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.
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.
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!
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.
The Local Government Elections (LGE) are just around the corner for us South Africans - voting happens on the 18th May. You'd literally have to be living under a rock to not be aware of this. We were recently listening to a music on shuffle mode and happened across a song by Reason titled 'Selfish Politics'. During the build up to the National Elections which were held in April 2009, Reason wrote a song titled 'Selfish Politics'. In this song Reason expresses his thoughts on politicians and the government in a no-holds-barred manner, encouraging the listener to consider what 17 years of democracy has translated into for the citizens. Taking the LGE's into consideration, we got a hold of Reason to find out what lead him to write the song, and whether his feelings have changed since then. Take a listen to the song and check out what he had to say. The lyrics to the song are also below.
CM: When you wrote this, it was around the national elections in 2009. What was your frame of mind then and what made you write the song?
Reason: Honestly... I was hurt. I had personally amped myself two years before, to actually participate in the elections. I wanted to vote. I didn't at first, but my pops made me understand the significance of a vote. It’s about making the right choices to change things. To my demise... I had no choice. Voting had become a head count event. Votes are given to "whoever came first to fixes my tap/toilet/streets/ issues first" these days. Not, "who’s fighting for my rights or understanding the relevance of making my environment a decent place to live in like you promised". They're even throwing parties for votes. I mean common!!
CM: We are now counting down to the local government elections, has anything changed regarding the way you see elections, campaigning and the government?
Reason: It's getting worse. Now they've gone from "beating" each other by "buying" the peoples favour, to pointing fingers. "You didn't do a good job here", "Well YOU did a kak job yourself there". Like kids arguing about "Who Started"... "You did", "No YOU did". The reality is... THINGS AREN'T GETTING DONE. It shouldn't matter who had to do it. If it’s not done and you know it, why should we praise you for getting it done? The government you BOTH serve said it would get it done.
CM: What is your feel on the youth and their stance when it comes to politics? Are we apathetic? Are we involved enough?
Reason: I think we're as involved in politics, as it is with us. The reality is, the government doesn't have anything to offer us. We don't want basics. We not even planning to stay in the hood that long. We want money. WE NEED MONEY. So they won’t holler at us until they find something to get us involved. Right now, history is running politics, not change. What they’re doing in the meanwhile though is give you a good time. Throw the youth big ass parties in their name and let us have the fun FOR THEIR NUMBERS. That’s our current relationship with the government... Entertainment.
CM: As far as I'm aware you won't be voting in the LGE (based on comments on twitter). What is your reason for this?
Reason: I have nobody to vote for. If any of these candidates win, I’m unhappy either way! If anything... chances are, the guy that’s gonna win, is the guy I was gonna vote for anyway. Not because I want to, but because the rest are worse.
CM: You performed this song acapella at Back To The City and received a raving response. How important is it to you as a hip hop artist to discuss real life issues in your music?
Reason: It reminded me that, above the idea that we (artists and fans) are separated, we're actually not. Cause we all have the same issues. It is unfortunate that we would be at a freedom festival & only a handful of artist would try and be responsible with their time and make relevance to "Freedom" through their music. Especially when you're addressing +/-10 000 young people at the same time. On another scale... I also got to remember who I am, what i do and to never be afraid to say what’s on my mind cause chances are... there’s +/-10 000 people out there who feel the same way.
CM: Last words?
Reason: If you have a choice and you believe in it... Vote! But if you don't... then have yourself a great holiday. Peace!
On this project San the Instru-Monumentalist (Lesotho) and Phil the Kritik (Uganda) hooked up to produce this mixtape, Classic Dirt. Featuring the likes of MSU, Core Wreckah and Pitso Ramakhula on the Sotho-Hop side and a couple artists from elsewhere as well, we think its definately worth a download so click HERE, after all 'dirt is good' so said OMO
Ras Rayz and Al da 3rd are Audiophiles, a name that Ras got while paging through a magazine and one which Al did not oppose. The duo is soon to drop their album and they just droped a track that they did with Mothipa, hop over to HERE for the track and while you there listen to Brighter Day.
