That's What I Said…
When one of our witty music loving journo’s gets a bee in their bonnet, they celebrate by giving us a feel in words, on the very topic plaguing their Dance floor and Party thoughts.
Opinion Piece: The Kidz are alright
Last modified on 2011-11-24 12:19:17 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Authenticity VS The need for Purism and the chin strokers’ desire to be more legit than anybody else.
Picture yourself strolling aimlessly down a nameless South African street. Your headphones booming relentlessly, your mood inexplicably optimistic and the spring in your step noticeable for all to see. Without warning you’re suddenly plucked from your trance by a nearby fracas of rumbling spit shot at light speed, topped by a furious smattering of disjointed rhyme. Intrigued, you turn to see a rap battle in progress. One of the competitors, draped in Tokyo city neon and accompanying skinnies, waxes on about sports cars and “swag“.
The other, shrouded in baggy exterior and khaki familiars, spouts righteous inner-city observations with antiquated finesse. His dusty fingers a clear mark of crate-digging through the classics. After some back and forth the latter begins to appear agitated, visibly nauseated to his core. He spews, “Nah dawg, you’re just another imitation, it’s all material with you. You’re not real.” and makes off shaking his head down the street. The other would-be shrugs and takes his blindingly flashy figure up the opposite end of the same street.
And you’re left thinking, “What?” but don’t feel bad, so is everybody else out there with more than just a passing interest in local rap. What you’ve witnessed is the gnarled, corroded head of hip-hop elitism presenting itself wherever so much as a couplet is uttered in this country. All too predictably a rift has formed between disgruntled puritans (aka heads) and the burgeoning influx of bright young things (aka what heads call hipsters) oft obsessed with the monetary gain and lifestyle associated with “making it”. A foolish schism that could either threaten the authenticity of a future South African sound, or, fingers crossed, spur that same sound on in gallant abundance.
In an age where practically everybody’s next of kin has rap ambitions and unprecedented access to recording apparatus, it’s not exactly a surprise that we’ve got more local emcees than ever before. A quick perusal of Soundcloud or the ReverbNation charts will affirm this. It’s also no shock that “more” doesn’t automatically equate to good. Yet instead of encouraging and guiding these fresh-faced upstarts, the lingering old guard of the scene seem only willing to dismiss them as dim-witted replicas of everything they hate about rap. Petty nothings like “Yoh, what’s with the accent?” or “How many times are you going to say ‘yeah’, choma?” do nothing to raise the bar of quality. If the americanisms are the real problem here, let all heads be reminded that rap, in the form we know it as today, is about as American as apple pie.
Let’s move away from the stagnant idea that every local rapper is going to, and should sound like, Prophets of Da City or Brasse Vannie Kaap. These kids have not grown up on Godessa or Mood Phase Five. They’ve had their ears dedicatedly cast, from an early age, to the likes of Big L, Biggie, Jay Z and Lil Wayne. Their lyrics are punch-line driven, lurid displays mirroring the consumer society they live in. Sure, many of them may not even have heard of Hymphatic Thabs, Gin-I-Grindeth or Knoffel Bruin, but does that mean they should be chastised for what they produce? In a word, no. Why? Well, because they’ll learn nothing from it. The future of South African rap can be quite rosy if we allow it to be, and heads can feel reassured by the fact that anybody who’s only in it for image or status won’t be around in two years. Like you didn’t already know that.
Obvious critique aside, the onus should be on what the new breed are doing right. The direction some of them are taking is genuinely fresh. Case in point: Voicetag - A Cape Town trio intent on shattering staple rap commonalities with their vibrant fusion of spoken word poetry fused with flamboyant forays into the hitherto unexplored regions of grime and glitch. Joburg’s Dirty Paraffin offer us a further glimpse into the good being done, raps drenched in comedic lethargy over sumptuous dance floor-blitzing synths which result in the kind of fun the local scene’s been missing.
Die Antwoord‘s exploitative, juvenile portrayal of their interpretation of stock Cape Coloured tropes, suffused with distinct rave sensibilities, is another example of this. Like it or not, Ninja and Yo-landi, while hardly newbies, are emblematic of the now possible universal success that fuels the every breath of many aspiring local emcees. Whether or not that makes the overblown playground grit and grime of their aesthetic worth a listen is purely down to taste (ahem) but what is undeniable is that they’re a sure step in the right direction.
