Publications
Partners
DRIEMANSKAP
Record label Native Rhythms – which represents Zuluboy, Zakwe and Camagwini, among others – has, in a move that might catapult Gugulethu rap group Driemanskap to greater heights, kept a piece of news from the prying eyes of the mainstream media.
Word on the street is that the hard-hitting outfit are already in the studio preparing an EP for release next month in anticipation of their new album. There’s even talk of a potential anti-xenophobia track to be included, if their Facebook page is anything to by.
With their hard-hitting rhymes and banging beats, Driemanskap have carved a niche for the pioneers of the Spaza movement – a mix of isiXhosa raps and other indigenous languages laced with Cape Flats slang. They’re best known for their hit single Sphum’eGugs (We’re From Gugs) and Izulu Lelam. – Siyabonga Sithole
DOPE SAINT JUDE
It’s no accident that Catherine St Jude, AKA Dope Saint Jude, has the word ‘dope’ in her name (it’s not about narcotics) because she’s pretty dope. Saint Jude’s yummy style is a mix of slang, Cape Flats Afrikaans and South Africa’s very own underground gay terminology. What’s also dope is the manner in which she deliberately confuses and challenges gender identity and infuses her feminist politics into her art. In her track with fellow Cape Town MC Angel-Ho called Keep In Touch, she describes herself as a “a soldier, a queen, tattooed but still pristine...” She’s everything an order-obsessed, heteronormative, patriarchal society like this one is petrified of, and that’s what makes her so great. – Gugulethu Mhlungu
ANGEL-HO
The world of hip-hop might seem a difficult point of entry to challenge queer stereotypes, but a new wave of artists are claiming their place in the world of bling with genres like nu-queer, homocore and queercore. This artist has brought his own brand of dirty glamour into the spotlight with a throwback 90s look that channels the vogue movements so synonymous with underground queer culture. Dropping words like ‘wendy’, ‘dora’, ‘clora’, ‘natalie’ and ‘nancy’ – queer slang some might understand from the club circuit, but if not, you needn’t worry, you’ll pick it up quickly enough. Like Angel-Ho says in the song: “Keep in touch.” – Garreth van Niekerk
DOOKOOM
In October last year, hip-hop crew Dookoom caused a nationwide stir with their controversial video for their track Larney Jou Poes – a reflection on the land issue and a stark indictment of the plight of farm workers in South Africa.
The band, headed by Cape Flats underground hip-hop legend Isaac Mutant, has since played venues across the country and is now gearing up for a European tour that will take them through France and Poland. A video for their track, Electric, is also in the works. When it comes to in-your-face music with a vitriolic political slant, there’s no act in the country that’s doing it quite like Dookoom. – Grethe Koen
