Word Up eZine Nov-Dec 2011 by Big Dre

CULTURE MAGAZINE | 06 | Nov/Dec 2011

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NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2011 Issue NO. 6 wordup.ezine@gmail.com Co-founder / Editor Co-founder / Creative

Big Dré Nash

Contributing Writers

Toni Stuart Gugu Kheswa

On the cover: Installation by Vhils

CARTOONS

9 . Brandan Reynolds

VERSE

23 . Richard ‘Quaz’ Roodt – Homeward Bound

MUSIC FEATURES

5 . 12 . 20 . 28 .

Likwidskillz Monique Hellenberg DJ Eazy Core Wreckah

FEATURE

2 . Fly Wheels – Zahier Davids 6 . Vhils – Explosive Art

IN EVERY ISSUE PHOTOGRAPHY

14 . Photos by Kent Lingeveldt

ARTICLES 18 . 24 . 26 . 31 .

Yemoya by Toni Stuart 2BOP by Toni Stuart Too Cold by Gugu Kheswa More dusty than digital: Roy Ayers

1 . 33 . 34 . 35 . 37 .

Editor’s Letter Movie Reviews Music Reviews In the Mix On the Download/Directory

p2 Bar stool by Flywheel Bikes

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EDITOR’S LETTER

The Big 8 Our intention is for this eZine to serve as a tool for development in some way and what better way to develop than as a human being. So what follows are a few important steps that will assist you in your quest to achieve your hopes and dreams, maybe even fame and fortune. Having been inspired by the 8 traits that lead to great success by Richard St John, we feel it’s a great way to formulate a new approach for 2012: Firstly it is important to be driven by your PASSION, do what you do for the sheer LOVE of it and not the money. What’s interesting is that if you do it with enough passion the money comes anyway. When you want to achieve something of significance it requires you to WORK hard. The trick is to have a lot of fun while you are working hard. To be successful at anything you have to immerse yourself in it and become damn good at it. There’s no magic formula or shortcut, it’s just practice, practice and more practice. Find ways to constantly IMPROVE. It all has to do with FOCUSing your attention on one thing and physically as well as mentally you have to PUSH yourself. You have to push through shyness, self-doubt and setbacks. SERVE others in a meaningful way. The way to become rich is to serve others something of value. IDEAS are important to success and there’s no magic to creativity and coming up with ideas it’s just doing these simple things: Make connections people, listen to and observe them, always be curious and ask questions. That way you come up with ideas that help to solve people’s problems and make life easier. PERSISTance is the number one reason for success. Quitting is easy, you have to persist through failure, you have to persist through CRAP (Criticism Rejection A**holes and Pressure). In this issue, we feature Likwidskillz, Monique Hellenberg, Core Wreckah and DJ Eazy. We also have contributions from writers Gugu Khsewa and Toni Stuart. Quaz kindly provided us with wordplay for The Verse and on the visuals we have explosive artworks by Vhils, the cartoons of Brandan Reynolds and a photo journal by Kent Lingeveldt. Special thanks to Blakrok for artist info and Bronwyn April for her help behind the scenes. Thank you also to everyone who contributed to, or supported Word Up eZine during 2011. Join our tribe and help our artists and their various forms of expression flourish. If you haven’t made it into Word Up yet, don’t be mad, just send your biography to our email address: wordup.ezine@gmail.com

If you or anyone else you may know is talented, spread the magazine and the word. We welcome all submissions (photos, graffiti, design, fine art, tattoo art, articles, music for reviews, etc.) Please help us make it easier to expose your art. Send all submissions and info on upcoming events to: wordup.ezine@gmail.com Sign up for the eZine by typing ‘subscribe’ in the subject line and emailing it to: wordup.ezine@gmail.com Submissions: Artwork – high resolution PDFs or medium to high resolution (150 to 300 dpi) RGB Jpegs. Articles – 300 to 500 words in a Microsoft Word document.

The views expressed in Word Up eZine are those of the respective contributors and not necessarily shared by the eZine and its staff. Word Up eZine welcomes new contributions, but assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, illustrations, etc. Word Up eZine is produced by Word Up Productions CC.

Keep H.O.P.E. (Having Only Positive Expectations) alive.

Onward and upward!

Big Dré

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FEATURE

In 2000 Zahier Davids, a native of the suburb of Kensington, one of the Cape Flatsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; oldest communities was retrenched from his office job. Although he struggled to find employment he did not let the situation discourage him. He noticed that, like him, many youngsters in his neighbourhood were attracted to the low-rider culture of customizing vintage cars. He couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t afford the resources to pursue his passion for customizing cars instead he tapped into his own creativity and so began working in his garage to convert old bicycles spare parts into eye-catching street commodities.

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FEATURE

1) What were you doing in your previous job? I was at metropolitan doing boring admin work. The job came after I studied a bit and needed to pay for my fees. I got a casual job thinking I could study through them part time but that never happened. I ended up [working] there for about 6 years until I was retrenched.

2) How did you get into customizing bikes? I always had a love for low-rider cars and followed the international low-rider scene. I can remember drawing and designing my dream low-rider [that] I would build some day. That still is one of my dreams; to build my own low-rider car. When I was retrenched I couldn’t find a job anywhere. I had a little money from my package and invested it into building a low-rider bicycle. The low-rider scene comes from the Latin American and Mexican people. Initially I had no knowledge of building a bicycle or working with metal. All I knew was that it had to look like a low-rider bicycle. I had to improvise as we [SA] don’t have any parts and bikes that resemble it. So my hunt for an old chopper bicycle seat started as I figured that was a huge focal point of creating the look. After going to nearly every second hand and cycle store in the entire Western Cape, I eventually found one. Just my luck they also had a frame that had some potential so I grabbed that as well. Being an old 1960’s bike it had some character but was in quite a state. I would redo everything like the guys usually do when they build these rides. That was the start of the flywheel chapter. I still have that bike to this day.

3) How did you make the dream a reality? Where did you find the equipment that you needed? I had nothing. Jack , zilch, zero, but I had vision and passion to create the most awesome ride anyone had ever seen. I started my build not knowing where it would take me. I had a buddy who knew a bit about bicycles and he assisted me to strip and work around parts and soon... He is not with us today, RIP Dicky. The bike was done in about 3 weeks or so, after polishing her up she was sparkling like a true gem and it was time to ride! I hit the road in our hood after Sunday lunch. People called me closer to check out the bike, They all wanted to know where I bought it. It was the most amazing feeling I [had ever] felt. I then realised that I could do this. There was demand for it. I started customising other people bikes. I gave the jobs to people in the area who had experience with painting and metal work. Problem was they did not do the work the way I wanted it. Most of them saw it as a waste of their time.

A cousin told me his buddy had a welding machine that’s just standing at home. I approached him to borrow or hire it to me and he did. My cousin had experience and gave me some tips. Soon after that I obtained a grinder and searched all over for the old plumbers bender that I am currently using. Before I got these items I pretty much used a hacksaw, drill and a hand file. The plumbers bender I got from my uncle’s friend who just gave me an old one that was laying around. For more complex bends I outsource to companies that have the machinery. Last year, Strong Man tools sponsored me with a bender after I did a reality show called Fresh Living TV. I received mentorship from Suzanne Ackerman Berman as well as from Cycle lab. I consider myself the Pioneering low-rider and chopper bicycle outfit in Africa. I was ahead my time here as people are only really getting into the low-rider culture now.

4) What did you have to do in order to help your company grow from a start-up to a sustainable business? Learning the craft and marketing was the key. I tried to get all the exposure I could possibly get. Financially it was difficult as what I made put food on the table. It was my only source of income for 5 years. I didn’t make enough money to do a welding course and I couldn’t approach anyone to show me how to build a low-rider bike. I focussed on getting all the stages to work together; from conception to design to physically building the bike. Did my finished product meet retail standards? I had to learn basic business skills. WORD UP

FEATURE

“I love to bring something new to the party and being at the top of my game so I’m constantly creating new designs and products.” 5) I can imagine that there were no easy tasks to starting the business but what did you find particularly difficult? [Finding] people to believe in my idea and what I was trying to achieve, gaining the support of family and friends. They did not see the bigger picture and thought I was just plain wasting my time.

