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.
