Messages

106

Politics / Re: HIP HOP: TURNING POP CULTURE INTO A CULTURE OF RESISTANCE

« on: May 06, 2011, 01:58:29 PM »

Kwaito doesn't stand alone though.

Note how hip hop has become less and less about issues, and more and more about who has the most nut-hugging jeans and silly dance steps, while those artists who still try to make music with a message, are shunned at home and enjoy cult following overseas.

This is something we can't deny. And the situation wtih Zubz's Get Out is a clear example of the powers that be trying to hush music that may spark some sort of a revolt, or even just an iota of thought from the listeners. But we musn't forget the business element behind the Souljaboy's and Jozi's of the world - the ma**es out there (at least those being targeted by our media/corporates/advertisers) aren't really crying out for a Ben Sharpa to take the stage coz he won't make'em dance. So the endorsement of a Ben Sharpa by a big corporate or even a major record label doesn't really serve their best interests, which is to make money.

Which brings me to this question:

"Is pop music popular coz it's what the peeps want/ or is it popular because it's what the powers that be punt?"

I mean if it was a Ben Sharpa getting played 24/7 on 24 different radio and TV channels, 7 times a day, would that be what's deemed cool? That whole force feed'em til they like it thing?

Yes, play it often enough it will be liked. How long did it take before house music became this popular? I think that midtempo thing did the trick, then it got to the more up tempo, then can u believe SA black folk listen to electro(if that's the correct term) when we  actually never used to f*** with uptempo music, calling it white or coloured music. 

107

Politics / Re: HIP HOP: TURNING POP CULTURE INTO A CULTURE OF RESISTANCE

« on: May 06, 2011, 12:24:09 PM »

Interesting read. Things are never so black and white for me. Not all kwaito is frivolous and happy. Songs like Dont cry by Zola were certainly meaningful. Hip hop often times does not speak to South African culture, the ryhthms and language and mannerisms are alien. Maskandi does a better job of raising social awareness to the poor of the poor. With hip hop oftentimes there's a cla** element. It seems to appeal to the higher sectors of our society.

on point...

There is no genre of music with more revolutionary lyrics in SA than maskandi

108

Politics / Re: HIP HOP: TURNING POP CULTURE INTO A CULTURE OF RESISTANCE

« on: May 06, 2011, 12:06:11 PM »

Is it fair to dismiss all kwaito as something to "keep the ma**es entertained and pacified", something to "crowd out... consciousness and critical thinking"?

yes

hahah!

109

Politics / Re: HIP HOP: TURNING POP CULTURE INTO A CULTURE OF RESISTANCE

« on: May 06, 2011, 12:02:39 PM »

Is it fair to dismiss all kwaito as something to "keep the ma**es entertained and pacified", something to "crowd out... consciousness and critical thinking"?

That's the part I don't like about the article. 

110

Politics / HIP HOP: TURNING POP CULTURE INTO A CULTURE OF RESISTANCE

« on: May 06, 2011, 11:41:19 AM »

http://phreshmagazine.co.za/?p=548

I listened with shock to Mdu Masilela, the godfather of Kwaito admit without a trace of shame in his voice that around 1994 the powers that were invested a lot in Kwaito music as they saw it as a tool to calm down the extremely angry youth of that time (this was during a show called Evolution broadcast during the world cup). The question is; why was there a need to calm down the youth? Is not an angry youth a necessary ingredient for a revolutionary moment, the only need then becoming that of giving proper direction to the anger? The answer to this is that the ANC, as led by Nelson Mandela sold out Black people in the 94 negotiations (negotiations are by definition a sell out) and so needed something to take people’s minds off what was really happening. Critical thinking would have to be suspended as this would be of serious detriment to their sell out project.

Speaking at a meeting in Soweto in 1989, to the dismay of everyone there Frank Wilderson said the following about Mandela ‘If he is released then he will use his biblical stature to justify an accomodationist stance whereby cosmetic changes will be heralded as essential’ (Frank Wilderson III, Incognegro). If lacking Wilderson’s foresight then with the benefit of hindsight this is a perfect description of the post-94 project carried out by the ANC with Nelson Mandela as its poster boy. The ANC agreed to, perhaps even suggested a constitution internationally heralded as one of the most progressive in the world. This constitution declares that ‘everyone has a right to private property and for that property to be protected’. This was adopted in one of the most unequal societies in the world where one group of people (whites) had enriched themselves through sheer thieving from and exploitation of the other group (Blacks). In simple terms, the constitution said that white (ill gained) wealth will not be touched. To Mandela and his gang there was therefore no past; no slavery, colonisation nor apartheid (which was declared a crime against humanity, the effect of protecting wealth accumulated during it is to protect proceeds from crime) or the past had no bearing on the present and future, there was also no present; no Alexandra (which “normally” exists along the splendour of Sandton), no Khayelitsha, Kliptown or Gugulethu to name a few, there was only their romantic dream of reconciliation and racial harmony without justice. The ANC then sought to buy back stolen land; how pussy is that? To this end it has only achieved to return back around 6% of the Land which means that over 70% of it is still in white hands. This ensures the continuation of the horrors of farm workers and shack dwellers in our “rainbow nation”.