The authenticity the scene is craving for will take time. We’re going to have to keep our eardrums clear and our eyes peeled and wait for the undesirables to disappear before we can truly treasure what remains. But don’t fret, because after long centuries of cave paintings did we not have Basquiat? Progress is underway. Live and let learn, people.
WORDS: Jayson Geland
Opinion Piece: The Modern Day Video/ Party Girl & The Booty Saga
Last modified on 2011-11-15 12:33:49 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
To Booty or not to Booty?
I could delve deep enough to try to understand who’s digging what and whether or not the plight of the modern day party girl is now superbly weighed-up with the necessity of a bountiful booty. Yet just a quick look at the surface tells a rich enough story begging to be shared. I draw comparisons between genre base and look at what sort of dance movements are offered up for the opposing videos.
Hip Hop videos complete with liquor endorsement, rented cars and smoke sees your biracial femmy – all out butt injected 40 inch booty slow-motion moving along with what I have come to call, the jiggle gyrate. Enough to make you turn your head around, look back at yours and go huh? Flipping over a few channels to Dancehall ensembles we have none other than Jamaican tan bodies in pum-pum shorts. Pushing limits of some of the most muscle and limb flexibility tests of groove movements possibly ever tried by any chick.
I’m surfing video channels and scrolling what’s on offer on You-Tube; checking out the array of music videos us party girls copy/inherit/ re-invent our moves from and September’s “You’ll never see me again” pops up.
All out black pleather leotard donned Kylie Minogue inspired army dancer style video. Two-moves – that’s a half circular motion on both sides with her tiny little hips and a lot of arm swaying that holds little to no interpretation of the fact that he is never gonna see her again.
With reference to the Hip Hop 40 inch generosity, September’s 20 inches don’t even come close to banging as much. A for effort though, because she seems to be giving it her all, what with the random ass grab POV shot every now and then. So Kudos.
The truth now in modern trends, very realistically speaking is that most dance movements revolve around how good you are shaking that ass. The curvier the better, but alas – and I’m sure all home boys, DJs, MC’s, b-boys and lead singers will agree – plenty points go to the lady who knows how to work with what she has been blessed with.
Feminists need not stay guarded. The celebration of the female form in it’s most natural state is all that’s being displayed here. You can decide, personally for yourself just how much you are going to let the size of your behind define you.
So, if you see me on the floor and you are willing, please come over and teach me a new move or two!
I thought I would slip in this music video, you know… just for effect. For the most part I found it unbelievably hysterical.
WORDS: Mary Honeychild
Die Antwoord leaves Interscope
Last modified on 2011-11-11 11:14:19 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Poor Ninja and Yo-Landi are all by their lonesome again, having ditched multi-million dollar record company Interscope. Don’t go flexing your worry-muscles though. All by their lonesome – dreaming up controversy, upside-down beats, and heart-attack inducing rhymes – is where they’re at their rosiest.
According to Die Antwoord’s online diary: “So anyway… Interscope offered us a bunch of money again to release our new album Tension, but this time they also tried to get involved with our music, to try and make us sound like everyone else out there at the moment. So we said: ‘You know what, rather hang on to your money, buy yourself something nice… we gonna do our own thing. Bye bye.’”
The news that Die Antwoord have axed their carefully selected record company, and in such a public, finger-in-the-face kinda way, after barely having started their contract, left many folk scratching their noggins in confusion on Monday. Here’s this rather new outfit, still all delicate and fresher-than-thou, who by some cosmic hiccup become a viral hit and land the South African Musician’s Jackpot – a really real contract with a respected, edgy, really real AMERICAN RECORD COMPANY – and they go and flush it down the tube coz’ they wanna be able to swear more??!!
Well, not really…
A Brief history of Rhyme
Those who only got word of Watkin Tudor Jones (aka Ninja) via the hyper-downloaded Die Antwoord music vids, are forgiven for taking Die Antwoord at face value. Newish Hip-Hop freak act dreamt up in puffs of Tic and Ganja in the abysmal scapes of the Cape Flats, who tripped onto fame, and, like fish hitchhiking on Route 66, are a wee bit out of their depth. Not much could be further from the truth.
