XO's PODCAST 2 (Nauts & Crosses)

If this is called Podcast 2, I wud figure dat ther is a podcast 1. Unfortunately I did get to hear it, oh well, m stil alive ain’t I? There’s stil chance 2 cop it. A buddy of myn recommended this, (the Jacket Shop). 2 put it simply he hustled me 2buy it. Ain’t disappointed though. This is an album/ mixtape 4rm X rate (who took center stage during the highs of Optical Ill,he not part of crew though) and Ootz a producer of note slash Emcee.
1 thing bout this album is dat it is short. As in, it plays 4 lyk 30min 4rm track 1 to de last track. Some of de illest spitters feature in this mixtape. We got Reason, Zubz is also featured, with Nthabi lending her feminine toxic spit (the poison ivy in the album). Battlekat lends his Rhymes n a classic (Battlekat) beat on the track “for the cause.”
Tracks dat really stood out are “1 Word Trigger”, “1 thing on my Mind”, “It’z a problem” and the ode to Mpefa, Motekwane, Mpange, Patje “the Khala Green.”
The Mixtape tends to b monotonous @ some point; in dat de beats n styles of flow seem to b chopped 4rn the same tree. Over all it is a gud buy, another one 4rm S.A 2 add 2 my collection. Big up 2 all those who were involved in de project.

Track Listing

INTRO – Oh my go0dness (Prod. Ootz)
SINK OR SWIM – Xo (Prod. Ootz)
THE FOURTRISS – Big C’s n Recoil (Prod. Reason and Ootz)
XO ROCKSTEADY - SKIT
ONE WORD TRIGGER – XO feat Ph n Nthabi (Prod. Ph)
SIPPIN ON (INSTRUMENTAL) (Prod. Ootz)
TIME WASTIN – X-Rate n Zubz (Prod. Battlekat)
ONE THING ON MY MIND – Ootz n Eli (Prod. Ootz)
FOR THE CAUSE – X-Rate n Battlekat (Prod. Battlekat)
JUSLIVIN (INSTRUMENTAL) (Prod. Ootz)
X RATE BAD LUCK Verse (off Nthabi’s 4rm the Lab 2 da Streets Ep) (Prod. Mr C)
THE KHALA GREEN – Greenh0use Producti0ns Feat XO, Ph, Nthabi, Killa, Reason(Prod. Madnick)
XO IN THE BUILDING – SKIT
IT’Z A PROBLEM – XO featuring Headbanger (Prod. Headbanger)

