TRUE LYRICAL GENIUS

It surely is music from his good eye, the solo album from the Poet/MC
Tumi from the band The Volume. Tumi has been in the game long enough to b hailed as a legendary Genius. This 12 tracks album has displayed the skillz that this brother possesses to the outermost level. This album may as well have been titled Music from the good South. True genius is what this brother displays on this album. Word is that this brother is makin a lot of waves in the distant countries, it's funny, really funny. Of course we will still have the same scenario in years to come. It is said that a prophet is hated most in his own land.
The title track “music from my good eye” starts up the Tumi rollercoaster on a high note. It’s a laid back jazzy track that gives Tumi the perfect podium for his delivery, because this cat hails from live performances.
Tumi hooks up with K.G of Morafe on the track “Bophelo bame” that may as well b the freshest track on the album. These dudes managed to fuse impeccable English rhymes with a Setswana hook. Now if everybody would just learn from this track our music will cross borders faster than the Zims hit ours. He hooks up with the inconspicuous Ngwenya on the track “The now rich.” The last time 1 heard from this brother was on the Expressions Mixtape. Tumi says, “Black, gifted, young perverted and high, the now rich wanna purchase the sky,” as he laments about the ills that come with being rich and getting lost in ur riches.
“Maria” a ballad to our sisters on the street corners, in the kitchens in the churches puts an edge to the album with its catchy hook. “I came home” sees Tumi work with BLK Sunshine. On the track he deals with the issues that affect Africans as a whole, black on black hatred, injustice, segregation.
Other tracks to look 4 are “What they want” and the track “Blink twice” featuring Zaki Ibrahim. The appearance of Arno Castern may have been a marketing strategy to white Mzantsi but the track is somewhat disappointing. He features another white boy “R.J Benjamin” on the track “This is not love’ but that 2 failed to be at the standard of his other tracks. He should think twice b4 workin with another white boy.
This is an album that has a lot of punch, and it is hard to find an album that carries its own weight, but Tumi has managed just that. The brother with weight transferred his weight to his music. Now that’s how u make music.

Cat – guy Mzantsi – South Africa

Khutso

DJ LEMONKA'S LANDMARK

Mixtapes keep on flowing out from the hip hop industry and yet again another one hits our airwaves. DJ Lemonka presents a mixtape of a different level. A Setswana and sesotho concoction to make one bend over worse than African brews.
This mixtape has got motswako royalty written all ova it. Tuks, HHP, Khuli, Towdee and the new kid named Zeus who is rocking the airwaves with his banger ‘Gijima ntwana.’ Motswako – the mixture.
One picked up 4 different languages in this album and I have to say these MC’s make it seem as if Setswana, Afrikaans, Zulu, Sesotho and English is one language. Maybe opening the archives of languages will show that Setswana is a distant cousin to the Queen’s taal. Topic for another day perhaps.
Mo’Molemi has come through with a track that takes jabs at the police force. On the track ‘10111’ this often controversial rapper addresses the work that is being done by the cops. Police brutality, yep, it happens in South Africa ask a friend of yours from out of the country. It’s good to hear that the Ba4za affiliate Hakeem can kick in the Setswana language on the track ‘Thwantsha mnwana.’ Towdee tells people that one has to keep on stirring the brew that u intend on serving, on the track ‘Fudua.’ One has to say the kid Zeus has something magical on his tongue. His delivery is just sick and I put my money on this kid. Zeus and K.E.B throw heavy rhymes while telling G’s that they not to be messed with on the track ‘Nthumele o nyele.’ Other tracks to look out for are the tracks ‘Jabba nthuse’ and ‘Mogote.’ Who this kid K.T? Boy got skills he should be well nurtured.
Overall the album has a perfect landing force, for Lemonka to find his feet on in the industry. A few disappointments here and there, as in the track ‘Game over.’ One had expected better from Tuks. As for the outro I need a translator for that shit, but what a beat.

