Putting music to culture
Lindile Sifile speaks to Zuluboy about ‘conscious’ hip-hop and mixing Zulu traditions
‘Some people call this type of hip-hop boring because we don’t sing about the Bentleys and expensive cognac like Hennessy and any other s**t like that. To me all that stuff is irrelevant to the way I grew up; if my mother were still alive she wouldn’t approve’
– Zuluboy
‘I believe that we (SA music industry) have a sense of direction in what we do. Our cultural beliefs guide us’
– Zuluboy
FROM burning herbs before his stage performances to lyrics that sparked the interest of former South African deputy president Jacob Zuma, local rapper Zuluboy is a true Zulu at heart who is set to break the bling-bling stereotypes of hip-hop music.
Born Mxolisi Zuma – no relation to Jacob Zuma – or Zuluboy as he is popularly known in entertainment circles, he is blessed with the talent of storytelling.
He fuses Zulu-language idioms with contemporary urban hip-hop.
His rhymes blend well with the beats, heavily influenced by African drums and traditional maskandi elements.
The KwaZulu-Natal-born star is the latest addition to the new and exciting vernacular hip-hop that has African languages and English complementing each other.
Setswana rappers Hip-Hop Pantsula; Stoan Seete, of Bongo Maffin; and Tuks, are some of the few rappers who have popularised the style while Pro (Kid), H20, Mr Selwyn and Amu are flying the flag high for Zulu speakers.
Unlike the most popular rappers, better known as emcees in rap culture, who idolise commercial hip-hop, Zuluboy shies away from the American twang, baggy pants, heavy jewellery, expensive cars and half-naked, booty-shaking girls.
He is all about conscious or “man on the street” hip-hop, and is set to educate the black nation about its origin while dishing out street literature.
“Some people call this type of hip-hop boring because we don’t sing about the Bentleys and expensive cognac like Hennessy and any other s**t like that. To me all that stuff is irrelevant to the way I grew up; if my mother were still alive she wouldn’t approve. Hip-hop is an art form that sets to educate the ma**es and not feed them s**t that is not relevant to the guy on the street.
“The problem with South Africans is that we depend too much on spoon-feeding when it comes to music, and I think it’s time we take pride on our own stuff,” says Zuluboy, whose mentor includes American rapper KRS1, famous for his anti-bling-bling attitude in American hip-hop.
Zuluboy says he will never buy the CDs of these five hip-hop artists because of their “wackness” (rap slang for weakness): 50Cent; Lloyd Banks; TI; Chingy; and Lil’ Jon.
These days almost every hip-hop discussion ends up addressing the topic of whether music and culture have become too commercial.
American rappers like Nelly and 50Cent are some of the many commercial artists who have been criticised for diluting real hip-hop with meaningless, shallow lyrics about women’s body parts and bragging about their wealth.
The music video trend of throwing money at the camera while bikini clad women shake it in the background adds salt to the wounds of the injured genre.
In an effort to save the genre and take it back to its prime of the early 1990s, American rapper Nas recently released a provocative album called Hip-hop is dead which sets the record straight – how money and greed is killing hip-hop.
However, commercial hip-hop fans see conscious hip-hop as uninteresting.
Hip-hop website allhiphop.com says some of the misconceptions – and truths, I think – about underground or conscious hip-hoppers include:
lThey are poor independent artists barely making it because no one recognises or appreciates their artistic expression;
lThey all spit conscious, intelligent lyrics and have no gangster tendencies;
lThey have love and respect for the hip-hop culture; and
lThey have mastered their rhyme skills.
But where does South African hip-hop fit into all of this?
Zuluboy reckons that since our industry is still in its infancy, it has not really been affected by the conflicting arguments.
“I believe that we have a sense of direction in what we do. Our cultural beliefs guide us.
“For example, the likes of HHP have introduced the vernacular into hip-hop for Tswana speakers and I believe that I’m an answer for the Zulus.
“It’s an indigenous style that inspires us in our evolution of taking hip-hop back to its origin.
“They might accuse real hip-hop emcees of using big words in their lyrics, but it is what we read in the books and we translate it in music.
“Of course money keeps us motivated, but love keeps us grounded,” says Zuluboy.
His thoughts are all in his debut album, Masihambisane, released in September last year.
It’s an unashamedly Zulu album, which on the track Hail to the Kings, features King Zwelithini’s praise singer who belts out uplifting praises to the tribe’s legacy of warriors.
Since its release, the album has sold in excess of 10000 copies – quite an achievement for a five-month-old local hip-hop CD.
He’s probably the only local emcee to have Jacob Zuma dancing to another song besides Umshini wami (Bring me my machine gun).
I can sense him blushing on the other end of the telephone line when I inquire about Zuma’s interest in his music.
I heard the former South African deputy president had sent a delegation to look for Zuluboy’s CD after he had been struck by a catchy beat or verse.
“I was shocked when I heard that. It’s not common to find a person of his position interested in hip-hop. Last year, I was approached by people who work closely with him and they told me that he was interested in my stuff and had plans to do something about it, but I haven’t heard from them since,” says Zuluboy.
Indeed only a few people of Zuma’s status would approve of hip-hop music. A few months ago the hip-hop world criticised talk-show host Oprah Winfrey for her hypocrisy, following her attack on Ludacris for using the n-word and degrading women in his music.
This happened during one of her live broadcasts. According to The Source website (an American hip-hop online magazine), website rapper Ice Cube retaliated, saying: “She had damn rapists, child molesters and lying authors on her show and if I’m not a rags-to-riches story for her, who is?”
Thanks to the meaningful and intelligent lyrics of some of our emcees, local hip-hop has gained the respect it deserves in this country.
Zuluboy’s pride in his culture goes beyond just using it as lyrics in his music; it is his way of life.
While many of us would ridicule the sight of a musician using traditional herbs, burning impepho (a bush used to ward off evil) is part of his lifestyle.
“I burn impepho everytime I leave my home and light it off stage before my performances. It wards off evil energies that people might have towards me while I’m performing. It is something I have learned growing up in KwaZulu-Natal.”
There’s a sudden sense of sadness in his voice when talking about his family. Long pauses fill the gaps between sentences.
He was raised by his mother. His father died in 1996, and his mother two years ago.
“My father was never in the picture. I even arrived late at his funeral and when I got there they had already filled the grave, but I think both my parents would have been proud of what I have done for myself.
“I’m not angry at my father for not being there when I needed him. It was a lesson, and I think I will make a better father than some people who grew up in the presence of their fathers,” he says unapologetically.
And if his unabashed mix of modern and traditional culture is anything to go by,
http://www.dispatch.co.za/2007/03/17/Columns/c2.html