i don't know. our mainstream hip hop has never been this close to stuff that's being produced in the 'mecca' that is America. it leads me to wonder what the next step will be - say five or six years from now - will we still be taking all our cues from the states, or by then will we have established the confidence to take bolder (albeit mainstream) risks? - or will we (like it could be argued now) be producing simultaneously and in sync with America and Europe a globalized hip hop?
the time lapse it usually takes for trends to precipitate down to our corner of the world has been considerably shortened by the internet - what cats are doing now is a direct result of this. even Ben Sharpa's work with Milanese takes it's cues from the electro-hop, ba**-rap party bunch big in America and Europe at the moment.
the difference is that Milanese is a recognised originator of that style.
The reason Ben is getting great reviews from European media and getting booked at festivals all over the world is because he is at forefront of a movement - not because he is mimicking current pop trends.
man, i was hoping this would be the point you'd give the least attention to. i mean i know about Milanese and Ben Sharpa is dope (though i'm not sure what movement you're referring to?), but what do you think of mimickry moving onto simultaneous production - Bongz and them playing equally in the field of global mainstream hip hop? i mean we can't say that these cats are completely devoid of a South African context (they refrence that shit throughout), and the mainstream anyway, has never been known for innovation. it's not just South Africans (or Africans actually) that bite these styles but it's a global thing that happens even in America (everyone bit T-Pain; the continent didn't just simultaneously come up with that shit).
Milanese might be an innovator, but Playdoe's doing their thing here in SA and there's a lot of other guys with the same style popping up in America and Europe. is that mimickry?
what i'm asking is that now that we're doing what they're doing at more or less the same time, is it possible that sometime in the future, SA might set its own trends in globalized mainstream hip hop?
i mean it almost goes without saying that these cats (Bongz, Maggz etc.) would have blown up if they were from the states.
I don't think it goes without saying that Bongz and Maggz would have blown up if they were from the States (if you mean blowing up in the States). There are hundreds of thousands of dope rappers and producers out there (probably in every State). Only a tiny elite blow up. Generally this elite is derived from innovators at the front of the curve, not lagging behind it.
In marketing theory you have the innovation adoption curve which I believe can be applied to artists too.
http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/image/picture_rogers_adoption_innovation_curve.gifInnovatorsBrave people, puling the change. Innovators are very important communication.
Early AdoptersRespectable people, opinion leaders, try out new ideas, but in a careful way.
Early MajorityThoughtful people, careful but accepting change more quickly than the average.
Late MajoritySceptical people, will use new ideas or products only when the majority is using it.
LaggardsTraditional people, caring for the "old ways", are critical towards new ideas and will only accept it if the new idea has become mainstream or even tradition.
Obviously this doesn't fit perfectly for music, but I think certain parallels can be drawn. Bongz and Maggz could be cla**ified as part of the late majority by their heavy use of well-established international pop trends, auto-tune and swag (respectively). However, what puts them ever further behind the curve is not simply the fact that they use these trends, but that they use them in a way that is so similar to T-Pain and Akon as to be almost indistinguishable from them.
T-Pain didn't invent auto-tune (it's been around since the 1970s as far as I know), but he blew it up in a new mainstream way. Even though he's pop, I still believe that he is an innovator as he created his own style of RnB / Snap / Hip Hop. He made it his own. Kanye also used it, but he did it in his own way. He also made it his own. Likewise with Lil Wayne (I'd never heard verses rapped through auto-tune until Weezy did it).
We have very little critical media in SA, so people can get away with blatant biting and no one calls it out. If you did that in Europe or the States you'd have no credibility as an artist because you'd be called out (or even worse, just ignored by the public and the media). It's pretty easy to tell the difference between innovation and biting. I don't think you need to be a music historian to know it when you hear it.
Obviously there is still a market in SA for Late Majority artists, but music like this will never set trends because the trend has already been well established. SA artists will only create international trends in mainstream hip hop when they take risks and do something original. However, it's not just as simple as creating innovative music. SA doesn't have worldwide media like the US does so, until that changes, SA artists will always have to go overseas but that's a different story.