Khutso

THE OBJECTIVE

The objective! The objective! What objective? I’ve listened to this here [hip hop] since kickin my way out my mama’s womb. N thanx to havin listened to a number of different MCs; I have lost myself in hip hop to the point of havin lost the objective. I hope to neva have to face the dilemma of writin an objective. In school we neva taught to have on objective. Objective these balls! But since we’ve embarked on a journey that’s hazardous, dangerous and exciting we thought it proper to write an objective. Anyway everybody has got one and perhaps they look at the objective before handing out them awards.
The Platform 2 aint nuthin but homage to Hip Hop. Homage to all the MCs who had nuthin but a mind and an inbred will to survive. Young Black men must have just been smoking a blunt n talking to beats in their hearts and that excelled into rap. Street kids must have been frustrated by their situation and started taggin stuff all around. The DJ must made them all chill n savor the moment. The b – boy had to flex his skills for all to be entertained. Like a whip from a paint brush a culture was created. A street culture was created. With so many streets on this earth this culture found it easy to travel from here to there. And it hit our shores – the heavens know when – to be embraced by a limited number of free thinking youth n the flame refused to burn out. Despite a lot of pressure from the people in power, freedom of speech continued to be expressed through rap music. Rap music has transcended through all cultures, solely because through demise of cultures new cultures arise. The industrial age was an era in which cultures became extinct n people where required to adapt to a form a civilized culture. Hip Hop was formed in these times, a culture that touches all colours and creeds. Lest we forget that this is an ever changing world – niggas can’t be listening to no Beethoven and Mozart forever.
Hip Hop in Mzantsi has been steadily growing since the times of Prophets of the City. New MC’s are cumin through, painting the world in their eyes through the mics. We surely can’t catch up with the American MCs but who said we have to catch up. A lot of the stuff that comes out from our MCs has good quality rap content to it. We is lovin the music, thus the blogsite. So to all you aspiring MCs on the street coners, computer labs, work, internet shops; if ur shit is good we is willin to listen.
The Platform 2 is but a platform. A podium on which all can rap the Afrikaans track about De la Ray, as long as it’s in rap format we will listen. A platform on which u can voice out ur hate to the BEE’d up niggas, if it’s in rap format we will listen. A stage to put the middle finger up towards the past or future, rap format – we listen. If u wana kill urself through rap format, we listen. We intend on reviewing any rap album from South Africa that we can get our hands on. We want to display the different fashions that r immerging in this ever changing Hip Hop. Need I say we need to see a rise in the forbidden arts of graffiti. Talk Hip Hop we will talk on the platform.

Sadly Hip Hop has been cited to be the work of the devil. It has been said to promote violence. It is also said everybody is entitled to their opinions, but the problem with opinions is that like assholes everybody’s got one. True dat, we lost a number of young people as an indirect or direct effect of our culture. Let he who has no sin cast the first stone. This is for the informed street culture lovin young people, who have smelled the evil scents of the past and have glimpsed the gloomy future.
From the words of a wise man “to all my niggas on the darkest corner, roll a perfect blunt n let me spark it for ya.” All we is doing is maintaining the spark, we don’t want it burn out – who wants to go the 70’s to start the spark all ova again. Just think about it.

Mzantsi – South Africa

Katsuko

THE HIP-HOP GENERATION

from the corners of Detroit to the dusty roads of KZN
we beatbox our way with rhythm into the lifestyle,
the lifestyle of revolutionary change, conscious art
we were born and bred like new species of culture into existance
the society acknowledged us, they welcomed the hustlers
we contributed to modern history with rhymes and beats,
leaned back hiphop style against the world of poverty
like religion, we started a belief, an institution
we chronicled our tales on CD and tapes like African Hieroglyphics
history will know about us, the gods wiil envy us!
we are the generation that brought music to its feet
we revolutionalized words, made ordinary men into heroes
told the truth in verses like the gospel is us.
we are the generation that made presidents, pastors and popes pay attention
we planted the awareness seed in fertile soil
the society despised our style but applauded our poetry
we painted the philosophy of life on manuscripts
like Solomon did in the book of Proverbs
we are the generation that signed the street manifesto
the disciples of Aristotle, Socrates, Tupac Shukur and Prophet of da city
we came, we've seen and we are conquering
it is about Hip-hop, its all about Hip-hop