6) Are you doing all the customizing - metal work and painting? Yes I am. I have been doing it all the years. I only relied on people at the beginning for about a year. I do however have a guy who does the custom paint works. When it comes to the more complex designs, I send the tubing to a company that has the machinery to do so. I have built relationships with engineers and some fabricators who I call on when the need arises.

7) What are you currently building? I was commissioned to build a custom motorbike for a show for the end of the year. The bike is a 1400 Harley Davidson. I will build a completely new bike from scratch and use the motor and wiring

loom from the original. I have a brand new set of imported wheels and I’m waiting on some other bits to arrive. Ninety percent of the bike will be hand fabricated. The frame, handlebars and tank, are just some pieces I will have to make from scratch. I love to bring something new to the party and being at the top of my game so I’m constantly creating new designs and products. Watch out for the new school Penny Farthing as well as the crazy furniture I’m prototyping. All designs will have the bicycle in mind whether its functional or cosmetic.

8) What are your plans for the future of the company? To build the Flywheel name as the leading bicycle and motorcycle manufacturing brand. To have a fully functional production facility and supply right across the globe. (I already have followers from across the globe) Creating innovative products and building an empire. The way to become sustainable is to launch my own production bike and parts in 2012. A custom bike can consume too much of

my time as each bike has its own unique design elements. So I designed a frame that I can mass produce, to save on costs while preserving the unique designs I have. It will be a high tech cruiser that will be competitive with the rest of the cycling industry. Things like 7 and 3 speed internal gearing systems would make this a top notch commuter bike. Customers would still have the freedom to customise the ride with all the bits and pieces I would have on offer. I also have a range of T-shirts.

9) Do you feel under any pressure, being your own boss, or do you pretty much enjoy the freedom? I love it. Unfortunately for me I am still currently working for another company. But I plan to make it my full time job in 2012. There is quite a bit of pressure now as I have to put a lot of time an effort into completing my projects and allowing for good turnaround times. But I believe that [pressure] comes with the territory. http://www.flywheelbikes.co.za flywheelbikes@gmail.com

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FEATURE

Likwidskillz Born in the East Rand 20 something years ago Likwidskillz can be named as one of the freshest most unpredictable and dexterous MC’s of her generation, drawing inspiration from many lyrical and musical influences and having a flair for writing catchy pieces that leave the listener moved.

Her journey began in the early 90’s when, by age 10 her brother had already introduced her to some of the dopest MC’s alive which planted the hiphop seed within her. Although she only started participating in 2002 via cyphers and school talent shows, her experience is prolific. In 2005 she went on to hosting sessions and featuring on mixtapes where she met and joined the all female crew Triangle, performing all around the East Rand. After Triangle split Likwidskillz took a yearlong break to take care of more personal aspects, during which time she met MainVein and Blakrok and became part of the super crew Recess Poetry and together they rocked shows nationwide. Likwidskillz is currently busy with her solo debut project which is due out in 2011. To keep updated check out www.reverbnation.com/likwidskillz or facebook search Likwidskillz… lyrical bombshell!

“...having a flair for writing catchy pieces that leave the listener moved.” WORD UP

FEATURE

“...masterpieces, made from the detonation of explosives...”

Vhils Vhils is only twenty. His interest in graffiti began aged 13 when he started to paint trains on a railway line near his home in Seixal. He grew up in the south-bank of Lisbon, an area of recently implanted urbanism in a rural environment. “There you could see the city arriving and taking over the space of the rural area. It was clear.” This contrast marked him in several ways, and today his work reflects this expansion of the urban environment and the ephemeral nature of the street. Vhils is the tag name of Portuguese graffiti/street artist Alexandre Farto. He gained prominence when his work of a face carved into a wall appeared alongside a picture by street artist Banksy at the Cannes Festival in London in 2008. A photograph of him creating the work appeared on the front page of The Times. He was later given space to show his work by Banksy’s agent, Steve Lazarides. Several of his works were featured in Outsiders, a collection of street art published by Century, 2008. WORD UP

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“I like creating through contrasts: to achieve some poetic beauty by means of a destructive, powerful process.” 1. Tell us how and when you discovered grafﬁti? Graffiti in Portugal, and particularly in the capital, Lisbon, was undergoing its first real boom when I was growing up, so its presence made an impact on me in the late 1990s. I first started venturing out with friends and trying it out when I was very young, and then at the age of 13 I took it up seriously. It was never something I gave much thought to at the time, it was really just something interesting and cool to do and a good way to spend time, going out to paint, belonging to a crew, being part of a scene. It was simple and great fun. I started painting walls in the suburb I grew up in, and then moved on to the train scene which I took to at once. I ended up doing trains for years, all over Portugal and Europe. It became quite an obsession, very intoxicating.

2. The work you do now isn’t typical of grafﬁti art, how did you develop this style? As I grew older the graff scene just started feeling rather small for what I wanted to explore and accomplish. In my late teens I started thinking about what I was doing and where I wanted to go from there and started experimenting with new techniques and tools. When I came upon stencilling I was immediately attracted to its possibilities, and things just evolved naturally from there. Stencilling pointed out new directions and enabled me to reach a much wider audience. I’ve been exploring its possibilities ever since, and nowadays my work is still pretty much based on this technique of creating something through an overlapping of layers. Well, at the stage I am now I’ve actually reversed the technique and am currently creating through the removal, or destruction, of those layers, but the basic idea is the same. On the other hand I still paint graffiti when I can, and still try and keep up with what’s going on, I haven’t given it up. It is also still the basis for my work, both creatively and conceptually.

3. How would you describe the work you do on walls now? It essentially aims at breaking down barriers and not only in the conceptual sense. In recent years I’ve been focussing on tearing down walls, or parts of them, and have recently been following

up on the next logical step, to create pieces by blowing up parts of walls, rendering the process even more explosive. I like creating through contrasts: to achieve some poetic beauty by means of a destructive, powerful process.

4. How do you create your wall art? The wall pieces involve creating or projecting an image and painting its contours and then carving parts of the wall out with hammers, chisels, jack-hammers and so on, to give the figure some contrast and volume. Recently I’ve been working with an expert in pyrotechnics to help me out with this latest series of videos and pieces in which I carry out controlled explosions that reveal carved portraits or writings.

5. What is your goal or message that you want to bring across to people who see your art? Each body of work has its own message, but in a certain way they are all somewhat connected. The main idea behind all of it is to highlight the value of life and individuals in what I see as a relentless, encroaching urban environment that ultimately stifles our true nature. I use a very destructive process to stress this concept, contrasting what I’m trying to express with how I’m expressing it: the poetic nature of the portraits and the brutal way they are created. It is ultimately a reflection on the ongoing struggle between nature and urbanity, if you wish. The technique also highlights the idea I have been pursuing that everything is formed of layers, and when I create by removing some of them I basically perform a symbolical act of archaeology in trying to expose or bring to the surface something which has been buried beneath them, a simplicity that has been lost somewhere along the path of development, highlighting how ephemeral everything really is. I am pointing at the path of over-complexity our world seems to have taken, and questioning its purpose.

6. Where does the name tag name Vhils come from? There is no real meaning for the name. Vhils was just chosen for the letters that compose it, which were some of my favourite to draw, and the possibilities they gave me in writing graffiti. WORD UP

FEATURE

7. Who and what inspires you? Potentially, anything and anyone, or everything and everyone. I believe we’re all intrinsically connected and that everything that surrounds us has some type of impact on us to a certain degree. We are permanently consuming what’s around us and being affected by what our senses absorb, so most of what inspires me might be subliminal. Most of my work deals with living in the urban environments we’ve created and how they reflect the models of development that manage the contemporary way of life, and how ultimately all of it affects our lives. So perhaps I could say I’m inspired by my observations on modern urban life and then channel part of my reactions to it into my work.

