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Osmic Mentoe has been curating the hip hop culture on a large scale for twelve years.
His is the brain behind one of the most successful music festivals in South Africa, Back To The City. This annual celebration of hip hop and street culture is a must for most followers of this culture and will leave an indelible imprint on the memories of those who come along simply to experience something unique.
Preparations are well under way. Osmic and his team at Ritual Media were at their headquarters on Rissik street, finalising and preparing what seemed like it would be going on well in to the night.
The building is very suave and fits Osmic’s persona quite well. The quiet and insightful Osmic said he first fell in love with hip hop when “was in sub b, I don’t know what they call that now. Before standard 1, I used to draw a lot, writing my name. I would later discover that was graffiti. One of my cousins came back from the states with some tapes and you know, hip hop stuff, and I took interest. From there it led to a hunger for an understanding of the culture.” He had a graffiti crew from early on called the African Boys Club as well as an interest in beat boxing and skateboarding, a general lust for street culture.
He is adamant that the idea for the festival can be traced back to his younger days.
Osmic said “it started with the whole thing of wanting to create a magazine. Ritual magazine was intended to capture the scene because at the time, there was no magazine of that sort”.
He also released a Hell’s Kitchen compilation tape which he said helped push his name and add credibility.
This tape had a few hidden gems on it and they later went on to become respected names in the local rap game.
“Fast forward and then I had the Ritual store. The music was there and so was the magazine but I became intrigued by the idea of getting people to congregate in one space. An event where like-minded people can come together and experience what freedom truly means. We all know what happened on Freedom Day but we didn’t really understand.”
Education is the cornerstone of his efforts through this festival as well as the South African Hip Hop awards which he is also responsible for.
He has managed to bring Joburg a few legendary international acts like Jeru The Damaja, Master Ace and this year Pharoahe Monch.
These choices are based on his notion to educate the kids on what came before the dominant sounds in hip hop today.
Looking to the future, the enterprising Osmic is hoping to provide more schooling.
“Things will keep growing. Hip hop is growing and we grow with it,” he said.
Osmic and his Ritual group are planning to announce a few exciting projects at the Festival. He told City Press exclusively that they are working on a South African Hip Hop Association which will aim to tackle social ills and bridge the gap between government, corporates and street culture.
He is also behind a South African hip hop museum which is still in the pipeline and should add to his arsenal of curation.
Back To The City will take place on Freedom Day at Mary Fitzgerald Square.
