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

Luv Ur Hood Sessions

The 3rd instalment of Luv Ur Hood hip hop sessions went down on da 3rd of October 2009. Held @ Ga- Kabila’s car wash ko Shatale Zone 2, the 3rd instalment went by without the cops disturbing the peace. What can a Kaffir say but 2 break down da proceedings of da day.

Retired rappers, journalists n ur average boy n girl in the Ghetto came through to listen to Emcees spit. The show was ‘possed 2 start @ 14h00 but due to the masses using African tym we had to get on stage at 15h00. Mr Do got on Stage n gave the masses a welcome with his track ‘Batho Ba Shota’, which gave everybody a laugh. The masses where by now settled n I figure they felt @ home.

Matrix Virus got on stage next n did his freebies. The kid has alot of potential but he seems to be more of a booth emcee rather than a performer. The whole set up da Sessions is dat 1 perfomer graces the MIC n gives 1 track @ a tym, n anada Emcee gets on the MIC n so on. H-Lepulana got on the MIC next n told a story of how the sessions began. Mr Do graced the staged one more tym to perform his hit ‘Re Thoma Go Ekwa.’

As the day progressed we had more performances by these artists n Kfbee also came through with his Boyz n gave us freebies. Later on the day we had a battle by dance crews The mighty killaz n a Crew 4rm Majembeni put on a show to everybody's applause.

To most of the peolpe’s disapproval, at about 18h00 the session had to cum 2 an end. The3rd session was another step forward in getting the people of Bushbuckridge to appreciate this art of Hip Hop.

ko - at
dag - day

Hip – Hop vs. Kwaito - Hello Decdember!!!!

It has been said dat Hip Hop is dead, well dats was a statement consciously uttered by Nas and got critisized for it. In Mzansi the suspicion was that Kwaito is evaporating into thin air in the rise of Hip Hop and the ever so popular dance music which we call House. Kwaito, the music dat has been the evolution of Mzansi black pop culture since the then bubble gum. It rose from the townships, Mandela got freed, then it spread like a virus into the urban 2 the surrounding neighbours, before we knew it, everyone was jamming to the sounds of New School, Mashamplani, Aba Shante, Alaska, Trompies, B.O.P, Athur Mafokate, Boom Shaka, Ma-Wallies, Chiskop, Thebe, TKzee, Mdu, Skeem and Makhendlas. @ the same time of that Kwaito euphoria, there was a small portion of Mzansi reballattis listing 2 the mixture of revolution underground and gangster Hip Hop coming from overseas and I was part of that minority. The likes of Public Enemy, NWA and WuTang Clang; they were making more sense 2 us than a pair of All-Star sneakers, sporty nd a pair of khaki Dickies. The culture of kwaito came to its climax in the late 90s, early ‘00 when Mandoza did the cross over version there was a swamp of kwaito artist, it was called the new era of kwaito, the likes of Zola, Mzambiya, Mshoza, Mapaputsi, Bricks, Brown Dash etc. The vibe of Manyisa and Twalatza deteriorated @ the time when minority of Hip Hop listeners decided 2 build an industry out of wat they luv. Kwaito was dying, the artist where no longer cracking it though, they wanted 2 build their careers on drug using reputation, while only DJ’s where selling gold, platinum and so fourth.

Kabelo aka Buga Luv aka the Preacher denied the fact that kwaito was on the verge of survival, just like Nas, he tried to resurrect it with his consistent 'dubula, dubula' hits, which I applaud but the new genre of Mzansi Hip hop was making it hard for artist 2 sell their units in thousand. As part of this Hip Hop evolution, I got 2 take off my hat at the resilience and the hard work of my fellow Mzasi cats. I mean, Hip hop came out and it was criticised like Manto-Msimang’s Aids speech abt beetroot and African potatoes, but these cats meant biznis, they defied the power of gravity. Dankie son! Now why Hip Hop vs. Kwaito? Simple, summer is here, ‘Hello December’, Tkzee declared in confirmation that summer was a period of hits 2 b made and millions 2 b made. In 2009, Hip hop cats hav now joined the band wagon in releasing their hit single during summer; this is a trend in Mzansi which was dominated by the likes of Mzekezeke, Arthur, Mdu & TKzee in their prime but im proud to say that the revolution has just begun. Teargas, Mr Selwyn, Porverb, Jozi, L’Tido, Prokid, 5th floor, Skwata Kamp, JR etc. they’ve all released hit joints which r getting enormous airplay on national radios and the videos circulating our screens . This does not only mean dat Hip Hop its writing its history but they r changing the target market. This is a strategy dat even great kwaito moguls didn’t anticipate; rap is somehow stealing their customers. All these cums in with the much anticipated Hype Hip Hop awards around the corner The competition has just become tighter than our politics, when the police r changing clause and laws we r changing lanes from two way route 2 a freeway.