8. Tell us about your choice of movies books music food etc./a cause that is important to you? Book - Jean Paul Sartre - The age of reason Movie - Eternal Sunshine of Spotless mind - Michael Gondry Music - Common, Orelha Negra, Chullage, Frank Sinatra, etc WORD UP

CARTOONS

Brandan Reynolds is a South African Editorial Cartoonist who exists in a high pressure world. He conceptualizes and executes a daily political cartoon for Business Day and also contributes to The Weekend Argus and Rapport. He lives in Cape Town with his wife and two children. We imposed ourselves on his busy schedule to get inside the brain of this creative genius who we reckon is the equivalent of a stand up comedian armed with a social conscience (and drawing supplies of course). 1. What made you give up your cushy job at an agency to pursue an uncertain career in political cartooning? I worked at a little design agency in the early 90’s after filling various roles as a freelancer at advertising agencies. At the time I was really into the idea of working in advertising, but ultimately the experience wiped the ray-bans from my eyes and I was able to see the advertising world for what it was, a shallow, committee-driven, creative graveyard, where “teamwork” whittled great ideas down to the ones we see in campaigns all around us. I had seen some brilliant cartoons in The Cape Argus by the great Derek Bauer in

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CARTOONS the late 80’s toward the end of the struggle era and I recognised the creativity and amazing craftsmanship they employed and I began to think about how to go about becoming a cartoonist. Around the first democratic elections in 1994, I took the plunge and went at it with everything I had. It took me about six months after filling a roomful of sketchbooks before I had drawn what I thought was a “good cartoon”... I was so excited and confident that I called the editorial page editor of the Cape Argus from a

“...I drew cartoons at night for very little pay while holding down design or advertising jobs, while I dreamed of the day when I would be doing nothing else but drawing cartoons...” payphone in St. George’s Mall the next day and he agreed to see me. My first cartoon appeared in the paper the next morning! My next problem was how to get my productivity up from one cartoon every six months to one a week!!!!” It was terrifying.

2. What are the stresses/pressures of the job? I create one cartoon every day, seven days a week and two for Sundays as I draw for both the “Rapport” and the Sunday edition of the Weekend Argus. The pressure is constant but I have to produce a good cartoon so I just get stuck in and do it. Luckily I had the foresight, when I started out, to not engage with editors during my conceptual process. I do my research and decide what theme to tackle every day quietly at my desk. I don’t send them a whole bunch of ideas from which they can pick... I produce one, finished cartoon for them to publish at the end of the day. Fortunately my deadlines are quite late; I only have to file by 7pm so I have plenty of time.

3. Take us through your creative process for producing a cartoon. I’m essentially a journalist so I have to follow the big stories in all the media to get a good idea of the story and the issue underlying it. Once I have decided to go with a particular issue I then have to come up with a clever or funny way to express that situation. I actually start by “writing” the cartoon before any drawing begins. Once I am happy with what I have decided to draw, I use pencil to map out the finished drawing. I then do the final drawing with

felt-tip pens of varying sizes on heavy cartridge paper, which is then scanned and imported into Photoshop where I colour or paint the final cartoon. The final drawing reaches the newspaper at 7:02pm via email!

4. How are you able to create a new relevant and funny cartoon every single day? I simply have to! It’s an amazing privilege to be able to do this professionally in South Africa. We have an incredibly dynamic and WORD UP

CARTOONS brutal political arena, where each and every policy is interrogated as a matter of life and death! All along this wild, rushing river, taking us who knows where, are a million opportunities for satire and caricature! South Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s print media is so tiny and there are very few opportunities. Keeping that in mind, I am especially blessed as I actually work for three different newspapers and have been engaged in that work for almost a decade. During the early years of my career I drew cartoons at night for very little pay while holding down design or advertising jobs, while I dreamed of the day when I would be doing nothing else but drawing cartoons... I am wide awake and living a dream! www.brandanreynolds.com

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FEATURE

Monique Hellenberg In an ever-changing world where music morphs and redefines the parameters of what moves us to emotion, a young songstress and part-time jazz vocal teacher (UCT), named Monique Hellenberg, emerges as a fresh new sound. Gentle yet powerful, distinctive yet versatile, Moniqueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s humble approach to her music is defined as worldly and broad, profound and beautiful. Her crystal clear vocal style touches on the sultry, soulfulness of Diana Krall, the innocent vulnerability of Norah Jones with the accessible funky groove oriented pulse of a new-age Sade.

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FEATURE

Monique is currently teaching jazz vocals on a part-time basis at UCT. Employing some of the understated phraseology of the fabulous Chet Baker, SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Award-winning Monique Hellenberg is comfortable fronting notable ensembles who have included Electrofunk outfit Goldfish, Breakfast Included, Jazz Vocal Ensemble Mamavox, The Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Band 2007, or just laying down tracks in studio...

Currently, Monique is working towards recording her original music (a mixture of healing songs, neo-soul ballads & smooth jazz) & has just released her first debut single, Imagine (Chocolate Diamonds In The Sky). After her CD single launch concert in November 2010, with her 7-piece band, ‘The Violet Flame’, the song made it to the Top10 on Heart 104.9Fm within 3 weeks of being aired!

After having completed a short course in son music (the origin of salsa music) at the Cuban Music Summer School in Havana, Cuba in 2008, and a Song writing course at the Cape Town School of Song writing in 2009, Monique is currently teaching jazz vocals on a part-time basis at UCT. On a more informal basis, she has recently rendered a workshop focussing on Relaxation Techniques in Preparation for Performance as part of the SIS (Sisters in Sound) Mentorship Programme at the SAJE Festival 2011.

Monique also regularly performs at functions and corporate events with guitarist, Alvin Dyers, or with a larger band, depending on the requirements of the event. And of course, you can catch her performing with Goldfish, at their bigger stage events!

Monique has recently recorded a song that was written for World Water Day (March 2011) called, ‘For The Love Of Water’ (‘FLOW’) with Zolani Mahola, Loyiso Bala, and other fantastic local artists.

To view the music video recorded for World Water Day, visit: http://vimeo.com/21637011

You can find more info on Monique at: www.moniquehellenberg.com To download Monique’s debut single, ‘Imagine Chocolate Diamonds in the Sky’ visit: www.stereotyperecords.co.za

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PHOTOGRAPHY

The trip to Harare, Zimbabwe was meant to be Immortal Styleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s - the South African B-Boy Champions mission to put South Africa back on the break-dancing world map at Battle Of The Year Africa (BOTY Africa).

Words and all photos by Kent Lingeveldt

These photographs are of the journey to Zimbabwe with Immortal Style, the Battle Of The Year Africa competition and the slum areas. Enjoy! Spirits were high on the bus, but as we started approaching the South Africa/Zimbabwe border, the South African police pulled us over three times in the space of one-and-a-half hours. We should have heeded this as a sign of things to come. Once at the border getting our exit stamps was easy enough, but on the Zimbabwe side of the border things became chaotic. A week before departure we faxed copies of our passports to the organiser of BOTY Africa and the Zimbabwean immigration officials, in preparation for our visit. But at the border, the immigration officials had no clue as to who we were and so rejected the crew - excluding myself - entry into Zimbabwe.

I met up with Immortal Style and Shaquile Southgate - of Heal The Hood - at Johannesburg Bus Station to start the 18-hour journey to Harare.

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PHOTOGRAPHY I found it strange that I was allowed entry in Zimbabwe: I am a member of the press and the officials knew this from my border declaration form. The Immortal Style crew are B-boys who just wanted the chance to represent their country and make us proud. They even offered to do a demo for the immigration officials to show them what they do. The official dealing with us refused to read the letter of invitation we had received from the event organiser. I had gone first in the line when getting our Zimbabwean entry stamps, and by the time the rest of the crew was having to deal with the immigration official’s incompetence, I was already declaring my luggage outside at our bus. Therefore, when immigration confiscated the crew’s passports, I wasn’t there and so held onto mine. I decided to go on to Harare unnoticed to try and sort out things for the crew with the event organiser in person. And also, to try and sort out the paperwork they needed to be allowed entry into the country. Immortal Style was sent back to Johannesburg, and in the end, only two countries were represented at BOTY Africa: Zimbabwe’s House of Stone and Seychelles’ Joker Crew. None of the dominant African countries: South Africa, Morocco and Tunisia were there. Tunisia was turned away at Harare Airport and sent home. Despite the drama, the competition was good. I was happy to have had the chance to see that the Zimbabwean and Seychelles crews have a good breakdancing foundation to work with, for becoming really good competitors globally in the future. This photo report covers my four days in Harare as a sightseer, and a photographer at the event. Mark Cupido, a member of Immortal Style who flew to Harare on his own, was with me for two days but left early as he felt it pointless to be there without his crew. All photos by Kent Lingeveldt

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PHOTOGRAPHY

We spent a few hours in the slum areas with Mark showing kids some B-boy moves and they loved it.

