SA Hip Hop on a street/indie level is doomed unless headz countrywide (& the whole continent @large) get off that; ''nobody is doper than my homeboy!'' mentality...and just give props where they ' due, work together and keep it moving.
i.e. Let The Federation introduce The Anvils to the Soweto crowd and vice versa...the same goez with Driemans in the Cape...
' possible ''something'' in my opinion.
As I said before, building an artist's career takes a lot of work, time and money.
There's very little money in our industry and most of the corporate money goes to the most commercial artists. I believe this is slowly changing (and will continue to do so), but we have to raise our standards in every aspect of the the indie music business and stop making excuses.
We have to start by being more critical of our standards. Is the new beat you just made better than anything else that's out there? Are your emceeing skills on par with the best in the country? Are you bringing something new and exciting to the game? Is your live show as good as Mos Def's? If you're not sure the answer to these questions is 'yes', you need to go back to the lab and practice until you are sure. Just being able to rap doesn't qualify you to be a rapper. Be your own biggest critic and don't let your friends gas you up.
Collaborations are great, but only if they are part of a strategic framework. There's no point introducing Cape Town to a new Joburg artist if they don't have a professional-quality CD available to buy.