BACK TO THE CITY

They came. They came in droves n in drags. The hip hop generation. Yes, they came to da sick city of JHB 4 a celebration on another level. They were all there, the poets, biters, retired emcees, the future, punks; skaters, graff artists, b-boyz/girlz, abomrapper, pot heads, hype men, emcees, beat boxers, the illusive cipher disciples and extra fine hunnies. They came.
The 3rd annual BACK 2 THE CITY gig saw me drag my homie Khulumane along on a freezing 2sday to Newtown 2 witness S.A Hip Hop @ itz best. Shit! Did I mention dat it was freezing? Oh well, we weren’t the only 1’s who braced da cold 2 enjoy hip hop.
The gig supposedly started at 10h00 but we only made it there at bout 13h30, hoped I wud not be late but shit happens. The first thing I noticed as 1 approached the venue was baggy pants, baggy pants. Shall hip hop ever loose dat trademark? Yeah, I had made it 2 my 1st BACK 2 THE CITY gig. I felt lyk a kid who just received dat sought after present, excitement to the 3rd degree.
The cover charge was R50, we got dat settled n entered da venue. Yep, it was all there. All dat cud encompass hip hop was all there. I was awed at the amount of luv peeps got for Hip Hop considering dat it was freezing. I was caught between goin from 1 vendor, to the B-Boys stage back, to the main stage, n back 2 the vendors. I was …… (Fill in a profound synonym 4 excited).Der I was 1 moment listening to Kwesta the next I was checkin out da B-boys, the next I was witnessing da graff artists. It was a wild 1 4 me. For some reason I ended up doin wat I had intended on not doin (sippin). 4 a second I actually cursed de excitement.
I caught da homie Dynamic pushing his album de Rhyme Chamber, n not far 4rm him was R-Senic also pushin da mad hustle. Do what u gosta do homies! A few other vendors were present. Butan wear had slashed their prices to a minimum n I also came across a crew pushin a sneaker brand called Kgolelogo Sneaks. The Jacket Shop was also present n still doin his hustling straight 4rm out of da jacket. “Much respect homie, u a true hip hop ambassador.”
The Emcee stage had many rappers to please the average hip hop digger. We had peeps from CPT, Bloem, Durban, P.E, and Jozi but sadly a whole lot of other cities still did not hav representatives. A whole lot still has 2 be done in order 4 da movement 2 reach da darkest spots of our country. Harembe my ppl.
Adbus gave a wild performance with his Zulu punchlines and 4 sum reason, we seem 2 have an escalating number of emcees who b spittin hard punchline rhymes in isizulu. A certain dude with a name dat sounded lyk Mhlithi impressed the crowd with his calm, raw flow. The Federation also gave an outstanding performance. AKA hit the stage n held it down, as he gave way 2 Khulu Chana. Light showers started hitting us for short repeated intervals, but cats just stayed in da rains the emcees serenaded us with beautiful music. Talk bout luv homie!
There were 2 many performers 4 me 2 recall who did what @ what tym, but I did witness the crew Black Gold get boooed at the end of their set. Fifth floor gave a performance dat was received with much luv. I was actually surprised @ the reception dey got. Have dey bcum legends? Lee Kasumba n Siya Mkwanazi did a good job in keepen the crowd in a hype mood. As I went hither n tither I came across a few ciphers, with passionate cats battling it out, all I gots 2 say is, dnt stop dnt quit, it might be u on dat stage next year. The homie Ondeground was 1 of the homies who threw a few lines durin 1 of da ciphers. Shud he not b on da line up, homie been ‘round 4 years.
Other emcees who came through were Black Moss, Deep Soweto, KGB, Deep Level, Takeaway, Projectah, Glitz gang – I heard day also got booed – n a whole lot of others artists I did not get 2 c preform. De sound got cut off during de show while 1 of da cats was doin his set. I at 1st thawt Telkom but den realised dat de lights weren’t off. After waitin 4 lyk 15min dey managed 2 repair what had 2 b repaired. Music banged on. I got 2 hear Kenzhero do a set, the legendary DJ at his best, C-live and # of other DJ’s were also present to do their thing on the ones n twos.
Ill Skills 4rm CPT, also put on a set but 4 sum reason their performance was not audible. I have 2 say their music has a high quality but the same cud not b said bout their performance. As de nyt progressed n it got colder, we got 2 c Mr Selwyn hit da stage n he gave us a warm up with da hot 16 from Amu’s track Attention. He went on 2 perform his recent tracks with a good reception Pro Kid closed the show alongside Red Button. Ppl braced da weather 4 his performance n I hav 2 say de wait was worthwhile.
@ bout 22h45 we found ourselves havin 2 hunt 4 a cab 2 get us back 2 Germiston. All we wanted was 2 rest our cold tired bones. (Did I mention dat it was freeeeeeeezing)? I came across de emcee Substance on our way out n requested 4 a pic n had 2 explain why I needed it. Does he think I’m part of da CIA or sumthin? Gee, dnt u hav fans homie? We managed 2 get ourselves into a cab at bout 23h45. It was a quite ride home, I guez we were both in a hurry to get sum rest. It was fantabulous day with minor disappointments. Now to those who hav neva attended any of the BACK 2 THE CITY gigs. U shud fucken get ur behinds ther next year 2 b embraced by da future b4 we enter da future. I surely ain’t missin it.
Peace.

K’naan – Troubadour (Champion Edition)

First of al, I take off my hat for this Somali boy, dis is the best Hip Hop album I have listen to in a long, long time, b’live me. The Platform2’s aim nd obligation is to the transforming, building and supporting of Mzansi Hip Hop but dis time we had 2 outstretch our hand into Africa. We searched Africa nd we find a nigga in Canada, a Troubadour (medieval travelling poet and singer) from Somalia. K’naan the grandson of a poet left Somalia in times of Civil War to the native land of Canada where he resided with moms and the nigga found himself and his music. But I’m not here to tell u abt the history of this artist, u can visit Wikipedea encyclopaedia for dat, I’m here to review the album. K’naan has done justice to the Hip Hop family; he’s the God gift to Hip Hop. Troubadour is a classic album, its fresh, hip, conscious and revolutionary. He brought in the heavyweights like Mos Def, Damien Marley, Adam Levine of Maroon 5 fame and Chubb Rock but the best part is, the whole album is produced by K’naaan.