Photo by Kent Lingeveldt WORD UP

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photo by Kent Lingeveldt

Note: There are no Harare city pictures as I was told that the Zimbabwean National Intelligence could have been watching and might have arrested and detained me if they caught me taking photographs. Even though the conditions the Zimbabwean people live in under the tyranny of Robert Mugabe are harsh, they are some of the most amazing people I have met. WORD UP

FEATURE

by Toni Stuart

Yemoya

In November last year, Afrikan Jamaikan dub poet Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;bi Young made Cape Town her home. She brought with her, her international artist residency, Yemoya. Yemoya is the goddess of the oceans and mother to all the other goddesses. Oshun is the goddess of love and sexuality. Oya is considered to be the defender of woman. The name Yemoya speaks to all three women and their role in mothering the earth and its people.

Photo by Che Kothari

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FEATURE

“...to do what I’ve been taught to do: if you know something, share it.” “I think the world is experiencing what it feels like to go through a womblessness,” says D’bi. “It’s experiencing the violence of what it feels like to go through womblessness and motherlessness and we continue to destroy our close and distant mother, which is mother earth. And so I feel it’s essential that the projects I’m doing are grounded in the womb and encased in water.” D’bi sees the residency as “a kind of womb which is trying to ‘mother’ people” and, where she talks about how best to do so. “In the absence of healthy positive mothering, we don’t actually do so well. The residency is an attempt to lay out what can be some of the foundational principles involved in mothering so that people can begin to mother themselves. R/evolution begins within,” she says. Called The Sorplusi Principles, the eight tenets of her methodology are self-knowledge, orality, rhythm, political content and context, language, urgency, sacredness and integrity. They are based on the work of D’bi’s mother, pioneering dub poet Anita Stewart. Yemoya is the South African evolution of the programme which was started in Canada, under the name Anitafrika Theatre. It runs two to three times a year in Cape Town and is a month-long fulltime intensive programme open to artists of all ages, backgrounds and disciplines. The residency consists of, on average, 20 hours of class time and 20 hours of field work per week, as well as a community project component. D’bi teaches all the classes herself. “The first basis of Yemoya is to do what I’ve been taught to do: if you know something, share it. And the other thing is to give young artists a space to develop because I’ve always been given those spaces and I continue to be given that space,” she says. Yemoya is global, with artists from across the world being accepted on to the residency. Two to three programmes are run internationally a year either in Canada, England, India or Jamaica. There is a minimal tuition fee and there is a bursary programme for those who cannot afford it, to ensure it remains accessible to everyone. Those interested in applying are advised to visit the website to check out the programme first. “It is rigorous and very emotionally, intellectually and creatively demanding,” D’bi says. For D’bi, Yemoya is the coming together of the many ways, places and people who have mentored her. “What I get out of it is what I put in and much more, because teaching teaches me.” Visit www.yemoya.org or email dbiyoung@yemoya.org

Photo by Rhett Morita

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FEATURE

DJ EAZY ( ape Town) DJ Eazy started out in 1993 and soon after his potential and talent was recognized he became the resident DJ at JCs Place. He has since played at countless clubs across South Africa and has moved crowds from Durban to Amsterdam and everywhere in between. His forte includes Hip Hop, R&B, Drum and Bass, but his skills translate into many other styles. In 2003 he co-founded Hip Hop Education South Africa which is an organization that works at schools and in communities providing life skills programmes and workshops.

Photo by Jason Wessels

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FEATURE

Word Up reached out to this multi-skilled - DJ, producer, party promoter and community activist. 1) So how did you get the DJ name Eazy?

“You really can’t say the scene changed without saying that people changed and allowed it to happen.”

• A friend at high school gave it to me because I basically knew every word & line from the “It Takes Two” by Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock album and I was actually called Eazy T for like 2 to 3 years. • Later on the name just stuck since whenever/wherever I was asked to help out, no matter the situation, I would always be like; “Cool, I’m easy”.

2) When did you decide on hip-hop as an avenue of expression? Funny story, I entered a Radio 5 & Willards Rap Competition on a dare. The winning verse was performed by DSA (Shaheen from Prophets of the City). I won and was then invited as Alex Jay’s special guest at the Red Nose Day Celebration where POC performed. I was blown away by their [POC’s] energy on stage and loved how they used this music to spread their message about the social ills Cape Town communities faced. I couldn’t believe how Ready D had the crowd eat[ing] out of his hand after his DJ routine. In my final year at school (1993) I invited POC to do their “Rapping for Democracy” tour at my school and once again, after seeing Ready D in action, I knew this was the element of hip hop I would want to exercise. It just made sense that since I already had the gift of gab and felt like I had something to say, to use hip hop to help me spread this message.

4) You’ve seen and heard quite a bit since you been around for a minute. How has the game changed since you started? Wow, it really has been a while and only now that I’m answering this do I realise how long, LOL. I’m what you would consider 2nd generation for Cape Town or SA hip hop. When I stepped onto the scene platforms like the NICRO Power jams and 24hr matinees at The Base, were already created by our 1st generation (POC, Black Noise, etc). Back then we would pay to get a shot at performing for an audience and you weren’t an emcee, you were a rapper, until 1 of the older heads recognized you and said you were an emcee. Same could be said for breakin’. Back then you had to pay dues & we did it for the love first. Nowadays I see cats jump out of the woodwork and after 1 cipher session on radio, or having their name mentioned, they have ridiculous tech riders & performance fees. You really can’t say the scene changed without saying that people changed and allowed it to happen. We had sold out shows back then without facebook, flyers along with word of mouth were the thing. We wanted it more than we were afraid of “failing”. Nowadays, cats follow the trend so their rhymes are about what the mass market/media demands ‘coz they’re so scared radio won’t play them if they rhyme about what matters. But you can’t generalize, there are still some true heads around and there are always 2 sides to the coin. I personally favour the music that was released between 1990 and 2001, that was 11 great years for every rap fan.

3) You’ve got experience in radio and TV work. Tell us about that. I co-hosted the G.H.E.T.T.O.P.I.M.P. (Giving Healing Education Through Teaching Ones Principles Improving Mental Position) Show on UCT Radio from 2003 until 2010 [along] with DJ Azuhl. The show ran weekly features that included interviews, guest DJ slots as well as discussions about hip hop, politics and everyday life. In 2005 I worked as production assistant on DSTV’s channel MK89’s Hip Hop Show which ran for 4 seasons. The show ended in 2007 with the passing of its key presenter, Mr. F.A.T. I then worked as content producer for “Woelag” on the same channel. This was a magazine show that showcased customized car culture around the country and also featured hip hop elements such as graffiti, MC’ing and DJ’ing.

Photo by Ference Isaacs

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5) How are you feeling about the scene in Cape Town compared to some overseas places you’ve visited? In my opinion, there’s no scene in Cape Town but there are ‘scenes’. There’s a scene out in the Northern Suburbs and very few Mitchell’s Plain cats support that. The Long Street scene is cool but also gets no love from a lotta dudes unless their own circle of peeps set up the show and they’re getting paid. The international cats handle their own and they all about building themselves. Out here cats are more concerned about getting international acclaim and look overseas on how things are done, when in fact the US/ UK are looking at us and are probably confused. We don’t import Kwaito, so why would the US wanna get into our music if it sounds like every other dude from over there. Getting back to your question, my feeling is that the scene is divided and we need a paradigm shift to get things into gear.

6) What’s missing in the scene over here in your opinion?

“I’d love to be remembered as a dude who helped others and brought comfort to the disturbed, yet disturbed the comfortable.”

Unity, a new mindset, maybe even a hip hop police, LOL. On the real though, I love Cape Town and we have so much to offer, but we need to work together and not care who gets the credit or whose name/ logo will be on the flyer.

