Ebumnandini is rapidly becoming more than a simple event, it’s becoming an institution and with a name which serves as a nod to Kwaito godfather Doc Shebeleza, the party has made waves in both Cape Town and Johannesburg. Ebumnandini is the brainchild of industrial/post-kwaito Stiff Pap members Jakinda and AyemaProbllem and fully captures the DIY…
Directed by Zandi Tisani, Rave & Resistance – The birth of club culture in 90s Johannesburg, opens with the following lines “In South Africa, there is no single story. There’s no single narrative. Everything is loaded and charged.” Brooding. But true. Narrated by Lakuti, Oskido, Bob Mabena, Vinny Da Vinci, DJ Christos, Trompies, G-Force and…
The origin of iNDiGO the new album by Sipho Languza better known by his rap moniker Sipho the Gift is rather unusual. The MC originally from the Northern Cape was left feeling creatively frustrated after moving to Johannesburg. Many months of frustrations led Sipho to deciding to pursue opportunities in other creative fields which resulted…
It’s been nearly two years since Stiff Pap put out their highly praised, genre bending debut EP ‘Based on a Qho Story’. The duo have been on the quiet side with releases since then but their latest single, “Maradona”, (named after the football legend/dude from the cocaine memes) recently dropped and it’s anything but quiet….
Both hailing from Vosloorus in the East Rand, it was their mutual love of poetry that brought Keabruh and Jay.B together. Now residing in Johannesburg, the two have been making music together since 2016. “The only way we could get to be heard was to put a beat to it. People resonate more with music than…
When I first opened the link to The Temple’s new EP Lusaka, I was blown away by the effervescence of their music. While the release harkened back to the optimistic beat of 1990’s Kwaito, it’s dense, swirling production is utterly contemporary, clearly in conversation with the hardness of Trap and Gqom. But unlike those intense,…
Zer021 is an inclusive queer club in Cape Town, and will be the host of Ses’fikile – siwu mndeni on the 20th of July. Translating to ‘we’re here; we’re family’ in English, the name of the event speaks to the importance of queer people celebrating the presence of spaces such as Zer021 as well as the…
Joburg-based M(x) Blouse might rap, but they don’t consider themselves a hip-hop artist. Born at the end of 2016 as a creative outlet for KZN-born Sandiso Ngubane, M(x) Blouse’s first release was “WTF(SQUARED)” in collaboration with Joni Blud. The release made an impact and led to a performance at Braam’s Pussy Party and which was…
One of the most visually opulent artists working today, Umlilo has been winning ears and hearts with their bold fusion of kwaito, rap and bubblegum pop. Since their debut EP in 2013, Umlilo’s project has been exploring the tragedies and triumphs of life in a world of repressive gender politics. Their artistic comrades in the…
This release is a psychedelic fun ride through the urban centre of South Africa, from the streets of Soweto to the enclave of Maboneng. Bhubesii raps from the perspective of his Kobayashi alter ego, a stylish trickster on a mission for a good time. The music aims to reinterpret classic kwaito for 2016, with Bhubesii…
In the 1990s, South Africa experienced the subcultural supernova of Kwaito. Fuelled by post-1994 optimism, and inspired by international hip hop, dancehall and house, local artists created a thriving underground of music, dance and fashion, spread through cassette tapes and taxi sound systems. In almost no time at all, this became the mainstream with the…
My first meeting with Moonchild was in Cape Town, she performed at the legendary Cold Turkey and won me over with her energy and openness. Her performance was electrifying and I’ve watched her grow from strength to strength in every facet of her creative output. Now some four years later I sit opposite a SAMA…