A wee motley crue of Waddy devotees have been following the one-man-army ever since his genius became audible, bubbling through Max Normal‘s freshly squeezed whiteboy funk. When Waddy casually imploded that outfit after a single album (in what would become his standard modus operandi), these same fans started sniffing into the past for other traces of the then-still hugely unknown freakboy. Traces were found all the way back to ye ol’ Nineties one hit wonder The Original Evergreen, and their highly unfortunate hit ‘Puff The Magic and Drag-On’ (geddit?), after which he pops up at random delivering inspired free-scat cameos for the likes of jazz pianist Paul Hanmer’s Unofficial Language and elsewhere.
But the real, wackedy wack goodness only started happening after Max Normal’s surprise demise. Like a box of firecrackers going off all over the timespace continuum, Waddy could be seen snapping projects into and out of existence like he was playing Schroedinger’s Cat: A line of creepily gorgeous fluffy toys launched at the Bell Roberts Art gallery; darkly hip music videos for unheard-of hits; a bizarre cartoon TV-series; the overblown majesty of The Constructus Corporation [unleashed in the form of hitherto unseen multi-media yumness: Hardcover book/CD/Graphic Novel (feat. Nikhil Singh)/Extraterrestrial Hip-Hop script/portal to several other dimensions - all in one, mum], sommer launching the careers of latterday Sibot and Markus Wormstorm while he was at it. Thusly Constructus was disbanded and The Fantastic Kill born (an outright masterpiece of an album followed, arguably launching the career of Spoek Mathambo). Thusly Fantastic Kill was quietly put to sleep to make way for the confusingly named MaxNormalTV, and on, and on.
What fascinates is not that Die Antwoord were signed to a big label overseas; what fascinates is that Waddy could (seem to) commit to sustaining a project for longer than the requisite debut spectacle. Hell I was surprised he could sign his entire signature on the contract before announcing Die Antwoord a sick and twisted fad and unveiling HeliumNasty, his latest (fictional) venture.
One thing’s for sure, good ol’ Waddy never left. Again. Zef speed ahead!
**Keep your eyes and tentacles peeled for new album ‘TEN$ION‘ due out through Die Antwoord’s newly launched independent label ZEF RECORDZ.
WORDS: Mickdotcom
Opinion Piece: It All Began With The Drum
Last modified on 2011-11-01 12:00:21 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
It all began with the drum. Allow me to get a little poetic on you, for the sake of telling a story…
So without intending to dredge up the ugly past or lay the guilt trip, I’m going to dip into a little bit of our history in order to aid my point. The unlucky victims of the slave trade who ended up toiling in the fields in America played drums of all shapes and sizes in the tradition of both eastern and western Africans. With the songs of lament they sang together, alone, or in call-response patterns, slaves improvised, altered, and embellished, creating sounds rich in tone and texture.
The steady evolution of these African spiritual songs in the America’s spawned such popular genres of music as jazz, rhythm & blues, gospel music and soul and samba. A mixture of these elements, in 1960′s and 70′s New York and Philadelphia, was fused into Disco, a musical genre that would lay the foundations for and later give way to different advents of the development of House music.
South Africa embraced this radical new form of dance music with both arms, quickly becoming one of the biggest consumers of House music in the world. Our love affair with house has not been one sided though. Over the past couple of years, South African producers have begun to export their unique take on house music. We’ve slowly turned the tide into a two way flow of creative expression; remixes and collaborations abound, and not a few of our talented young producers have been signed to established overseas labels; some of those labels going as far as to found their own local imprints, Ocha Mzansi being an example. The global house music community is now peeping toward South Africa to spark the next stage in the evolution of house music. You can agree with me or not.
There’s just something undeniable about the appeal of our unique sound, whether you choose to refer to it as Afro-deep, Afro-tech, Tribal, Ancestral, whatever; there are raw drum and synth elements in the sound that seem to strike at the heart of house music lovers in places as far apart Japan and America, winning the love and support of listeners all across Europe as well.