7) Any new projects in the works? *I’m done with my 1st studio project entitled The Hope Dealer. The project features collabs with various artists including Othello & Propaganda (Tunnel Rats, Los Angeles), Shames Worthy (formerly Raphi), Project Break Free (Cape Town), as well as some others. *I also finished the trailer for my street documentary Decks Education which is a behind the scenes look at the element of DJ culture.

8) How would you like Eazy to be remembered? I’d love to be remembered as a dude who helped others and brought comfort to the disturbed, yet disturbed the comfortable. Nuff said !!! Find out more about DJ Eazy’s activities at: http://www.facebook.com/djeazymusic

Photo by Kent Lingeveldt

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VERSE

The Verse by Richard ‘Quaz’ Roodt

Homeward bound Driving home Windows open The wind runs through my locks And blows away the city chaos… Escaping the madness Jozi to Potch Hills and small farms jump into my eyes on the sides of a road that saw me grow. People happily living simply The land is their bread bin. Trains passing Carrying fathers and sons to new lives. And me… I’m going to see my mother todayy ©Richard Quaz Roodt: The orange book vol:2 2011 Orange Book vol: 2 can be ordered from www.consciousness.co.za. It costs R50, postage included. WORD UP

FEATURE

by Toni Stuart “The reason it works and the reason I chose the concept is because I’m so passionate about it and there’s endless inspiration,” says Anthony Smith, founder of the street wear label, 2Bop. “We used to use a 20c piece to play arcade games at the corner shops. A twobop meant a lot- if you had one 20c piece you could play for half an hour,” says Anthony. “Back in the day we didn’t have access to nice sports facilities, so people would congregate at the corner store. Many youth made friends and enemies there; there was a whole attitude that went along with it. Also there’s a level of skill associated with video games, because arcade games are designed to take your money so the more money you have, the longer you can play.” Smith and co-owner Bradley Abrahams, took their love for video and arcade gaming culture, and translated it into a series of T-shirts, sweatshirts and caps. “It’s such a big inspiration to me that it almost overshadows the fact that it’s a clothing label,” says Anthony. That inspiration stems not only from the games themselves but from the culture, fashion and music of the sub-culture and the era. A grey sweatshirt in 2Bop’s 2009 winter range is evidence of this. It bears the words “Super Nintendo Sega Genesis When I was dead broke man I couldn’t picture this, BIGGIE SMALLS, Juicy, August 8, 1994”. A photograph of the sweatshirt went viral and today they continue to receive orders for it from across the globe. Photo by Rachel Granofsky

“A twobop meant a lot- if you had one 20c piece you could play for half an hour.” Photo by Antoinette Engel

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“The partnership between Brad and I is amazing because we have similar backgrounds and we were into a lot of the same stuff like music, skateboarding and video and arcade games,” says Anthony. He and Bradley are the designers and have a local factory that produces the garments.

“...the concept behind the label as well as its references and credit to local culture, is what interests people.” When he started 2Bop in 2004, Anthony wanted to create something that he’d like to see people wearing. And the response has been good. He believes people respond to the quality of the garment as well as the concept. Many people don’t know about the brand yet, but when they do encounter it, are pleasantly surprised. He believes the concept behind the label as well as its references and credit to local culture, is what interests people. And while it speaks to locals, the label also has international appeal: 2Bop has an agent in Australia selling their clothes and they receive orders from other countries through their online store. “There’s another aspect to what we do,” says Anthony, “we like collaborating with other designers and artists.” The Player 2 series has seen them collaborate with Xander Ferreira -of Gazzelle fame- as well as illustrator/designer Daniel Ting Chong, among others. “These are people who inspire us and whose work we respect,” says Anthony. “It’s also a way of keeping us inspired and keeping variety in the range.” And their annual gaming days in December, also insure the inspiration keeps coming. Visit www.twobop.co.za

Photo by Antoinette Engel

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The art of being a true music addict requires dedication, alertness and superior skill at masking the gargantuan crushes you have on your favourite musicians when you meet them. These skills must be sharpened of course, and that means regularly doing interesting interviews. I, ladies and gentlemen, am a true music addict who has to sharpen her skills, and I recently had the pleasure of spending some time with the [young] masterminds behind The Fridge, a neo-jazz band making huge waves in the Joburg music scene.

by Gugu Kheswa WORD UP

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The Fridge consists of bassist and songwriter, Thusi Mothusi, vocalist and principal songwriter, Samkelo Lelethu Mdolomba, and Ade Omotade on drums. The band was officially formed quite spontaneously in August 2010 at the Battle of the Bands. They got [the opportunity] to play together for the first time that night and wrote five songs on the spur of the moment. As for their moniker, it came about as spontaneously as the band itself. They needed a name at the Battle of the Bands and Thusi, in an impromptu display of his intellectual prowess, suggested The Fridge. And just like that a new era in music was born. Unofficially, the band came together at a jam session in Newtown, where Thusi and Ade were initially playing as a drum and bass duo when they met Sam. Thusi and Ade [already] had history being in a band previously whilst Sam was performing on his own as Samthing Soweto. One thing led to another and they found themselves together at the Battle of the Bands. Ever the impulsive songwriters, they heard what Sam was about and put a bit of themselves into each song. Ade describes them as “three individuals collectively creating one thing which is good music, and I would never replace that with anything. Never.” After the initial Battle of the Bands gig, The Fridge performed at The Loft in Melville for a while and soon developed the inevitable following. Things grew exponentially from that point and the rest is history.

always been in their blood. Ade remembers banging beats at the dinner table when he was a kid, a habit which, according to Sam, still lives on as he’s always carrying drumsticks and beating on something. Sam, on the other hand, admits to having the oddly cool habit of making up songs as he walks, in a sense creating the soundtrack to his own life. Sam has been a part of The Soil, Johannesburg based soul group for over 6 years and started performing as Samthing Soweto in 2010. Samthing Soweto is Sam making music, entire mixtapes in fact, acapella. He released a free mixtape last year entitled “This N That Without Tempo” which has been surreptitiously circulating the Johannesburg streets. He defines it as “just making beautiful music on my own, I’m very selfish

about that.” Sam was doing what turned out to be his first and last performance as Samthing Soweto when he met Thusi and Ade, but he is adamant that [there’s] more to come from Samthing Soweto. The bulk of their early music was built on the basis of Samthing Soweto’s acapella songs, but their natural chemistry makes everything about them organic, from the way they met to the way [they] make music and even interact. Their sound is untamed and “not defined by what we think we should sound like,” as Ade put it. On staying true themselves despite the newfound fame Thusi replies, “It just hasn’t hit us, and I don’t think that day will ever come. I mean, we just do this because we like it...[the fame] It’s secondary, I mean the music is first and if you can keep that, you can keep yourself. If you can stay true to what you do you can stay true to yourself.” At which point we all congratulated him on his profound deepness and I make a mental note to use that as a Facebook status update. When asked about the inspiration for their sound, Sam answered by quoting the seemingly omniscient Thusi who always likes to say that “we are mediums for the world” and according to Sam “what the world is right now, a hybrid of the old and new, and we exist in that sphere, where both these worlds come together to make something new. We are a touch of universal, touch of African and a touch of ourselves too.”

Although coming from diverse backgrounds, they have incredible chemistry and it is painfully obvious how they could easily create instant magic. Thusi spent his early years in Sandton, and Germany with his musician father whereas Sam was born and bred in Soweto and Ade spent many years moving around Nigeria before finding himself in South Africa.

What strikes me the most about the guys is their aura of natural simplicity. They are simply three incredibly chilled guys with a passion for making mind-blowing music, and putting a bit of themselves in it. They are, as they say, “moved by a limitless love for music” and the mania of their ever growing fan base proves how powerful that is.

They come from musically diverse backgrounds too. Although Thusi had some formal training in music, it really became an issue of formalising his knowledge of things he intrinsically knew. Sam and Ade had no formal training but music has

The links are: www.reverbnation.com/the2010fridge www.twitter.com/the2010fridge www.myspace.com/thenewfrige

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“…let the listener dissect the content and take their own meaning.”

