N.A.S.A

Now and still after. Yo, 4rm dat title alone 1 shud be able to c the level of depth these emcees have come up with. Now and still after is a mixtape that has been in the market since mid 2008, fortunately I managed to get my hands this year after having asked around for sol long. Love gained from havin have attained this album, twas worth every cent my Nig.

Most songs are produced by Intro and Mo Catalyst, 2 Vaal natives. As matter of fact this is actually a Vaal Triangle project. Apart from a few tracks most songs are from cats from the Vaal. Beatiful music it is, from the intro done by simple humming 4rm Tshwarelo.  6Feet’s wake up is a track directed @ da true lovers of Hip Hop, sayin it right with lines lyk “ It’s about quitin school/ doin drugs, n admittin u lazy.” The Rhyme Slayer Mr Golden Shovel also has an appearance on this Mixtape with a track called “Divine Fury,” this rhymesmith is never short of punchlines.

A track dat also caught my attention was Poltageist’s “Live on stage,” whereby the dude just lays out the picture of being on stage and enjoyin the vibe (only emces wud truly kno da feeling). Having heard the crew Baleloko perform @ the One 2 album launch 1 was not impressed but I might have to change my views on the crew, maybe they had their bad days on dat day. Baleloko’s track “Baleloko” has an unexpected twist in the mid. What they hav done is not completely new to Hip Hop but I gosta say it was executed beautifully, with both emcees delivering perfectly.

Naked Eye the 1 half of One 2 gives us a beautifully constructed track with phase change alongside Tshwarelo. Truly his love for the art has increased a thousand fold as he asys in the track. The Germ to ther album has to be Tongogara a.k.a Battlecat’s speech. Nig be uttering truth as he tells us dat Love is the basis of all dat is, 4 Now And Still Afta.  Nthabi also lends a rap on the track “Life on the Coluorline” The last track on the album, Mothipa’s “cure for the pain” is a climax to an ever enticing album, n ya’ll know Mothipa for being the ever laid back hard spitter he is.

There are not a lot of disappointments on the album but for X-rate’s Mic Check, mediocre track 4rm the talented emcee and the track by the East Rand natives Sake of Skill. Other tracks dat stand out have to be Mo Catalyst’s “8 days in a week,” 6 Feet & Red Antz’s “finders of lost children,” and the combination of Reason, Golden Shovel  and Mo Catalyst’s on “The Streets” One other Killa track has to be Wizardry’s Celebration. Wizardry discusses the struggle apartheid and how the “now” rich politicians r 4getin dat the sacrifice was not by them only, sad realities. Buy this album. 

Luv Ur Hood

Twas the 25th of September. Yeah homie I still rememba twas not dat long ago. 4 weeks back we had the 2^nd quarterly Luv Ur Hood hip hop session. Was a banger of an event if I must say. Shit, the movement began last year August and it seems to be goin on strong given dat more emcees r showin up to flex their skills. Beautiful youth of Shatale came through in their masses and showed us their love.

Held @ Ga- Kabila car wash Shatale, da session saw a few new emcees breakin their virginity in Shatale. We had these 2 cats that came as far as G-town (Graskop) throwing Swag type rhymes. So much love from the G-twn yung uns. We had our regular emcees rippin the MIC; Masta H lepulana as usual started of the show with his laid back Anthem. We had da conceptual Mr A from Majembeni hit us with his hard rhymes before Vulga G n his Crew serenaded the crowd with their Swati infused songs. Mad work from the brothers.

De ever magnificent Mr Do let the ppl know dat Bushbuckridge is his turf as he hit the masses with freestyle after freestyle before he calmed us down with his “re thoma go yekwa.” Skill in abundance from this young man also hailing from Majembeni, sadly not every ear gets to hear the stories told by these Ghetto fellows.  We had our resident dancers (Grand Hustlers 4rm Shatale) still craving for a battle. The B-Boys 4rm Majembeni tried their luck in challenging the Shatale crew. It was sad how the B-Boyz were slayed, but so-so it was worth a try.  As the day progressed we had H-lay flowing effortlessly on a random beat, as well as Kfbee who is a Shatale native. Black Pearl the only female emcees we have at these sessions also entered the stage to the excitement of the ladies who came in support.

Afta having had an article published on Hype magazine, a crew 4rm Nelspruit (One room Entertainment) read a bit about our movement and they decided dey wud also hit our stage. Sadly due to distance they only managed to get through to da sessions late. The climax of the day was when a random (wana try my luck) emcee decided to battle Mr Do. The battle left everybody in jitters as Mr do ripped the random emcee.

Twas a lovely day overall masked by a few glitches there n ther, The sound has been giving us problems ever since day 1, hoping to better it next time. Till the next session all we gota say is Luv Ur Hood G.

TEN REASONS Y U SHUD PAY ATTENTION 2 MZANSI HIP HOP

a. Da diversity & the authenticity of our diff language makes it all original, unique and 100% Mzansi stylee

b. We’ve got a rich political history and deep cultural background to draw inspiration from.

c. Like our 16yrs democracy, we still new in the game but we making mad waves like tsunami is back again

d. Our country, nation, economy, sports is as developing as the culture of our music and the world eyez are on us

e. We’ve got lyricist dat makes the content and the poetry in the music as pure, original and rich, which makes it hard for the world to ignore

f. We are the ultimate prodigal son behind kwaito and bubble gum

g. This Hip Hop got hammered, beefed and slaughtered form parents, pastors and kwaito fanatics but cats stood their ground until they made the circle bigger

h. It is the next element to the black empowerment strategy without government or Cosatu’s back up

i. Remember Bob & Doc’s ‘get funky’, dats how far we came

j. …and the tenth reason y u shud pay attention to Mzansi Hip Hop is bcuz we(theplatform2.blogspot.com) in it