K’naan knws how 2 make agood album, rap and do the other staff dat Wayne nd Drake do. From the first track dat we knw him of ‘T.I.A’ (which means this is Africa) to the last track which is the Coca-Cola anthem for the World Cup “Wavin' Flag’ the songs r of the world class. K’naan brings the soul of Africa in every song xpecially in song ‘America’ featuring Mos Def and Chali 2na nd the original ‘Wavin flag’. In his words the rapper says ‘I got my own sound/ I don’t sound like the rest’ and yes he doesn’t sound like the rest, he holds his own on outstanding tracks like ‘I came prepared’ feat Damian Marley and ‘Bang Bang’ feat Adam Levine true hits. Well, all the songs r outstanding, I’m jus mentioning few dat r produced 4 commercial market but not diverting from the message. I seriously b’live whole-heatedly dat this is one of the dopest album and dat K’naan is in 4 the big kill, he’s fresher than the word Ayoba and doper than Mike Jones…..nd I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s raving abt this dude, the FIFA body and World Cup Organising team approached him for the remix of the Coca-Cola anthem. In 1999 K’naan was invited to speak on behalf of refugees before the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees where he also performed a Spoken Word poem, in 2009 he performed again in the UN’s Millennium Development Goals Ceremony. He’s the son of Africa, carrying the glory of Africa around the globe. Troubadour is an album I have been looking 4 after I listed 2 Nas’s Untitled, I encourage bo - mrapper 2 get this one for keeps…u wont regret.

On his biography on Wikipedea, they say he fuses the style of Eminem together with the consciousness of Bob Marley…I can’t agree more.

ColourFULL – JR

There is no doubt abt it, Mzansi Hip Hop is raising like the sea level in the Antactica and JR is in the middle of it but he best describes it as ColourFULL. He made SA knw who he was with the ‘gata lenna’ tune and yes we took notice, motswako nation expanded and the man knwn as JR became a house hold name in the rap scene up till to this moment. Well it is 2010 and the nigga is making music and to be clear it is ColourFULL as it gets. He reminds me of Andre 3000 nd Big Boi wen they started without the bling. JR knws how 2 make a dope tune u can dance to within the perimeters of Hip hop, I listen to ‘aga shame’ his first single of the album and yes u guessed its motswako. Then came ‘go JR’, ‘hao Jaive’ ft Thebe nd Nothende and ‘show dem ft HHP, it’s a marathon of the nigga spitting punch lines dat, don’t really hit u back or chill yr spine but r hard to forget. Xpecially with the way his delivering the lyrics on the fast paced beats its hard not to fall in love with dis motswakolisto, he says “I can’t stop nje nge VW e phele ma-brake pads”. There r tracks like ColourFull Music ft TeePee nd O Batshabe ft Bantu Sould & Bloque which I think were saved by those individual respectively. On the other hand N’ veigh came on track # 10 called ‘toast to da nu breed’ and he literally kicked JR’ s ass on 16 bars, the nigga forgot abt the ColourFULL musique nd he raped nd im pleased to say the track rocks, so is track # 11 Y B R F( Young, black, rich & Famous). JR took time to come up with dis one but im questioning his commitment to the project, like the fact dat the CD has only eight original tracks if u take out the intro, outro, skit and the remix. Dis is a very beautiful, nice music 4 my collekxion nd maybe 4 u too. Remember, spin n span, we do it 4 Hip Hop, we do it 4 art and we do it 4 the Love.

Battle of the Month

the ANC youth league Pres is taking on the Mighty Media, in wat we call 'Me(lena) against the world'

Julius Malema
a.k.a JUJU

Ya’ll kno u can’t touch me/
Ya’ll kno I’m da ultimate G
I’m da future of A.N.C/
I’m da future of this country/
Although I got a little cheddar/
The poor r with me, cause they think I’ll make their lives a little betta/
Go ahead n blabber/
I ain’t part of the companies u speak of / I sit back n throw a Molotov cocktail at ya/
Ask my lawyers/ I ain’t got tym 2 engage with racists/
The media be out to Sabotage me/
Ya’ll dnt wanna c a black diamond shine/ U’ll ppl wanna shine on my shine/ get ur own n steady ur own/
Yeah I might hav a Range Rover/ Yeah I myt b livin in a mansion/ So what?/
Mandela gave me da Freedom to pursue this riches/ n with a little extra cash I myt score sum bitches/
Ya’ll been sent by ppl who wana c me turn into nuthin/ But with so much support this shit will turn into nuthin/
Fuck SARS let them investigate/ I’ll get the president, n he’ll clear my name/
Ya’ll playing games/ this ppl God in my name/