Core Wreckah For Core Wreckah (real name Ts’eliso Monaheng), growing up in the small town of Maseru, Lesotho has inspired and enabled him to chronicle daily occurrences in a world that is constantly on the move by using resources which are immediately at his disposal. One of these resources, radio, introduced him to early-to-mid-nineties hiphop in the form of Snoop and Tupac, two artists whom he still idolises to this day. His appearances have included an opening slot at Night of the Beatbangaz, and headlining performances with his band, Three Piece Suit. He is actively engaged in writing about rap and hip-hop culture. Various on-line publications have hosted his work, while his column in the Weekly Mail (an independent newspaper weekly in Maseru, Lesotho) is in its fourth year running. He also co-hosted the Mzanzi Mamela hip-hop show on UCT Radio with fellow presenter Benzo. In its two years of running they hosted the likes of Zaki Ibrahim, Slum Village, and Mos Def also made a stop while he was in South Africa in 2009. Word Up met this articulate young man with more than money on his mind.

Photo by Georgia Andrews

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“I try to keep the music as interesting as possible so that listening to it is not such a drag.” 1. Let’s start with the name. Why Core Wreckah? It is a name given to me by my mentor, Fairo, in high school. I never bothered to ask what it means, but the name seems to have stuck. It also makes it interesting because then, since the name is devoid of any particular definition, anyone can - after hearing the music - attach their own meaning to the name.

2. What is the central point of your music? It is to communicate the acute awareness that I am obligated through my role as a servant of hip-hop - to share my thoughts on social topics, and do it in such a way that I do not pass judgement, but let the listener dissect the content and take their own meaning. Sometimes the meaning may be skewed, it may not be interpreted as I intended, but it certainly challenges the listener to think and digest. This may seem like work on the listener’s part, which is why I try to keep the music as interesting as possible so that listening to it is not such a drag.

3. Why is it important for your music to have content? Because then, without content, the music just becomes a fleeting, directionless vehicle. I think the content is important in that it adds weight to the song; instead of talking about how dope I am, I would rather talk about how the changing social dynamics in South Afrika necessitate the change in people’s outlook, change in government policy, etc. Content is also important because then the listener can leave with an insight into my perspective on issues related to our immediate environment.

Photo by Georgia Andrews

4. What do you focus on when writing a new track? Oddly enough, I rarely do have a set topic. Bra Don Mattera said recently that it ceases to become poetry when one thinks about the writing process. I found that interesting. My writing pattern is such that I will write a line, and let it progress naturally from then on. The music is also important in guiding what course the song takes. Sometimes though, I know what issue I want to address.

5. Music captivates the people’s minds. How can it be used as a vehicle for change? For one, we as rappers can perhaps think about whether our lyrics are reflective of the problems people in general are going through. Also, we can maybe consider whether the lyrics are in a language that people can understand. Does the music move them? Are we creating for self or for a broader cause? Are we conscious of our own pre-conceptions when writing down songs? I believe that all these questions, and more, need to be explored in order to bring about a certain level of change in society. But it is also tricky because we as people tend to be quite content with how things are. As much as change is inevitable, we tend to resist it.

6. In your opinion what role do the youth have to play in SA? I am part of that youth, so the role I have to play is to see to it that I contribute to my community in a positive manner. And this is not limited to SA; neither is it limited to Lesotho, the

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FEATURE place I call home. We as the youth worldwide have an imperative, through the foundational work laid down by our elders, to carry on the legacy they have left behind, and to see to fruition the ideas they never had the chance to implement.

7. Speak to us about the importance of heritage. Today, we exist in a landscape where - for a long time - trends have been dictated by super-powers (which happen to be concentrated in the Western world). Heritage - the awareness thereof - should occupy the void left in our souls by the constant bombardment through various media of images we are expected to live up to. Heritage should serve to remind us of our collective belonging to a place defined not by television/ the Internet, but by our ancestors, their traditions, and their way of life.

8. What’s so important about hip-hop culture that people blog and have discussions about its status? Because hip-hop is a space where people from the most disparate of backgrounds can have a conversation without thinking about how different they are. It is like a shrine where, once a person enters, they get rid of all other factors which may hinder human interaction.

9. What are your thoughts when I mention knowledge of self? Knowledge of self, in as much as it is hip-hop’s fourth element, is the freedom to define the world according to my own rules, devoid of any external influences (apart from those of my ancestors). Through knowing self, one can then carry on to evolve as a human being, to progress as an artist, and to have honest interactions with fellow human beings.

10. How can we improve the live performance circuit in Cape Town? I do not see any full-on cross-collaborative efforts between rappers and people from other genres. When it does happen, it gets treated as a novelty like ‘hey, look what cool song I’ve done by collaborating with this world-renowned classical pianist’. After the novelty wears off, the effort fades away. This is why I think it is necessary to treat collaborations as another avenue to make music, not as a way to boost one’s ego and show how different/ uber-cool one is.

11. Why did you decide to work with a band and vocalist? Because then that enables one to reach a broader demographic, one beyond my homies who may not necessarily give the most

“Does the music move them? Are we creating for self or for a broader cause?” honest feedback regarding how I sound. It also forces me to navigate spaces I would have otherwise ignored; it lets me (and by extension, us) bare my soul in front of an audience which might not really care about hip-hop. But then, through incorporating all these other elements (our guitarist, Al, is from a jazz background with +/- ten years experience; Deney is this dope Afrikaner vocalist with the most amazing soul) we are able to introduce musicality and musicianship into what would otherwise be a bland sixteen-bar, three-verse song structure.

12. And lastly, what could the scene in general, benefit from? Word, that Sol-guy was pretty big in Canadian hip-hop in the late nineties. But he saw a lack of artist managers and decided to get into it; look at what that decision has done for K’naan. In the same vein, we need managers/ publicists/ designers who are concerned about the welfare of their artist, and not ones who want to share the spotlight through being associated with the artist. We need people who will write ground-breaking articles/ press releases about our very able crop of talent. The Wailers used to attack radio deejays for not playing their songs; our modern-day version of those rudeboys is the publicist who will sweet-talk the deejay so much that they cannot resist playing our songs. Perhaps these people are already there, but as Buju Banton says: ‘organise, centralise, come as one’. Connect with Core Wreckah at the following links: Blog: http://corewreckah.posterous.com Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/nemesisrepublik Bandcamp: http://corporatenemesis.bandcamp.com Photo by Big Dré

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DUSTY FINGERZ

More dusty than digital: Roy Ayers Roy Ayers is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer and vibraphone player. Ayers began his career as a jazz player, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records before his tenure at Polydor Records, during which he progressed a new R&B style, slowly molding what would become the Disco genre. Ayers was born in Los Angeles, California and grew up in a musical family. At the age of five, Lionel Hampton gave him his first pair of mallets, which led to the vibraphone being his trademark sound for decades. The area of Los Angeles that Ayers grew up in, now known as “South Central”, but then known as “South Park”, was the epicenter of the Southern California Black Music Scene. The schools Roy attended (Wadsworth Elementary, Nevins Middle School, and Thomas Jefferson High School) were all close to the famed Central Avenue, Los Angeles’ equivalent of Harlem’s Lenox Avenue and

The album, ...was heralded as “Album of the Year” by Time Magazine. Chicago’s State Street. Roy would likely have been exposed to music as it not only emanated from the many nightclubs and bars in the area, but also poured out of many of the homes where the musicians who kept the scene alive lived in and around South Central. His high school, Thomas Jefferson High School, from which Ayers graduated, produced some of the most talented new musicians, such as Dexter Gordon.

