The Word Is Uhh are an exciting addition to South African music. The Cape Town-based duo recently brought out their debut album Grosvenor Beach – a collection of slow raps and playful, atmospheric production – along with a series of custom artworks. If you haven’t heard of them before, The Word Is Uhh is Damascvs…
“My mom has special powers, she sees stuff before it happens. So she’s an inyanga [healer in Xhosa]. Inyanga also means the moon, so instead of being a child of a healer I choose the moon. It’s about being the child of someone with a special gift,” explains Moonchild Sanelly when asked about her stage…
Emerging out of the townships of Durban, the reach of gqom has spread over the last five years touching the rest of South Africa and making an impression on the global underground. With pioneers such as DJ Lag and the Rude Boyz having laid the foundation for the next generation of artists, now more than…
When you are in the mood to dance, there is nothing better than walking on to the dance floor and feeling the vibrations of the music coming through the speakers. Cukia Kimani and Yann Seznec found a way to enhance this experience by creating visual permanence to music. Cukia has a background and Computer Science…
It seems like 2017 has been the year many queer artists have found their voice, and audiences, through their art. Nakhane Toure’s performance in The Wound has drawn plenty of praise and criticism, but the film itself has been accepted as an entry to the Oscars all the same. Toya DeLazy is now a Powerpuff Girl,…
What does punk means in 2017? Is it just a style of music and clothes, buzzsaw guitars and leather jackets? An ossified museum piece, rather than an alive aspect of culture? Or is it an attitude of fearlessness, a sense of both “fuck you” nihilism and the desire for something better. In 1978, the infamous…
At first glance a live coding show doesn’t seem all that different from any other electronic music show with various electronic sounds emanating from speakers and the performer somehow triggering these sounds from their laptop. Upon closer inspection though it becomes clear that rather than simply playing pre-created loops in a linear fashion, the artist…
I’ve got a weird thing for cats who release experimental shit. I mean, you know not everyone is gonna dig what you do, but that’s kinda the point. Granted, most of the time I’m like, “Wow, this is god awful,” but there are some gems. Banana Brains’ Home Boy is one of those gems. What…
While her journey into performance began in high school when she and her girlfriends would perform at assemblies, Lex LaFoy already started writing poetry and music as a child. It was the discovery of Durban’s Hip Hop Inqaba Sessions that led her into the world of cyphers. “I was in the same crew as Zuluboy,…
Ever since age 12, when I nicked a copy of Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana, I’ve been a gluttonous consumer of rock and roll histories. A good book has the following key elements: ambitious young dreamers start making music, get some success, then dramatically struggle with inflated egos, wild substance abuse and…
Seeing the Hyperdub logo on a new release is a sure fire guarantee of headphone ecstasy. Since 2004, the UK based label has been at the bleeding edge of electronic music, regularly releasing classic albums from Burial, Kode 9 and The Spaceape, DJ Rashad, Hype Williams and Laurel Halo. Its early day were strongly associated…
South African hardcore is pretty fucking dead. There are a few bands, a few shows, and a few people keeping the genre, in some variation or the other, “alive”, but it’s a far cry from the glory days of spin kicking your friends in the face and running around in a circle to indiscernible noise…