The passion of our youth for house music, and the amount of work being put in by – for lack of a better term ‘back room’ producers as well as those in professional studios has seen the quality of local productions rise almost exponentially over the last three of four years; it’s now scarcely possible to distinguish between the two solely on technical grounds.
With reference to the old corny term and yeah, I’m going to say it… Local could indeed be lekker?
You have probably noticed that more and more foreign DJs and producers are touring SA to promote their latest releases, Ralf GUM was so impressed with the local scene that he decided to immigrate here. There’s just a massive appreciation for house that isn’t fond anywhere else in the world, and that’s what’s building the momentum of sound we’re crafting and refining on a constant basis.
These are exciting times, as Morpheus quotes in that memorable scene from the Matrix. The future of house music, if comments from legendary producers like Louie Vega are anything to go by, is definitely in South Africa. The beat of the drum, it seems, has started to come full circle. Lelele.
WORDS: Nathan Kabingesi
The 2011 DJ Mag top 100 Results
Last modified on 2011-10-25 09:47:27 GMT. 1 comment. Top.
“My guess is that if the DJ Mag top 100 Poll is of utmost importance to you ,then I am also assuming your choice of top DJ’s was pretty accurate.”
So the famous or infamous DJ Mag Top 100 Poll results were announced last week. With Many satisfied, many unconcerned and many in shock as David Guetta walked away with the tag of No 1 DJ in the World.1 place up from last year and Armin Van Buuren drops to 2nd. Their positioning in the top 100 rankings other than competitive popularity, merely decides your booking fee price.
NOTE, it is not called “The Best 100 DJ Poll” Top 100 is based purely on popularity through worldwide votes by anyone , Not on technical ability,Not on most innovative and Not on downloads or sales. DJ Mag Top 100 is more aimed at the mainstream followers. I personally and I speak for the Tech house, Minimal & Techno lovers swear by the Resident Advisor Poll as a more accurate or genuine Top 100,but tech house and the techno movement has gathered steam in the past years and it is still a popularity contest. I said it.
DJ’s like Ricardo Villalobos and Richie Hawtin who are ranked No1 and No 2 in the Resident Advisor top 100 poll, would not stand a chance against the likes of Tiesto and Armin Van Buuren who get more votes themselves than the whole of Resident advisors to 100. None of the DJ Mag’s top 45 feature in the Resident Advisor Top 100.
A thumbs up must go to S.A though as we have definitely been put on the map with 6 of the current Top 10 having been to SA in the past year, without mentioning the “lack of a better name” Deadmau5 who took 4th place. What we can take from the results is with David Guetta taking the top spot shows that house is slowly gaining more popularity than trance.
My guess is that if the DJ Mag top 100 Poll is of utmost importance to you ,then I am also assuming your choice of top DJ’s was pretty accurate.
A lot of cries for why are none of the best “underground” DJ’s in top 100.To be honest if I saw some of my favourite Producers in the top 20 it would break my heart.which is why if you have a big love or understanding of the underground music scene,then not seeing your favourites on the DJ Mag Poll is the beauty of the exclusive underground Artist’s When these popular big names are filling arena’s of 20 000 people there are probably 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 unknown DJ’s playing to a maximum of 100 people just around the corner and they are probably delivering music that will blow your mind ,or change your mind or quite possibly your life.Yep.
So congratulations to David Guetta No 1 voted DJ in the world (Applause), who has sold millions of albums and has about 20 or 30 thousand worldwide fans. Can’t fault him as he is living his dream and picking up some of the most prestigious accolades on the way.
I now look forward to the Resident Advisor Top 100 results to be announced, and I bet there won’t be too many unhappy music lovers.
WORDS: Dev Weitz
Opinion Piece: The Sincerest Form of Flattery – A South African Hip Hop Story
Last modified on 2011-10-25 11:01:59 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
I am no politician but even I have heard that South Africa is experiencing what analysts have called a leadership vacuum. And I am no musician but again, my ears have reliably informed me that there is a gaping hole in the CD rack where quality local Hip Hop ought to be.
Already I see brows furrowing under the flat peaks of Ama KipKip caps. Some heads may disagree but when I talk of quality local Hip Hop, I am not talking about the imitative crap that would not exist had MTV Base not introduced us to T-Pain and the autotune revolution.
