South African hip hop

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The musical and social movement of hip hop in South Africa has grown exponentially in the last two decades, most notoriously in the form of home-grown Kwaito, which is actually a distinct musical genre in itself.

[edit] Artists

P.O.C
Ill-Literate Skillz
Zola
Skwatta Kamp
Tumi and the Volume
The Illements
Pro Kid
Trusenz
Ben Sharpa
Archetypes
Tuks
Konfab
Pro Verb
Middle Finga
The Anvillz
Black Lez
Ras
Rashid* Thokoza's Finest member
Hoodlum* Thokoza's Finest member
Hakeem
Mycbeth
N-veigh
Amu
HHP
Zubz
H20
Pitch Black Afro
Hidden Force
Septic
Morafe
Jozi
Gumshev
Brickz

[edit] Music

This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article.
Please improve it or discuss changes on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.

Much of hip hop and Kwaito in South Africa is derived from western beats and tunes mixed with localized rhythms and accents.

Lyrically, South African hip-hop is largely reliant on the political landscape from which the country has only recently emerged. If the explicit mention of Apartheid is not offered, lyrics will often revolve around the residue of the political system; such as the prevelance of HIV/AIDS, violence in the major cities, and what it means to be South African.

On the other hand, Kwaito has been seen as more devoted to "positive imagery," taking listeners away from the harsher realities of township life, where it originated.

Currently, South African hip hop is at a very exciting stage as it is begins to acquire its own musical style. In the same breath, individual provinces are developing their own styles of hip hop. For example Pretoria has a number of really hot up and coming MC's like The Anvilz, Black Lez, Ras, Hakeem, AQ and Thir[13], etc, who are all putting out their own projects independently and are more focused on developing the industry and contributing as much as they personally can.

Also, from the perspective of keeping the culture alive, more and more organising bodies are on the rise now, these are companies responsible for making sure that the culture lives in the streets and platforms for exposure are available to the artists, like Slaghuis and Black Sundays in Soweto, and State Theatre (ROACH INC Entertainment) in Pretoria. Websites are also popping up trying to push the movement and generate awareness about our activities (www.africasgateway.com, www.nitefeva.com and www.harambeafrica.com), and even radio stations now more than ever are giving a lot of local artists airplay. Stations like Y-fm, Metro fm and even campus and community radio stations are really supporting the movement.

As much as hip hop has grown in South Africa it is still in its infancy in terms of recognition & artists rarely sell well. Differences in styles & approaches to the art have led to the South African market being split into sectors, for example:Cape Town has long been termed South African hip hops birthground with its more politically-charged & socially conscious artists, however, in recent years Johannesburgs control of the already small buying market has led to differences between the two areas.

This hip hop music/culture article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.