Ayers was responsible for the highly regarded soundtrack to Jack Hill’s 1973 blaxploitation film ‘Coffy’, which starred Pam Grier. He later moved from a jazz-funk sound to R&B, as seen on Mystic Voyage, which featured the songs ‘Evolution’ and the underground disco hit ‘Brother Green (The Disco King)’, as well as the title track from his 1976 album ‘Everybody Loves the Sunshine’. In 1977, Ayers produced an album by the group RAMP, Come Into Knowledge, commonly and mistakenly thought to stand for “Roy Ayers Music Project”. That Fall, he had his biggest hit with ‘Running Away’. In 1980, Ayers released Music Of Many Colors with the Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. In 1981, Ayers produced an album with the singer Sylvia Striplin, Give Me Your Love (Uno Melodic Records 1981). In the 1990s, Ayers released several albums for the hip hop label Ichiban Records. In 1994, Ayers appeared on the Red Hot Organization’s compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in relation to the African American community, was heralded as “Album of the Year” by Time Magazine. During the 2000’s and 2010’s, Ayers ventured into house music, collaborating with such stalwarts of the genre as Masters at Work and Kerri Chandler. Ayers has founded two record labels, Uno Melodic and Gold Mink Records. The first released several LPs, including Sylvia Striplins, while the second folded after a few singles. Ayers was not only an accomplished musician but also a well-known entertainer on the music scene. He often performs with music and comedic speech/storyline interaction to his audience to enhance his appeal. One of his most popular is a track taken from the LP ‘In the

Dark’ released in 1984 called ‘Poo Poo La La’. This has now become a standard favourite amongst his audiences. Currently, there is a documentary in progress called the Roy Ayers Project featuring Roy Ayers, as well as many Hip Hop producers who have sampled his music and other people who have been influenced by him and his music. The documentary is planned to be released in early 2012. In hip-hop circles, Ayers is the “icon man”, thanks to the volume of his samples and breaks appropriated by the genre (P Diddy, The Roots and A Tribe Called Quest, among many others). His album cover art also influenced the genre, check the Smif N Wessun cover for evidence. It’s not only hip-hop that owes Ayers a debt of gratitude he fused jazz and disco in the 1970s and formed a fruitful relationship with the Black President, Fela Kuti, in the 1980s. Soul artists, including Betty Wright (Joss Stone’s mentor and co-writer) and Erykah Badu particularly, have worked with Ayers extensively. His influence is also apparent in contemporary dance music - Ayers contributed two tracks to Masters at Work’s 1997 Nuyorican Soul; arguably house’s finest LP. ‘Searching’ sums up Ayers music - it’s honest and life-affirming, yet inquisitive and penetrating. ‘We Live in Brooklyn, Baby’, taken from Destination Motherland, captures and celebrates the ghetto struggle. Its, Vocals take a back-seat as its rigid deep funk comes to the fore.

Ayers was once asked how he would like to be remembered. “As someone who spread goodwill through his music and made people happy”, he replied. Ayers has more than achieved this goal. WORD UP

DUSTY FINGERZ

Tupac ft the Outlawz - ‘Lost Souls’

Puff Daddy ft Ma$e ‘Been Around the World’ rmx

Who sampled Roy Ayers:

Public Enemy ‘Brothers Gonna Work it Out’

Coolio - ‘County Line’

Adrianna Evans - ‘Seeing is Believing’

A Tribe Called Quest - ‘Keep it Rollin’

Mary J. Blige - ‘My Life’

Pharcyde - ‘The Hustle’

Digable Planets - ‘For Corners’

Jill Scott - ‘Watching Me’

Common - ‘1 2 Many’

Nas ft DMX - ‘Life is What You Make It’

Mos Def - ‘Brooklyn’ Erykah Badu - ‘Searchin’

Amerie - ‘Rollin’ down my face’

Smif N Wessun - ‘Home sweet home’

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MOVIE REVIEWS

We review movies currently on circuit and a few forthcoming attractions IMMORTALS (3D)

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3

Cast: Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke, Luke Evans, Stephen Dorff, Freida Pinto, John Hurt, Isabel Lucas Director: Tarsem Singh Release Date: Friday, 11 November 2011 Classification: 16SV Visionary director Tarsem Singh unleashes an epic tale of treachery, vengeance and destiny in Immortals, a stylish and spectacular 3D action adventure. As a power-mad king razes ancient Greece and threatens to destroy mankind, a heroic young villager rises up against him in a thrilling quest as timeless as it is powerful. The brutal and bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) and his murderous army are rampaging across Greece, demolishing everything in their wake with ruthless efficiency. Village after village falls to Hyperion’s legions and each victory takes him one step closer to his goal: unleashing the power of the sleeping Titans to vanquish

Cast: Chloe Csengery, Jessica Tyler Brown, Christopher Nicholas Smith. Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman Release Date: Friday, 11 November 2011 Classification: 16LV

both the Gods of Olympus and all of humankind. It seems nothing will stop the evil king’s mission to become the undisputed master of the world, until a stonemason named Theseus vows to avenge the death of his mother in one of Hyperion’s raids. When Theseus meets the Sibylline Oracle, Phaedra (Freida Pinto), her disturbing visions of the young man’s future convince her that he is the key to stopping the destruction.

The year is 1988 and Katie and Kristi are two seemingly normal sisters who are looked after by their mother Julie and their step-father Dennis. After numerous things go bump in the night, Dennis decides to set video cameras up at various locations throughout their home including their own marital bedroom, the young girl’s room and the downstairs living area. As the day and nights go by, videographer Dennis along with help from his techno savvy friend

Win with Universal International Pictures (UIP) South Africa Up for grabs in our UIP competition are:

Randy, begin to notice that all is not what it seems within the household and that a malevolent being may be specifically targeting members of his family.

x Johnny English Spy Camera Pens

What takes place next comprises of loud noises, unexplained moving objects and another edition to the paranormal franchise in which the audience slowly experiences a family’s descent into madness as they try to both understand and overcome their experiences at hand.

x Johnny English Reborn T-shirts (1 x Sml, 1 x Med, 1 x Lrg)

SHANGHAI

APOLLO 18

Cast: John Cusack, Li Gong, Chow Yun Fat Director: Mikael Hafstrom Release Date: Friday, 11 November 2011 Classification: 16LVD

Cast: Warren Christie, Ryan Robbins, Ali Liebert Director: Gonzalo López-Gallego Release Date: Friday, 11 November 2011 Classification: 13LV

John Cusack, Gong Li, and Chow Yun Fat star in Shanghai, a romantic thriller set in 1941. The film also stars David Morse, Ken Watanabe, Franke Potente, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Rinko Kikuchi. Nothing is what it seems in this Casablanca-style international thriller set in the ancient Chinese city a week before the attack on Pearl Harbour.

Officially, Apollo 17, launched December 17th, 1972 was the last manned mission to the moon. But a year later, in December of 1973, two American astronauts were sent on a secret mission to the moon funded by the US Department of Defense.

US Secret Agent Paul Soames (Cusack) has just arrived in Shanghai to investigate the murder of his best friend, only to become quickly immersed in a web of conspiracy and lies that beset the city. Shadowed by a Japanese intelligence officer Tanaka (Watanabe), Soames’

investigation quickly centres on a charismatic local gangster, Anthony Lan-Ting and Lan-Ting’s beautiful wife Anna (Gong Li). Before long, Soames and Anna are involved in an affair that will put everything they have at stake. As national loyalties are traded fast and loose for those of the heart, Soames and Anna must race to solve the mystery and make it out of occupied China before the city’s collapse.

What you are about to see is the actual footage which the astronauts captured on that mission. While NASA denies its authenticity, others say it’s the real reason we’ve never gone back to the moon.

x Paranormal Activity 3, iPhone casess

xP Paranormall A Activity ti it 3 PC Prankster USB Devices

To win any one of these prizes answer the easy question: Who stars in UIP’s Johnny English? Email the answer and the prize you would prefer to: wordup.ezine@gmail.com WORD UP

MUSIC REVIEWS

These days most album releases aren’t great but on the rare occasion you could stumble onto valuable treasure, (an album with more than 5 good trax). Purist DJs and salty record companies beware: MP3s are here to stay, so get smart or get left. Here are some releases we recommend. Kendrick Lamar makes everything feel so deliberate and well-designed with such high polish that it’s hard to ignore his talent. Most impressive is the fact that even with all the variety, there’s not a “bad” track to be found on this album at all. It’s listenable the whole way through, multiple times in a day as I’ve done. Enjoyable on nearly every level.