When I talk of quality local Hip Hop, I am not talking about the dreadlocked posers who owe their style, swag, and dress sense to Lil Wayne.
What is missing in our music is truth, originality, self-confidence.
Where, oh where is the Sowetan Mos Def, the Common of the Cape, or the Redman from Rustenburg? Where are those self-accepting musicians who are proud and brave enough to shout out of their backyards in a voice that can be said to be their own?
I know they’re not in the mainstream where the bathers are begging, biting and borrowing in between breaths, stupidly trying to swim overseas. Why drown in foreign waters when you could stand, proudly, on African sand?
Just because you are slapping the asses of UJ strumpets, posing in front of rented Audi A4s, bragging, boasting and stringing together Dr Seuss similes in vernac, it does not make what you are doing proudly South African.
It is a derivative we have seen before. You are just doing it in a language that those of us who did not go to private schools can understand.
Gordimer and Coetzee are Nobel Laureates for literature, Tutu and Mandela for peace, but in the time of Juju and JZ, one can see that it is going to be a very long time before another South African is awarded a Nobel Prize for political savvy.
The same directionless hopelessness pervades the local Hip Hop industry which is why we will, in all probability, fail to produce any authentically South African artists of international acclaim.
Hats off to AKA, in terms of quality, there really is no separating his sound from the very best international acts doing it right now, but in terms of offering the world the musical equivalent of a hot bowl of bobotie, no act is repping like Die Antwoord, and it is just such an unashamedly South African identity that is missing from most of our Hip Hop.
HHP [Hip Hop Pantsula] has, and will continue to do his thing but it is a shame that more artists are not following his example.
I guess the question that remains at the bottom of the kettle when all the water has evaporated is: while we are busy trying to be others, who do we leave it to, to be ourselves?
WORDS: Lumumba Mthembu
Opinion Piece: The Hustle of a Rookie DJ
Last modified on 2011-10-24 12:05:37 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
“The industry‘s interaction with rookies is like a girl’s interaction with the guy standing at the bar: They want you to seduce them with your skills. If their friends don’t feel you, they won’t run the risk of standing up for you by themselves.”
He grabs his CD case and sets up while the lights in the club are still on. He orders a drink, chats to the bar ladies and heads over to the box to start his set.
As he heads back, I ask him if he’s getting paid. “Yeah, some kind of compensation helps, but either way, I always want to play. Johannesburg is more forgiving when it comes to giving us cash, but my hustle in Durban was exactly that, a hustle.”
I know a deejay that conceptualized a track in the morning, recorded it in the afternoon and mastered it before midnight every Wednesday. He would upload the link onto twitter and within minutes, he had hundreds of people downloading it. Each week brought in better numbers and then it just faded. I asked him why he stopped and he said “I spend so much of my time trying to hustle, to get my sound and talent out there, but I can’t keep doing it for free. I have bills to pay and upgrading equipment doesn’t come cheap.”
His dedication to the industry was admirable, but the instinct of survival always seems to prevail over passion.
The industry‘s interaction with rookies is like a girl’s interaction with the guy standing at the bar: They want you to seduce them with your skills. If their friends don’t feel you, they won’t run the risk of standing up for you by themselves. The more other girls respond to you, the more they want you. And once you have gone through all the trouble to impress them, they hug you, give you a kiss if you’re lucky and then leave you to do something else that will make you interesting again.
It’s a fickle industry, but one that is so important. Music carries a message of personal identity and it’s connected to friends and happiness. These are things every human craves. 
The Deejays that stand out are deejays who not only play commercial music, but music that is relevant and in sync with the crowd’s vibe. Feeling the personality and spunk of the deejay himself is like getting a glimpse of his heart. He starts his set and the skin breaks free to allow us into that cavity and the next thing we know, we are dancing to the beat of his soul.
What I have learnt is: for every commercial deejay playing at a gig for 20 grand, there are 5 underground deejays filling clubs downtown, playing for cab money.
The brave and ambitious proceed to hustle, regardless of how many early sets they get. The dance floor is empty but his love for the art fills the space. He might not have a following of 50 000 on twitter, but that doesn’t make him any less of a deejay.