The Media
a.k.a T.M

We need sum explanations/ With so much poverty that we facing /
Greedy Niggaz ain’t needed/Malema, the almighty one/ U can fool sum but we ain’t the ones/
U still a major Shareholder in ur companies/ u screwing the ur ppl claiming u dwn with the poor/
Believing u cant be touched/ We’s about 2v get u hushed/ Ur whole image is about 2 be flushed/ like ish dwn the sewer/
U reckon u omnipotent/ rolling in a rover/Drinking Moet n all that/ all because of ur political affiliations/
U getting 80% of the cake in Limpopo/n thus ur fellow brothers r gonna b hobos/
Explain ur R140 mill/ explain why u ain’t paid ur tax bill/
In essence u dnt give a fuck bout the youth u claim 2 represent/
All u want 2 be is a black diamond/
Although diamonds r flawless/ U’ve proven 2 be one that is flawed/
Busy shakin ur ur pants cause the may be an audit/ Juju Malema u askede for it/

We All Take Refuge in L.O.V.E

On dis lovely Valentine’s Day 14 Feb. 10, which I sadly spend alone; I think its safe 2 say, like rapper Common did “we knw wat luv is, we can even find it in the ground where da thugs live” how beautiful is dat line? 32 dayz after one of the biggest earthquake hit the small nation of Haiti we found ourselves celebrating dis pimped out version of love; Valentine. “Fair is foul n foul is fair”…well we r really leaving in a cataclysmic world and the closest salvation to dis drama is sharing da Luv within ourselves nd amongst ourselves. It sound cliché but it’s biblical. I’m xcited, and not cuz of dis commercialised overrated romantic month but b’cuz the Hip Hop community has come 2gether in times of need 4 da Haitians. It is clear dat wat hit Haiti cannot b comprehended or compared 2 anything according 2 one of SABC journalist but the love, the compassion and sympathy dat my Hip Hop community has shown is beyond the guns nd Hennessy they rap abt. In the month of love niggas had 2 dig deep 2 find theirs, but wen they do it cums with bling and dignity.

The Haitian born Wyclef Jean came through 4 his brothas & sistas tremendously in dis agonising times of need. Mr Wyclef did not only use his Twitter network service 2 create ‘YELE’ an charity organisation aid 4 the Haitians but he also pleaded on his blog, with da world to pray nd support them. He even released a single called “Hold on’ Ft Mavado dedicated to his hometown, which apparently is available on Itunes. It’s a side we don’t get 2 c often with the Hip Hop generation but inspiring 2 knw dat niggas care. Dis is wher 'Luv yr hood nd recognize iz al gud' come through. With the remake of Wacko Jacko’s ‘We R The World’’ which iz 4 the benefit of Haiti, rap stars came rushing in for the remake version, from LL Cool J to Drake to Snoop Dogg…it’s a refreshing thought. HHP nd other Mzansi cats joined in the wagon 2 contribute 2 the disastrous events of the earthquake. Its just unfortunate dat we show our affection side in times like dis but wat would the world b without the love dat we share….”how beautiful love can b/on the streetz love its hard 2 c/ it’s a place I got 2 b/ loving u its loving me” Common.

4 the small Hip Hop community of Haiti – ‘aluta continua’

Wat a Christmas special? – Luv yr hood Hip Hop Session

‘Luv yr hood nd recognise its al gud’…. It all took one cat 2 realize dat Shatale and the rest of Bushbuckridge is full of potential nd he started wat is called Luv yr hood Hip Hop sessions. Wat a blast, on the 26th of December I was invited 2 xperienced a phenomenal event, the sixth instalment to Luv yr hood session after missing five of them. Once again, Katsuko came through; we invaded Kabila’s car wash @ zone 2 as young, gifted and artistic youth of Bushbuckridge. From every cnr of Mapulaneng headz came through in numbers and the session had everything a hip hop event could have from classical rap beats, break dancing, poetry to MC’s freestyling and I was there 2 witness it all.

Katsuko took the stage together with Mr Tu from the infamous Majembeng township on a freestyle tip with a catchy hook ‘batho ba shota’, the crowd was charmed by Mr Tu’s special deliveries and ppl started pouring in. It was a great start dat was followed by performances from H-Lepulana, Kfbee, G7, Dialetic and a special treat of performance from one of the members of Kwame xperience, a young lady called Nkutu. She brought the show to the climax with superb vocals accompanied by a freestyling flow then the Hip hop dancers took 2 the dance floor. The boys did their thing, got xcited a bit as young gals screamed their lungs out and they started battling. The crowd was amused as the day progressed towards the end of 2009, like I said it was a Xmas special a Hip Hop special treat straight out of Mapulaneng. Big up to all the MC’s dat grace the stage and laced the verse, we doing it the art, 4 the love, 4 the youth….we doing it 4 Hip Hop