Monday Night Thoughts: Next Bob Marley of Rap

"I know I wanna get my songs on iTunes
Then see the world
Then write new music
That feeds the world
I’m not black enough to go back to Africa
Fast enough
Decaffeinated on the grounds of a massacre
It’s like that for real
Nightcap, right back to my record deal
I wanna help people
I wanna be rich
I wanna be the Bob Marley of this
Rap music"

- Paradise by Noname Gypsy

I was listening to some Noname Gypsy the other day and there was a line that stood out to me. In 'Paradise' Noname spits about hoping to one day become "the Bob Marley of this rap music."

I've listened to this track a countless number of times but this was the first time the line actually resonated and sparked some thought. I've been pondering on it and there's been one thought circling my mind for days on end: with all of the Nas', Tupacs, Mos Defs, Jay Zs, Kanyes, Gurus and Biggies of the culture; is there still an open place available for somebody to be the Bob Marley of rap? I'm not decoding the line nor is this opinion piece meant to be circling that specific line (because it's obvious she just meant she wants to be influential). All it's doing is serving as a base for discussion to build upon. The Hip Hop culture is continually growing and evolving and over the years there's an unbelievable amount  of pioneers that contributed, ultimately forming the Hip Hop that we have right now. It's interesting to think about how so many changes have taken place and so many people's lives have been affected along the way. I personally think that although it might be very difficult, it's more than possible for there to be room for more legends within this diversifying culture.

I'm putting the queston forward to you - let me know what you think about this..

Is it still possible for people to influence the Hip Hop community even more or have our role models come and gone?

Peace, love and Hip Hop
KTTIB x

Saturday Morning Thoughts: Counting Rappers; Not Sheep

"Haha alright cool" I said trying to return to our initial topic. "So what do you think one of the biggest problems in Hip Hop is today?"
"Well..." Ahmed replied taking a long moment to think to which he finally answered "EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE A RAPPER!"

Good morning HipHoppas and influencees! 

While working on an upcoming video, I came across this interview with Ahmed in the archives. One of the first interviews I've ever done. It's true. Whether its the notorious Twitter rappers DMing you to check out their low quality Soundcloud and tweeting you links to their poorly funded music videos, or if it's the high school rapper asking you to put a link to his track on your Facebook; everyone wants to be a rapper and it's slowly getting to the point that the good rap is being difficult to find because it's so deeply lost in all of the pop-saturated, generic, bubble gum rap being produced right now. It's actually already gotten to that point I think.

I'm not mad that everyone wants to be a rapper - at the end of the day that's more music for me - I'm mad at the fact that half of the people pursuing such a career aren't talented nor are they educated in the art of rap. We can't have a clown representing us. I'm working on the third Hip Hop Video Diary and one of the issues the hip hop headz discuss in it is whether the Hip Hop culture is being respected. All said no. Among the obvious reasons being the misconceptions surrounding areas such as "Hip Hop being solely misogynistic" and such, came another perspective: people don't respect Hip Hop because the people that are put forward to represent our culture don't respect it either and are nowhere near what the representative should actually be like. You have people like Weezy that unfortunately are the first image that comes to mind when people that aren't apart of Hip Hop think about when looking at Hip Hop.

Too many times I've found myself trying to compile a list of my top ten commercial rappers and end up stopping at five or six rappers (Kendrick, Drake, J. Cole, etc.) saying "We don't actually have that many rappers.." because I battle to find anyone that's actually murdering the charts and really speaking sense at the same time. I'm not expecting the radios to play Immortal Technique because we all know the deal with radios and the type tracks that they play on rotation but if they're going to put out rappers can they at least have SOMETHING to say? I do aknowledge that the mere fact that there are so many rappers is an indication of the growth of Hip Hop but I'm tired of passing every corner and bumping into a rapper. I want quality, not quantity.

What's your view on this? Let me know...

