Q&A with Modenine

Capital did a Q&A with Modenine last year, we going down memory lane.

Not a lot of artists are true to their craft because of the commercial calling, y’all can rest assured that Modenine is true to his art. With an album out that is 22 tracks deep, Da Vinci Code, he may be from Nigeria but he definitely is an international force to be reckoned with. Capital knows no boarders so we caught up with Modenine to hear more of what he is about.

Capital – You say you the bravest lyricist in Nigeria, how so?

Modenine - I call myself the bravest lyricist in Nigeria because many Emcees over here dumb down their lyrics and change their sound to appeal to the masses; I can’t blame them they all got to play safe. I do music from the heart and if I can’t put out music that I am satisfied with I’d rather quit. A lot of my friends say I’m mad brave with my music because it’s hard to survive doing vintage hip-hop, especially in Nigeria

Capital – you’re a self confessed loner and you hardly featured other artists on your work previously, did you feel that they couldn’t compliment your flow or what?

Modenine -I’m a loner in a way, but that don't mean I don't have friends. im actually a very friendly guy. Plus I do a few features but I don't like doing songs with everybody and their mother lol. Sometimes the person bugging you for a collaboration is wack! It’s as simple as that. I don't wanna do tracks with wack people or sometimes they don't come up with the right beat. I am a very picky when it comes to beats. You expect me to jump on any old half baked beats. nahh. 

Capital – On your song ‘Pain’ you say ‘if I don’t make money I got myself to blame coz I didn’t sell out, and I didn’t make my rhyme lame.’ Which artists are worth noting shouldn’t have sold out if at all in your opinion?

Modenine – I’m doing this rap thing because its one thing that I love sooo much and I know how to do it. I’m actually having fun. I always knew I wasn't going to compromise. I ain't trying to put nobody on a blast, so I’m not naming names of other artistes who have sold out. They know themselves and they burn inside every now and then lol 

Capital – A lot has changed in hip hop with every era that comes, which era stands out for you?

Modenine -Hip-Hop is crazy yo!! The era that stands out is the Golden Era. Everybody had to be different to shine and also lyrics were mad important, cats were mad dope on different levels. Now all you got to have is a dope producer (killing the beat), an R&B hook, mad promo and it’s on lol. I love the early / mid 90's that was when most of the cats shining were real. Even though we still have a bunch of dope emcees they don't get the love they deserve. It’s the golden era baby!!

Capital – What projects are you currently working on that we need to be on the look out for?

Modenine - I’m currently in London working on "Pay Attention" which is an all African collaboration album with producer ALIAS from South Africa. For now I’ve just got one feature and that's from my man from Botswana, Chub Heights. I’ts gonna be out for free download in October 2010. We are also putting out an EP on Itunes that will be a mish mash of Modenine songs old and new. In a few months I’m looking at making a new genre of Hip-hop (adult contemporary Hip-Hop) called AFROBOOMBAP which is some serious minded African real Hip-Hop with heavy high life influences. An album will drop some time next year, so y’all look out for that.

Capital – Will you be heading back down to SA anytime soon?

Modenine - SA is a cool spot, I’ve got many friends out there. I’m pushing out a collaboration album with a South African based producer Alias so I guess ill be out there to promote it later this year. Shout out to HHP, Zubz, Proverb and Ben Sharper!!!  Tell Pro and Kaptin to send their verses I’m getting tired of waiting!!! One

Modenine’s collaborative album with Alias titled “Pay At-10-Shun” was released on 10.10.10. The album, which has 10 tracks, is up for free upload here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/5m6ycl

Still got love

This post maybe a bit delayed but aint no time like the present right? We remembered the track Dj Hamma, part of the Spindle Crew, did featuring Reason in 2009 and we still got love for the track, haha

Reason dropped a dope track titled 15 Grand recently, the first single from his upcoming album which will drop 10 2012, plus dude is now signed to Motif Records owned by Tumi from the Volume. We are definately gonna keep our eyes peeled for this project.

Reason - 15 Grand by theblagg

In the 031 with Randhustle

Randhustle is a crew that hails from Durban with seven members, namely: Renovatio, Crazyee Kidd, Floda, Pulchritude Queen, General Ace, SHY and Cee-Cee. The crew is currently working on a mixtape titled “The Wreaths Mixtape.” We all know wreaths are associated with funerals so when asked why they chose that title they say it’s because they are burying the hip hop revolutions that exist as they are the future of hip hop offering a diverse sound opposed to the sound that currently exists. The mixtape should be out by August and Pardon my swag is said to be a favourite with the masses. To hear more from the group logon to these sites: reverbnation and soundcloud and tell us what you think.

The Movement that is Deep Soweto

Deep Soweto, known for their unrelenting vernacular lyrics, have become one of the fiercest underground hip-hop acts to spring out of the soil of this beloved kasi. Native Pitso caught up with the movement for a quick Q&A unraveling their secret for the game and turning a few pages of Deep Soweto’s history book.

CM: When did the idea of Deep Soweto come about?
DS: The idea of DS was given birth to by Salas on the 7th of September 2005, that’s when it all began. DS is a movement and not a crew as commonly mistaken. The movement is all about addressing isimo sa boDaki (black people’s situation) in the everyday community life we all live in. And because we love Hip Hop, we use it as a medium to convey messages and share knowledge of how to conquer our situations by standing up and actually doing things for ourselves, we say vuka uzenzele!

CM: How has Deep Soweto grown?
DS: We can’t really sum it all up but in terms of fan base it has grown tremendously! From the East to the West Rand, Orange Farm, Durban, Cape Town and even internationally, we have fans in Germany, Holland, USA (Boston in particular) and also in Dubai. Our music is even banged in prisons cells, you know! Its ironic that our hometown doesn’t grasp us like these other places, but more growth is yet to come. People have showed love to our clothing line, which is still to be properly introduced. Over and above we are trying to break into the mainstream and hope to reach greater masses!

CM: What do you think about the local Hip-Hop industry?
DS: The perception we share about Hip-Hop in Mzansi is that the real or true essence of it is being forsaken by a lot of heads, you know! More of hip-hop artists nowadays focus on ‘punchlining’ rather than being relative to their audiences, and it’s basically all about throwing the best punchlines and getting props for it, which is really not the entirety of hip-hop. Hip-Hop is greater than that, it’s about content, skill and relativity. Another detriment to the local industry is how the genre of hip-hop is handled by record labels; “you cannot treat a hip-hop artist as a Kwaito artist, you know!” the two are totally different. Hip-hop artist reqiure more investment that will go into the essentialities of promoting such an artist, gigs, videos, marketing all of these need to be done differently than in the case of artist in other genres. So we believe a lot of this record labels need to begin to understand that hip-hop is huge.

CM: How do you plan to change or contribute to the local industry?
DS: Deep Soweto has long begun to change some perceptions about hip-hop, especially within the South African context. To a certain extent, we’ve re-introduced rappin’ in our own languages. We’ve inspired a lot of up and coming heads to feel free and actually express themselves in vernacular and will continue to do that. Even the perception of wearing clothes seen on TV in order to be seen as a ‘real’ hip-hop head is untrue and we’re also trying to change that by the type of clothes we wear. Basically back to what we said before, hip-hop is about content, skill and relativity more than any other thing and we’re all about that!

Check out the video.

Dream - Fratpack

Its Wednesday, no wait, its actually Frwednesday. For the past couple of months Fratpack has been dropping songs on wednesday and they termed the leaks Frwednesday. Today they dropped the official video to Dream. Check out he video and see the brothers working up a sweat while chassing their dream and tell us what you think.