, firstly as it is part of their gig lineups for the Eisteddfod week, but also as the present chairman, Steffan Cravos, who is one of the most popular rapers at the moment, will be joining them on stage. Steffan, who is well known by his alter-ego, MC Sleifar, said:"When I heard the record for the 1st time, it inspired me to make hip-hop music and carry on the great work that they started. It's a pioneering record, that still sounds fresh today. I look forward to being a part of this special celebration."The night will take place at the Barons Nightclub in the middle of Swansea on Thursday the 10th of August. Also performing will be Radio Luxembourg, Jakokoyak, Bob and Derwyddon Dr Gonzo.