My interest as a Hip Hop head is, would Hip Hop have made a different call to that of “calm down, put away your dream journals and dance”? Put differently, did the absence of, say Ben Sharpa on that rooftop enable Mdu to shout gibela phezu kwendlu ubatshele uMaZola sekada and not “f*** the rainbow nation because 94 changed fokol”? Here I make the argument that the ma** popularisation of Kwaito provided and still provides a crowding out scenario for Hip Hop and thus for consciousness and critical thinking. My point is that this anti-Black system would never allow Hip Hop to thrive until it waters itself down because in its “unwatered down” state it provokes thought and thought is the basis for rebellion; a threat to the system. When Andries Tatane was shot while protesting one would have expected that the next day Ben Sharpa’s Hegemony would have received record breaking radio airplay and downloads but alas we continued singing imot’ entshontsh’ imali. The banning of Zubz’ track “Get out” for apparently inciting violence comes to mind at this point (In the same album Zubz showed the shallowness of his politics when he declared Mandela “The greatest revolutionary of our time”). Here the perceived incitement of violence calls for a crisis and nothing is said of the state violence that Black people encounter on the daily. Therefore it’s not so much a detesting of violence per se but a ‘preference for state violence over the [liberating] violence of the people’ (Slavoj Zizek). So the system lets Zola, El’vovo, Cleo and Professor to succeed because they keep the ma**es entertained and pacified. The Blackwash dream writes beautifully on this when it says “when a Black infant draws its last breath in a cardboard box, the machine is there to turn up the volume of our of favourite kwaito song so we refuse to hear the sound of life escaping little bodies by the hundreds. When a rock crushes the bones of a miner it is there with the thud-thud of our favourite Jika Majika dancers so we refuse to see what lies behind the happy young natives.” So the tactic becomes this; keep them chanting more and thinking less.

But kwaito has another role it plays which is the glorification of township life; think Zola’s Ghetto Fabulous which is nothing but a glorification of these “labour reserves” we call townships. A friend on facebook (who I am at pains to remember) made a point of how this is like Jews singing “Concentration camp fabulous”. Here we are made to celebrate township life and thus we accept our systematic relegation to it and never question it. Heck, we even argue about who comes from the roughest ghetto or who comes from the “most hip and happening”. This is slaves seeing their chains as bling and as Talib Kweli beautifully put it “arguing about who’s got the fliest chain”. The ghetto is a motif in kwaito music, so kwaito has a direct interest in maintaining the ghetto; so there actually has to be amagenge ekoneni for Mandoza to ask “uzoyithola kanjani uhlel’ ekoneni”. The destruction of the ghetto then removes a major subject, a source of enjoyment, a large contributor in the million copies sold (with lots of the profits going to white Label bosses), so kwaito can never fight for the destruction of the ghetto. Hip Hop heads must understand that they can only speak of love for the ghetto if by that they are speaking of the people in the ghetto and not the place itself because that place was created to keep us there.

Kwaito plays another role in the post 94 project which is quite similar to that played by your mainstream US Hip Hop artists. Kwaito is the face of the (few) Blacks who have “made it”. This we see in the Durban music videos of Tshisa nyama’s and pool parties in big mansions. This new cla** of Blacks is often characterised by cra** spending often funded by credit. They then shout “uzoyithola kanjani uhlel’ ekoneni”. Here they miss the point that it’s not that we don’t get success because of chilling at the corner but we chill at the corner because we are not succeeding. Here they play the cla**ic liberal politics of blaming the victim, the truth is that not all of us can “make it” and way too often those who are lucky enough to do so do so by exploiting their own people. I am not at all against success and I take nothing away from the Blacks who achieved it but they must be aware that they are being a**imilated into this anti-Black system and used as an excuse for its failures. A better example was Tupac, who, despite his glories stayed conscious of the condition of his people and what perpetuates them.