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BATTLE OF THE MONTH

The former police boss JS takes on the National Prosecuting Authority, u decide who ripped the mic

Jackie Selibe
aka The Commisioner

Dey say u innocent till proven guilty/
But in this instance/
It seems I’m guilty till proven innocent/
Personal Vendettas/
To get ur lives a little beta/
Seeing the need to get the C.I.A n F.B.I to infiltrate S.A/
U hav to get the Scorpions to stay/
I guess dats how power plays/
But every nite I pray/
Thus url can’t defeat a true G/
Let he who has no sin cast the first stone/
Pikolo n Ngcuka shud I mention the benefits url received 4rm Kebble/
The news will probably make the country trebble/
Mining rights is what ur after/
But url gosta use the N.P.A/
To create my Doomsday/
But I ain’t easily slayed/
Like a dragon/
I’ll be spittin fire throughout the court proceedings/

N. P.A
aka the Scorpio vernom

We authorised 2 prosecute anybody nationally/
Thus it’s ur turn Jackie Selibe/
U bizy livin lavish/
Tryin 2 get the Scorpions to hush/
Makin friends in high places/
Havin no regard of what their trade is/
Expensive gifts/
Ur handz in the devil’s waters u dipped/
Defeating the endz of Justice/
Lady Justice has been fucked a whole lot of tyms/
N now it comes to an end/
Rulz u can no longer bend/
Watz the deals with Aglliotti/
He kinda reminds us of Gotti/
We ain’t buyin ur story/
We out 4 the glory/
Of finding u guilty/
U was a cop dat was filthy

Proverb – Write of Passage

I’m gonna say it here, right here on Hip-Hop platform, Mzasi Hip-Hop is the most original, truthful, good-to-the-bone lyrics and creative genre compared to that of the world. Proverb, the kid from Kimberly is back, he’s a father and husband now, proudly South African 16 joints put beautifully together in album called Write Of Passage. The nigga’s not letting go of the mic, the focus, the determination, the zeal is very evident from the quality of production behind every single joint. Proverb is de master of professionalism, he’s hustling like a true hustler, that’s de message u get frm the intro track where he’s pimping himself like a drug dealer to potential buyers. The Write of passage has bn toned down from de Mc level we knw proverb from but still gud, I knw dat lot of bo-mrapper will be a bit disappointed cuz a nigga’s on another tip. But 4 a third album Pro is doing better than gud, consistent and relevant to us like he did on the manuscripts.

U got tracks like Write of passage, Kimberly diamond and I knw, dat stay in yr head like tick on blood, they’ve got hooks dat define a track and u can sing along them which is gonna b hard 2 4get. A surprise 2 dis joint is the Afrikaans track its dat K'Ster original Pro delivered, it sound like kid frm Cape flats with a decent accent and better flow. Besides the Afrikaans track, the nigga has made sure we knw dat he’s a responsible family man by throwing ‘bread winners’ ft HHP which is dedicated to her daughter and reminding us of ur responsibilities as fathers. As I listened I was let down by the fact dat Pro on his special deliverance, he mentions his wife, kid and his family duties on almost every verse while there r two 2 three tracks dedicated 2 the wife. I dig Lets take it back ft Tamarsha and Hip Hop, although they sound cliché, they were done beautifully and wisely. Proverb has given dis 1 time and dedication, it might take time for headz 2 get used to it but b’live me it is made as classic. The collaborations though, Maggz and Morale on Truth or dare and Mode9 on ProMode r hitting the spot but lack the weight, which makes me think dat sometimes collaboration r made 4 marketing strategies rather than artistry. ‘c im a raw diamond/ dat means I was born 2 shine/ there’s a diamond inside nd I’ve sworn by it/ nd I’ll keep digging2 the core 2 find it/ there’s no such thing as bling bling dat’s al hype 2 him/ the Kimberly diamond shines frm inside of him.” How do we ignore a man with such wisdom, it’s a sacrilege not 2 support Mzansi cats while we download Soildier Boy on your mobile.

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The paradigm shift - women in hip-hop (Who do we blame)

The bitch

The conscious one

The Hip Hop honeys

The social ills

June 16 - We are celebrating rebellion

The Hip-Hop nation will know that on June 16 a son was given to us, in a form of a rap legend, a rap genius was born from the political activist Afeni Shakur and Mzansi nation will also know dat on the same day of 1976 history was made. It is a blessing to commemorate this day not only as a young South African but as Hip-Hop fanatic. The music we listen to bring as much revolution as the young freedom fighters that took their rage to the street. They fought a different cause relevant to their political struggles but with the same intentions of liberation as of the youth of today. Well, we might not be as mobilized as the young people of ’76 but the truth is, we need the same things, we need our freedom, this was evident during our April voting period as young people voted in majority. We came together to defend our liberty, we voted because we wanted our pains and struggles to be heard. After we nearly had our intentions twisted with xenophobia, crime and drug abuse, we fought back positively like the Hector Petersons rebelled against the Bantu education system we brought our own rebellion to the voting station.

Our mobility comes in the form of Hip-hop, the music and culture that is relevant yesterday, 2day and days 2 cum and significant to the celebration of June 16. Many of us might not know exactly what went down with the youth of ’76 but we know dat niggas played a part in orchestrating our freedom, thus we use our words to rap the struggle through. Like I said, the rap legend Pac was given to us on the same day, and his music became the revolutionary of Hip-Hop culture, in terms of street conciseness and political relevance. Tupac is the epitome of rebellion, the nigga rebelled against the system through music. His music portrayed the anger, the ambitions, the struggles and jubilation of young people trying to brake free. That’s Matswako, for us, thats Mzansi Hip-Hop, we are on the niche of things. Hip- hop is a rebellious music, and Mzansi has taken that form or that art into their heart to address issues that Malema and his political troops are failing to handle. While other people are sceptical abt the future of Mzansi and our priorities, the president of AZAYO Veli Mbeli agrees with me that Hip-Hop is the only emerging movement that can emulate the youth of ’76 and mobilize young South African into a winning struggle against HIV/Aids, segregation, racism, unemployment, poverty, crime and economical ignorance. Harambe!

To Rebelatti aka tshwarelo eseng Mogakane