Great thread Onek1nd.
I think sadly, the kind of responses you are receiving here are in themselves an indication of how big a problem this is of RACISM WITHIN HIP HOP.
I'll have to agree with both D Planet and Amiel's comment that we can no longer afford to be pointing fingers if we aren't actioning up to restore the existing parallels. In the same breath I gather that must be the reason why you're planning to make a documentary about it so that's a step foward.
I have to however disagree on the opinion expressed by Amiel and others that documenting those fractions would be fueling the problem, I actually think doing so would have the opposite effect, it would force us to look at ourselves and our contributions to those fractions. In today's democratic South Africa, we continue to learn from history that the remnants of such legacies are not likely to just evaporate but instead in denying their existence, we will again wake to terrible hindsight as we've had to with xhenophobia attacks and other incidents like at the UFS, where we find ourselves astonished that "people still do that? it's 2008, how can they be so ignorant? etc etc.
But the fact is, unless we put a mirror in front of heads and say this is how you're looking; whether you believe that it's racism within Hip Hop or just general racism, there are still evident fractions that portray a racial bias within SA (especially Cape Town) Hip Hop.
DPlanet the satement u make here is true in every sense: people have been conditioned by a racist system to be wary or fearful of the 'other'. naturally, as a potentially powerful voice of the people, hip hop should bear some responsibility to unpack these issues and debunk the myths.
That is how I think we should unpack these issues but how do you debunk 'myths' if they aren't really myths but realities that we've chosen to keep closeted behind our rhymes, our rhymes alone don't mean much in the face of blaring evidence of separation.
So in as much as projects like the Hip Hop Indaba and Planetary a**ult are good examples of what the face of Hip Hop should look, examples that we can actually work and exist harmoniously; we should also remember that this isn't necesarily the way it is.
The five fractions that Onek1nd speaks of within Hip Hop in Cape Town might not in every sense of the word be racially-influenced as in each within its own right; but I think they incorporate issues of race, preferences, language differences and so forth.
I refer this back to the issue raised by Amiel, we need to get practical. I myself have been in discussions about this topic with 'coloured' friends & fellow artists who happen to be 'coloured' (sorry it's in inverted commas, I just find the whole black/coloured thing to be a bit senseless but then again that's thanks to apartheid masterminds who as Amiel broke down so well, managed to convince us that we are not ONE people).
& what has surfaced from there, the same sense I'm getting from Amiel's comments is that in as much as the fractions are obviously due to tastes (I either like Spaza or I don't; I don't have to go to a Spaza event just to be rigtheous in whatever manner); one of the biggest issues here is quality.
What I've gathered from having been part of the Cape Town scene myself and being involved in such discussions is : 'coloured' crews and artists like Amiel, Godessa etc who understand the value of quality in our music; get impatient with 'black' events not necessarily due to race but due to the fact that in most instances, our events are not properly organised in terms of sound quality, marketing, co-ordination and even the way we handle ourselves on stage.
Secondly,we are not doing enough to combine the elements which is something that Black Noise does extremely well. 'Black' gigs are emcee and dj dominated; it seems we have forgotten graf, breaking and all those other elements that are supposed to be part and parcel of any gig thrown really.
These are some of the things that contribute to these fractions.
So if you do make a film about this, you'll have to look at each of these angles because they'd all count in painting a picture about what some of the sources of this are. It has to be thought-provoking to heads like that, so that they can re-evaluate themselves, the situation, place the problems and deal with each of them instead of just dumping them all on racism.
Yes, some of this divisions are lingually and racially motivated but there's much much more to it.