South Africa’s music scene has evolved. There is a refreshing sound in the airwaves, but it could be better. I love it when rookies no longer have to hide under the word “underground”. When a deejay is celebrated because he understands the crowd, regardless of his commercial status. That’s the essence of music after all: bringing different people together for the same feeling.
WORDS: Star Khulu
Opinion Piece: Dance Music VS Live Music
Last modified on 2011-10-20 12:43:35 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Pop idol Gloria Gaynor (you know, the lady who sang the ever famous ‘I will survive’) once said: “There’s nothing to compare to live music, there just isn’t.”
But in music as we know it today, that very statement can be questioned. In fact, many Dance Music lovers might even disagree.
The past few years have seen an influx of Dance and Electronic Music. It has become massively popular amongst wide ranges of social and lifestyle groups. From Trance to Dub-step to popular song remixes, Electronic Music knows few bounds. This is great, but what has it done to the Live music industry?
In truth the majority of younger people would sooner pay money to jam the night away to heavy dub-step or dance like no-one’s watching to popular house tunes than to go watch a new band perform live. In my opinion no amount of beats, loops, synthesized sounds or clever mixing and mastering will ever be able to encapsulate the raw quality of live instruments and vocals. But it’s not just that, it is to be able to watch and engage with present, emotional beings getting lost in the music they are creating.
I’ll admit, however, that I am a Dance music lover. Just like live music makes you want to uncontrollably sing along, dance music really does live up to its name. When I hear the sounds of dub-step or the drum beats of drum and bass all I want to do is party the night away- and do it dancing. Whilst I’m not a fan of popular song remixes, you can’t deny the crowd it pulls, and the fun they have dancing and singing along all in one.
One thing must be clear. Just like you get good and bad live performances, you get phenomenal dance music and very, very average dance music too. The art in this kind of music, is not just about slapping sounds together, remixing a popular song or having the ability to mix and master. It is rather about understanding sounds, rhythms, timing and many other smaller details.
Often the DJ’s who are able to render us goosebump-full are those who understand music in all its forms, those who mix, alter and create on the spot. This though, i feel, should be considered to be a completely different genre all together. Dance music from the likes of many popular DJ’s is all pre-recorded and mixed on programs such as Logic.
The magic happens when prerecorded sounds are mixed and altered on stage, creating a new experience for the listener every time. One must consider that this could fall under the definition of what live music is. An artist such as Imogen Heap is considered a live artist but she also pre-records many of the tracks she uses and then alters them on stage. It is in this way that the lines of Dance and Live music are sometimes blurred. That’s just lovely if you ask me.
Other examples of this are the ways in which many live artists have begun mixing live vocals with electronic backing. This is specifically popular overseas with artists such as Lana Del Rey, Niki and the Doves but also with old time favourites like Faithless and Madonna.
Just the same, many artists such as Goodluck, Goldfish, C.9ine, Kid Fonque and Mi casa make use of what Goldfish calls on their fan page “the genre defying mix of live instruments.” Live music will never be extinct. Believe that. There will always be a demand for acoustic sounds and live performances. Trust me when I say that live music devotee’s aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Dance music is an extensively growing genre and so will only continue to do so. Looking on into the future I think one can continue to expect to see the emergence of a new Live/Dance genre. A genre which technically already exists in the performances of both many local and international artists.
In cheesy terms, yes I will even say it for you. Love is a lot like dancing- you just surrender to the music. If music- of any genre, be it Dance or Live music- makes you feel this way… you only have to let your bias go and enjoy.
WORDS: Sarah Robyn
Investigative Piece: A Day in the life of Music Experts/’Corner Lingerers’ & B-Boys on the Cape Flats
Last modified on 2011-11-14 14:01:31 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
“So, can you shuffle?” apparently, in a well known southern suburbs hip-hop hangout, this constitutes for an appropriate ice breaker. Looking at the skinny jeans paired with a blue cardigan and “queen of hearts” T-shirt, I immediately felt out-swaggered by this cool teenager. I wondered two things. Less importantly, why are you out clubbing on a Tuesday evening?
With College and possibly a job, where and why do you fit music/ clubbing into your life? And mainly, if I submitted and actually did master this modified running man, would I immediately be elevated into the obvious hierarchy that exists in the street life/dance scene that is dominating the youth of the Cape flats?