Peace, love and Hip Hop
KTTIB x

2014 South African Hip Hop Awards Predictions

So tonight all roads lead to Gold Reef City as South African hip hop headz from all corners of the country come together to celebrate our underdog or overlooked and under-appreciated genre and culture. Wish I could be attending this year but from what I've heard, ETV's got us covered! This year has easily been my favourite year for our Hip Hop culture mainly because I only began getting hecticly involved in the local side of the culture this year, which I've learned has too much potential to even fathom! Good luck to all of the kats nominated (some of which I got the privellage to interview and get to know very well) and I hope you guys keep honouring Hip Hop the way you do! Hats off to the awards organisers as well. It's beautiful seeing Hip Hop growing in South Africa...

With the growing in social media platforms, it would be dope seeing a Best Hip Hop Blog category being introduced (nudge-nudge, hint-hint). There are so many. From Heavy Wordz to Bitches Know The Blog to The Influence I think our work and contribution to the culture should be recognised.

I made a little prediction list of who I think will win (based on their fan base size) and also who I think deserves to win (based on my personal views).

ALBUM OF THE YEAR:
AKA - Levels

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR:
Ganja Beats

HUSTLER OF THE YEAR:
Cassper Nyovest

BEST INTERNATIONAL BRAND:
Sprite

BEST LOCAL BRAND:
Butan

SONG OF THE YEAR:
Cassper Nyovest - Doc Shebeleza 

BEST DANCE CREW:
Freeze Frame    

BEST COLLABORATION:
Riky Rick - Amantombazane remix ft. DJ  Dimplez, Kid X, Kwesta, Maggz, Ginger Breadman and Nadia Nakai

DJ OF THE YEAR:
DJ Dimplez

BEST FRESHMAN:
Solo

BEST MIXTAPE OF THE YEAR:
Fratpack - Famlove

MOST VALUABLE ARTIST:
Reason                                          

VIDEO OF THE YEAR:
AKA - Congratulate

BEST GRAFFITI ARTIST:
Mars

BEST MALE:
Cassper Nyovest

BEST FEMALE:
Gigi LaMayne

BEST LYRICIST:
Solo

BEST PROMOTER:
HomeComing Picnic        

BEST HIP HOP RADIO SHOW:
16 Bars Reloaded on UJFM

KING OF GAUTENG:
DJ Dimplez 

KING OF MPUMALANGA:
Mfundo Nyambi

KING OF WESTERN CAPE:
Uno July

KING OF NORTHERN CAPE:
Lebogang “The Verdict” Magagane

KING OF KWA ZULU-NATAL:
Brian Khoza

KING OF EASTERN CAPE:
Yahkeem Ben Israel 

KING OF LIMPOPO:
Culprit

KING OF NORTH WEST:
DJ Lemonka

14 Signs That You're a Hip Hop Head

1. The Grammys annoy you.

2. MTV annoys you.

3. The radio annoys you.

4. You miss the Black Eyed Peas.

5. AKA is a disappointment. (He's good but you know he could be more)

6. You get offended whenever sombody says that they don't like rap.

7. Somewhere in your lifetime you've had cornrows.

8. Waiting on Detox has given you trust issues.

9. Biggie is the best rapper of all time... I mean Tupac - I mean Biggie - I mean...

10. Lil Wayne stopped releasing music after Tha Carter III.

11.It took Drake two albums to prove to you that he has BARS!

12. You can recite ten Jay-Z and Eminem tracks from memory.

13. You shed a tear every-time you listen to Song Cry or Stan

14. Complete the following sentence: "If you want beef then bring the ruckus _____________________________"

Guest post by Nkululeko Tselane

Top 10 Releases of 2014

2014 was a pretty good year for rap. Many rises and many disappointments. Before I start, I just wanna put it out there that rap is subjective (I think you can see where I’m going with this) and there were a whole bunch of other projects that (at the time that I heard them) I thought would make my list like the Clockwork Indigo EP, Fratpack’s FAM LOVE, Bishop Nehru and Dizzy Wright’s Stolen Youth, Curly Castro’s FIDEL, Pro Era’s The Shift and Chris Crack’s #TREESWAG amongst SO many more. But, when actually comparing them and compiling a Top 10 list, they actually didn’t. So, with that being said, hit me up about how you feel and if you think something should or shouldn’t be on the list. Feel free to ask me any questions about the list yo! We like opinions…