It is interesting to note how the ANC uses kwaito and gospel stars in its rallies and campaigns such as Chomi. Kwaito and gospel work in similar ways in that (most of the time) they appeal to emotion, often happy emotion and crowd out any thought. The ANC is now launching its own pop talent search show; it would be interesting to see if singing a politically charged, anti-state audition song would make the contender stand any chance. Key to maintaining the status quo is forgetting, so Tha Hymphatic thabz writing as Jan Van Riebeeck urges us to “forget that past” for that will “do a lot of harm to what he’s done”. The (Black) MC must therefore be that voice that constantly reminds us of the injustices our people have to bear, urging us to heighten our sense of injustice. So as kwaito is the face of the (few) credit funded Black elites, Hip Hop must be the face and voice of the (many) poor and forgotten Black people. We must understand that we cannot merely be observers because our Black skin makes us available to the same violence we write about and so we must be actively involved in struggles to destroy the power that unleashes such violence.

I think Hip Hop has a task on her hand to create out of pop culture a culture of resistance. As Kwame Ture best said it, “The culture of all oppressed is the culture of resistance… Thus all artists coming from an oppressed people must represent resistance in their art form”.

Black Molar.

111

Politics / Re: ANC vs DA election ad campaign

« on: May 05, 2011, 06:10:13 PM »

DA
http://www.youtube.com/embed/bgtdi8T5wLE

112

Politics / ANC vs DA election ad campaign

« on: May 05, 2011, 06:05:40 PM »

ANC
http://www.youtube.com/embed/I8_BElDeg_k

can anybody find me the DA one (which is Based God compared to the ANC one)

113

Humour / Jokes / Re: the based definition...

« on: May 05, 2011, 12:12:00 PM »

glad im not the only getting the #latepa** Tang. lol

this part here kills me

"Basedists pray to the all-mighty Basedgod in hopes that he will bless them with his swag."

where's my boy Deac at?

114

General Discussion / Re: Sad songs

« on: May 05, 2011, 12:04:06 PM »

re the based definition

http://www.africasgateway.com/forums/index.php/topic,30300.new.html#new

115

Humour / Jokes / the based definition...

« on: May 05, 2011, 12:03:15 PM »

according to urbandictionary.com

Basedism

A religion; the practitioners of which should try to exhibit Based-like characteristics (swagging to the maximum, living based, thanking Basedgod etc). Sadly, many people proclaim themselves Basedists because of their parents or friends. Many of them do not exhibit Based-like characteristics, but rather the opposite. They live unbased knowingly and criticize the rest of the world for not being Based.

Basedists pray to the all-mighty Basedgod in hopes that he will bless them with his swag.
Basedism prayer

Now I lay me down to cook,
I pray the Based my #swag to keep
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Based my bitch to take

lol

116

General Discussion / Re: Sad songs

« on: May 05, 2011, 11:56:04 AM »

Here you go Pyro. This beat so sad it might be emo-hop 

Lil B - I'm GOD (Clams Casino)

damn! I f***s with this.

This is so Based. LOL !

If based means simple/basic? then of course yes, it is. But it does trigger a sad emotion in a very nice way.

Nah man. Based refers to everything Lil B does. He is the Based GOD, so when his shit thumps people say it's "Based". LOL !!! Catch up on Lil B man. He's the future.

Hope u good my nigga. Was nice chilling the other day.

OH?  lol got you.

just downloaded his intrumentals mixtape. got 4 joints so far cause the download broke. this is some cool shit.

Im doing great man. No doubt it was great hanging out bro.

117

General Discussion / Re: Sad songs

« on: May 05, 2011, 10:24:36 AM »

Damn this Clams Casino individual. check this.

Clams Casino - Motivation

118

General Discussion / Re: Sad songs

« on: May 05, 2011, 10:19:16 AM »

Here you go Pyro. This beat so sad it might be emo-hop 

Lil B - I'm GOD (Clams Casino)

damn! I f***s with this.

This is so Based. LOL !

If based means simple/basic? then of course yes, it is. But it does trigger a sad emotion in a very nice way.

119

General Discussion / Re: Sad songs

« on: May 04, 2011, 10:50:01 PM »

Here you go Pyro. This beat so sad it might be emo-hop 

Lil B - I'm GOD (Clams Casino)

damn! I f***s with this.

120

General Discussion / Re: Jadakiss to SA

« on: May 04, 2011, 10:24:08 PM »

smh at the youth league