I lingered around the flats for a few days and silently observed the interactions of the locals. There seemed to be two main crowds. The Hip Hop crews, from corner shop notoriety wore their pants low and limped around to songs about “niggers blowing doe and slapping a hoe”, while the “Club” fans could be spotted in Neon colours, with headphones sprouting from their hoodies. But this is just the view of an outsider. I could waste pages on a stereotypical rant, highlighting the clichés of each group. But my journalistic prowess prevailed and I found myself investigating these polar opposites about how music affects their everyday interactions. Was there anything purely local in it?
“Music is my life (he laughs, sarcastically) that’s cliché, but its true … And I won’t do any tracks I don’t believe in, I just want to create music that I can be proud to say ‘yeah I made that’ “says Tarick Joseph, a Sound Design student from kuilsriver. He is a Hip-Hop enthusiast. Tarick says that local artists are not supported enough, and when South Africans do listen to it, it’s not “the right type of hip hop. Its’ not even hip hop, its local cats imitating Americans, I mean come on, shouldn’t we be past that by now?”
So, how does local music impact the streets? About nine of the fifteen kids break dancing on the street corner had Pseudo-American accents, yet all hailed from Plumstead and Fairways.
This was the first time I’d ever been called “Shorty”. I moved between the b-boys while they practiced their Windmills and Banana splits, limbs threatening my face, and I asked each of them one simple question, who is your favorite local artist?
Then the bomb drops, I stand corrected in front of this exclusive crew. “League Of Shadows (from Cape town) and Hymphatic Thabbs” they twang in a dialect that could be pinned to Detroit. But they know they are South Africans!
Apparently the American twang makes the rhymes flow easier, it’s not about imitation, and it’s about perfecting the art, getting the smoothest flow. Ok, I’ll bite. So, we seem to be out on the streets, but are our local artists being recognized in the club scene? I ventured with doubt.
The club is packed. Across the dance floor, just above eye level the deejay, Lorenzo Kapp does his thing. I beckon him for a moment of his time. He is quick, but his point sit with me. People love local music, but to get to clubs, they have to be advertised and already be favorites in other social settings, and that just doesn’t seem to be happening.
South African audiences are so fixated on what’s happening in the states that entering a club feels like a Gangster rap video. I suddenly feel the urge to party like it’s my birthday. I bet nobody would care that it wasn’t. And judging from the Skinny yet (dangerously) low-riding pants, to the (I kid you not) black and yellow bandanas, I’ve obviously stepped into a universe parallel to the low profile b-boy streets. Then the sole South African Song plays, the dance floor clears substantially. And you can’t help but think that putting some faith into our own music could do wonders for so many aspects of our economy, our legacy as a generation, our culture. Because like Lorenzo says, how do we expect the world to support us, when we don’t even support ourselves?
WORDS: Shana Genever
Opinion Piece: Grooving – A story of Nostalgia
Last modified on 2011-10-20 12:46:55 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Grooving – A story of Nostalgia
“I got sunshine in the daylight and moonlight every night, but I’m just grooving, grooving out on life. Yeah I’m just grooving, grooving out on life…” UB40.
This is a track that resonates deep into my soul, my love for music and its roots. Grooving is the chirpy song that tells a story of living your life through the melody and the uncomplicated beauty of it. Unknowingly until now that’s exactly what I have been doing, slipping in the ear phones and travelling down this road from time to time reminds me why I do what I do.
As a little girl I remember dancing at my dad’s feet as he played this song and a few other UB40 classics on early Saturday mornings off of the hi-fi from the tape cassettes. Singing at the top of his rhythmic voice with so much vigour and feeling that it felt like it came straight from his heart, with one hand on his chest and the other waving in mid-air he moved to and fro with closed eyed smiles. I looked up at him and in those moments my passion for this happy thing called music was born. Imitating most of his moves and rambling along in my five year old voice, he looked down and assured me with a wink that he thought I was great.
He always encouraged and inspired in me a love for music that I realise was inherent as we are from the same blood-line. Often he whipped out the guitar and played classics while teaching me to sing along. He beamed with pride and satisfaction as I watched his fingers skim the chords and strum.