10. ScHoolboy Q – Oxymoron

9. Logic – Under Pressure

8.  Illy Amin – Straight Outta Grimetown

7.  J. Cole –2014 Forest Hills Drive

6. Domo Genesis - Under the Influence 2

5. Mick Jenkins – The Water[s]

4.  Big K.R.I.T – Cadillacta

3. CyHi Da Prince – Black Hystori Project

2. Isaiah Rashad – Cilvia Demo

1. Mac Miller - Faces

J. Cole - 2014 Forest Hills Drive Album Review

First off, I just wanna say that the hype for this album was unnecessary and a slight let down when actually listening to the album. Forest Hills Drive was leaked, which is always unfortunate for rappers – especially when such hard work was put into the project. But such is life and a part of the game and industry that you entered, my nigga! Before writing a review I always make sure I listen to the project twice. The first time just to see how I feel and the second time so that I can be sure I know exactly how I feel and don’t necessarily get anything imposed on me. The first time I listened to Forest Hills Drive I was actually pretty disappointed. Halfway through I felt like I was listening to Friday Night Lights and saw nothing special about this. It was only from A Tale of 2 Citiez that things started warming up and going uphill. Long story short – The second time I listened to the album over, I had a whole new perspective and enjoyed very second of it. With J. Cole’s soulful melodies carried throughout the album along with his nice flows, dirty delivery and sexy punchlines, Forest Hills Drive is a great way to end the year of rap. The album starts off quite laid back, with typical Friday Night Lights/The Warm Up vibes to it. The tempo gradually picks up and by G.O.M.D we’re knee-deep in hard bass, surprising flows and sick punchlines being thrown in all directions. Everything then slows down once again at Hello as we calm down to vibe with Jermaine once again as he nostalgically spits. In terms of content, I will be a bit blunt and say that there’s literally nothing new to see here. If you’ve listened to Friday Night Lights, Truly Yours and Born Sinner (or any other three J. Cole projects) then you’ve more or less already heard what he’s rapping about. As he says in 0’3 Adolesnece, “move along, nothing to see…” But this isn’t to say its not dope though! As mentioned earlier, the amount of hard work put into this album definitely comes thorugh. Some of my favourite tracks would have to be A Tale of 2 Citiez, G.O.M.D, Fire Squad,  No Role Modelz and the 14 miunte long outro Note To Self. Touching on things about his mother and brothers; the harsh reality of being a dreamer in such a cold world; the brutality of society; fucking bitches and just being Jermaine Cole, J. Cole delivered quite a good album that can go down as one of the top releases of the year. It’s position is debatable though. It feels like it’s been a minute since we last had something new from J. Cole so it’s dope having some new stuff to vibe out to. Thanks, J. Cole!

Content:  1.5/3

Production: 2 /3

Lyrics: 3/4

Total: 6.5/10

 

Illy Amin - Straight Outta Grimetown Mixtape Review

Earlier this year I started gaining a hectic interest in the rap collective straight out of my home citaaay Joburg, REVIVOLUTION! Along with this interest came an interest in one of the members – Illy Amin! Illy Amin takes us on a journey through the rap game in SA as he explores interesting flows and beats that aren’t too common to our rap industry. Straight Outta Grimetown is easily in my Top 10 mixtapes released this year firstly because of its relevance to me and other Joburg rap appreciators, and secondly because of the insane punchlines that and flows that I really wasn't expecting at all! Illy easily delivered some of the illest (see what I did there?) punchlines I’ve heard this entire year. Some of my favourite tracks would have Redbull Music Academy Session, Ric Flair, On My Soul and Pimp Pimp Hooray. A really dope mixtape that birthed new fans and rap appreciators not just in the city of gold but nationwide!

Content: 3/3

Production: 1/3

Lyrics: 3/4

Total:  7/10