KrownworK Love affairs

Kendrick Lamar Section 80

Label: KrownworK Publishing Genre: Beats, Hip Hop, Instrumental, Abstract This is an unknown to me but I’m damn happy that he sent his beat tape my way. Krownwork is not a beat maker in the traditional hip-hop sense, he is a producer and sound engineer, that primarily focuses on producing scores for motion pictures, as well as skits, interludes, intro’s and outro’s. He is into songs without words as their focus…Sonic Cinema He composes music with emotion, mood and feeling, the eventual product of the progression of the sample based music that we headz revere. KrownworK utilizes chords, synth notes, vocals pieces and a range of drum beats with varying rhythms and textures. He explores the boundaries of what is accepted as beat making. Having spent the greater part of the last 3 years listening to Fly Lo, Hudson Mohawke and Flako, I have no hesitation in recommending this if you are already into the beat scene. If not, I urge you to embrace the change. This is inspired by traditional boom bap and the beats definitely do bump! This ‘beat tape’ contains tracks all less than 2 minutes in length, there are no MCs but I like the use of trumpet, piano and just about any other instrument KrownworK deems fitting. Throughout the tracks of the album he explores the different situations and emotions of love affairs. Some of my favourite selections are: ‘Tough love’, ‘Past relations and learning curves’, ‘Past presents future’, ‘Love affairs part2’, ‘Friends with benefits’ & ‘Cherish the moment’. I have great expectations for the future of this producer of great music. The bonus is he is from Mzansi so show your support.

Label: Top Dawg Ent. Genre: Hip Hop This is some new kid from Compton making his foray into the ‘rap world’. His name’s been floating around on the web as someone to watch but I paid it no mind. My curiosity finally got the better of me and I really wished I woulda got it earlier. While many of the current rap releases are disappointing this one most definitely is not. Kendrick reminds me of Outkast/Bone Thugs, Drake and Blu, all rolled into one package. He embodies the best of the golden era updated for modern times. I was surprised at how easily I got into his music. A no nonsense, witty emcee who can rhyme in technical patterns but is relevant to the younger generation. He even has a track named ‘A.D.H.D.’ where he comments on his generation’s attitude. Beside the rhyming ability, another thing that counts in his favour are the beat makers in his corner. Digi+Phonics seems to be his support crew and really come through for him in a big way. Kendrick isn’t afraid to touch on topics that could get a bit preachy or “too deep” for other rappers who don’t possess his pedigree. Examples of these are ‘Tammy’s song (Her Evils)’, ‘No Make Up’ and ‘Keisha’s Song’. These songs also serve to demonstrate Kendrick’s sensitivity towards women. (What part of Compton is he from?) Beat wise Digi+Phonics have the knack of matching dusty drums mined from the 90s with a musicality that makes for repeated listening. There are a few conflicting attitudes that he displays, he’s conscious one minute and don’t-givea-f*ck the next. It reminds me of that other LA great, Ras Kass. Just like Ras he offers no explanation or reason for this duality, other than that he’s human – and fallible – just like the rest of us.

Freestyle Fellowship The promise

most track placement and came off consistently. Its clear that the lyricists haven’t lost any of their hard earned ability and it basically came down to the choice of beats to get their message across to the new generations. They make no attempt to appeal to a crossover audience but maintain the styles showcased on the classic CD. ‘Step 2 The Side’ with a banging beat by Exile is the first single and one of the strongest cuts but is well supported by a fistful of solid joints like ‘Ambassadors’’, We are’, ‘This write here’ and ‘Íntrospective’. ‘Gimmee’ is one of the albums most enjoyable tracks and in my opinion contains one of Aceyalone’s best verses. I like how well the flows fit over the beat and how it didn’t sound forced even when the beat changes toward the end of the track. The Blackmilk produced ‘Candy’ is the most out of place. It misses the mark. The 14-track LP takes listeners back to the first time they heard the Fellowship, but with a modern day vibe. The monstrous lyrics over the punching beats are sure to mesmerize new listeners and draw them in.

Label: Decon Genre: Hip Hop/Rap The Fellowship shop return along with DJ Kiilu to make good on their promise to never fall the f*ck off. The four lyrical tyrants are Aceyalone, Myka 9, P.E.A.C.E. and Self Jupiter. They received critical acclaim for their classic album “Innercity griots”… (No it didn’t go platinum!) These are different times and these esteemed veterans enlist the help of pedigree beat makers but also keep things familiar by working with previous collaborators Omid, JMD who worked on ‘Innercity’ and Bionik who worked with Aceyalone and The Lonely Ones. The recognized boards man are Exile, Eligh (from Living Legends) and Blackmilk though lesser known beat makers are also given a spot. E Super contributes an electronic boom bap sound to ‘Government lies’ a track reminiscent of ‘We will not tolerate’ from the ‘Innercity’ album. Its acapella for half its length but I would have liked to hear a version with the beat for the entire duration of the track. Other new comers are, Biz One, Myka 9 on beats, and Josef Leimberg who worked on the title track. Besides the aforementioned beat makers Kenny Segal got the

Disclaimer: Reviews are the opinion of the reviewer and not that of Word Up Productions.

The tracks I enjoy are the ones where he forgets his formulaic sound and pushes things like the Marsha Ambrosius track. ‘Never stop loving you’ switches things up by striping the track bare bones for the verses and brings the drums in at the hook. Talib was pretty nice on the verbals too. On ‘One night’, 9th goes for a retro sound reminiscent of 70s smoothed out R&B straight butta! ‘No pretending’ is the next gem with Raekwon gracing the track, again 9th breaks the mould and comes correct with the elements he uses to construct the song but drums wise stays in his comfort zone. Good to hear the Chef swinging sharp swords over the beats. Never heard of Rapsody before but she opens the next track, ‘20 feet tall’, nicely as 9th changes up that snare again as if to prove a point. Erykah does her thing on the hook and the beat keeps the momentum going even though she kinda over stays her welcome. Could’ve been a hot joint. the music for ‘A star U R’ is put together really well, I just wish the MCs woulda just come with some next ish. The instrumentation is impressive. Seems like Terrace Martin made his presence felt on this album. The bonus joint ‘Base for your face’, is a bit of nostalgia featuring Jean Grae, Phon Tigga, and Lil B. It’s like there are to different 9th Wonders, one pushing the boundaries and the other who just wanna do what worked for him on previous outings. Have to admit I see some progression into making music as opposed to just making beats to rap over. If he can keep growing as a producer he’ll make even more of an impact on the game.

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9th Wonder The Wonder Years (Deluxe Edition) Label: It’s A Wonderful World Music Group Genre: Hip Hop/Rap I was a huge fan of 9th on that first Little Brother album. On the second album I got used to his steez, the way he always put his trax together and how he favoured that particular snare. Same thing here, nothing too radical just how 9th always do except when he works with emcees who can compliment his beats instead of just riding them.

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The Hip-Hop Dialogues presents ‘Getting Paid: Sustainable Careers in Music’

Mitchell’s Plain Festival 2011 Now you can mix business with pleasure! The focus will once again be on entertainment, so any local artists interested in performing should urgently send their names, contact details and a short biography to: mitchellsplainfestival@mweb.co.za Date: 25 to 27 November 2011 Venue: Morgenster Drive, Westridge, Mitchell’s Plain, Cape Town

Date: Saturday, 19 November 2011 Time: 11:00am – 1:00pm Venue: University of Cape Town, Leslie Social Science Building Lecture Theatre 2D, University Ave, Upper Campus, Cape Town, South Africa The Hip-Hop Dialogues is your chance to talk to a selection of people in the know about how to build a sustainable career in music. Although our panelists have a wealth of experience, the event is really an opportunity for you to tell us what your needs are and what kinds of topics you would like to address in future events at The Hip-Hop Dialogues.

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Heavy Hitters presents: Copywrite from Megahertz (MHz) live @ Gauteng hip hop expo 2011 Live performances by 25 South Africa’s top hiphop artists, 15 top DJ’s, breakdancing, graffiti, skateboarding, live MC and beat battles on 2 stages, clothing stalls and top USA hip-hop artist Copywrite. Date: Time: Venue: Entry:

Saturday, 3 December 2011 11am until late night Ko’spotong, Newtown, Johannesburg R100 whole day

ART & SOUL We doing it again! and doing it BIG!! with live performances, Hip Hop, Neo-Soul, Rock, Jazz Bands, Art showcase, Poetry, Crazy Dubstep, Hip hop and Neo-soul DJ’s on the decks and mad comedians. Sunday, 4 December 2011 at 12:00pm – 5 December 2011 at 12:00am Venue: Jobuzz Newtown, 01 Henry Nxumalo (next door Sophiatown Restuarant) Johannesburg, South Africa Cover: R80 - couple R50 - singles

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