Even though my choice in music was only but shaping, my identity in sound was groomed with kick-drums, hi-hats, bass guitars, saxophone and trumpets. All resulting in the deep, Caribbean style bass lines I’m a sucker for today. Whenever I hear a Marimba band, one of them Ol’ School Jazz Man Bands in the waterfront or a dude chilling with an acoustic guitar or from time to time (if you’re lucky) a saxophone, I absolutely have to stop and listen.
The importance here? Very simply, the originality and purity of live instrumental music is a feat we should allow ourselves more in an age where clicking and downloading has become the average music listener’s first choice in the enjoyment of their favourite genre. Few music listeners get to enjoy anymore or often enough the beauty of the genuine experience of live music as it happens. This includes the music producers who are by no means worth any less talent , who choose instead to copy and paste samples when arranging a track. Getting back to the root of your own favourite genre and being creative by implementing the use of various complimentary live instruments when compiling your productions could lend to a very unqiue and interesting experience.
Either way all I’m saying is that applying a little more soul only ever accomplished great things. Whether or not your aim is to get mainstream recognition or success… your aim should be to keep it real in the interim too. It is however only for your own greater good and sanity.
Remembering is an important part of enjoying, appreciating and making music. Nostalgia and euphoria is the pull behind what our ears take in and send to our brains, releasing the happy hormones that take our minds and bodies back to the place that reminds us of that song.
So that in the end we keep on grooving, keep on moving and never forget those moments that hinted at the start of your affair with music. In many ways you could be surprised at the influence it still has on your daily life.
WORDS: Mary Honeychild
Aurgus Dubstep Straddling Clubland like a Behemoth
Last modified on 2011-06-23 12:30:50 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
I’m sad that Dubstep seems to have exited the underground scene as hastily as it arrived. It must have been 2009, I was a liberal-minded, drug-taking student who had recently stumbled upon an alternative to the mainstream: a place called ‘The Tunnels’ (Grahamstown) where there were no holds barred.
It was situated on a farm just outside of town and the partying took place in a disused kiln. That should give you an idea of the kind of open-air drug market that flourished around us and as for pleasure of the acoustic kind, let it suffice to say that there is no better way of amplifying bass-heavy music than by playing it at full-blast in a place that was used to bake bricks.
Skreecha – Caspa and Rusko mix by Skreecha
So there I am in a pleasantly altered state of mind, looking to intoxicate myself further when a nondescript Caucasian chap in a skullcap ascends to the DJ’s deck. He’s wearing one of those ironic Ts, his says Dubstep: I like the part that goes womp womp womp womp womp. I don’t get it. I don’t know what Dubstep is, which is when I am told that this nondescript bloke is from Cape Town and he has come to bless us with unfamiliar coastal sounds.
The bass tore through my shirt and began to pound a relentless fist against my chest. My body moved at a staggered pace, and it was a while before I realized that it was not without a certain swagger. My heart, my lungs, every natural rhythm was hijacked by the bassline. Pretty young things seemed to bounce toward me like coins on a subwoofer. I couldn’t make out their faces though, which is when I smiled. My introduction to Dubstep was complete.
caspa/rusko dubstep mix by toby_marks
I’ll tell you why I love Dubstep and why I am a tad mad that it is being ushered out of student drug circles. Having been indoctrinated into the false belief that one can only ‘gedlemba’ to the high-tempos of house and dance music, I was relieved to come across party music I didn’t have to sweat to. Secondly, I doubt there is better music to trip to, whatever you’re on.
I’m certainly not the first to have made positive associations between a hair-raising student past and the sounds that were themes to good times but my association with Dubstep is an enduring one and I would hate to be the last adventurous black boy to shatter stereotypes and social conventions to the earth-shaking sounds of Caspa, Mojo, Rusko or Reso.
Not to say that there isn’t an over-abundance of urban black youth that is looking for an alternative to Black Coffee (no disrespect), I’m sure I’m not the only one so screw the television commercials, take a trip to an open-air festival in a backwater town of your choosing if you find that you are black, still under 25, and think that Dubstep is a dance they do in Jamaica. I’ve negotiated with the student Gods of hedonism on all our behalf. They will not take Dubstep away from us yet.
WORDS: Lumumba Mthembu
