What’s dragging South African Hip Hop behind in 2023
Ever since the whole conversation about whether South African hip hop is dead or alive, I’ve been thinking about what is dragging the game behind, and what is missing in order for us to bury this conversation completely.
Don’t get me wrong, the game is thriving right now more than it has ever been. But if we are being honest, there are some aspects of the game that could do with a little tuning which could help better the situation for South African hip hop.
So when I think about the game and what is dragging it behind, two factors come to mind, mainly camaraderie and competition. I know having these factors at the forefront seems counterproductive but it will make sense, just hear what I have to say.
Camaraderie
I might be imagining things, but to me, the South African industry seems too divided and that sense of working together and collaborating is not the same as it used to be.
Back in the day, we have songs like “Amantombazane the remix” by the late Riky Rick, which had a lot of hot rappers at the time all on one track.
Watch the official music video of “Amantombazane the remix” below;
We also had “Mayo” a couple of years back by DJ Speedsta who brought together some of the new up-and-coming rappers at the time together all on one song as well with Tellaman, Frank Casino, Shane Eagle, and Yung Swiss.
Watch the music video of “Mayo” below;
Look at all the rappers I’ve mentioned above and just think about them, how they were still up-and-coming, fast forward to now, and look at what the game is looking like with them.
They are big artists right now but back then they were on one track at the same time and just thinking about it, you can’t imagine that happening right now.
That was really a dope era for South African hip hop because the togetherness and camaraderie produced a lot of good music for the culture, but lately, the game isn’t the same as it used to be.
I feel as if there’s too much complacency in the game which is getting in the way of so much music being created because everyone just wants to stick to what they are used to and work with the same four or five people.
It is to the point that certain rappers sound boring and repetitive, and I feel as if I can already tell what some dudes are going to bring to the song.
People have to get out of their comfort zone and share their sound with people they’ve never worked with before, but I like what certain individuals in the game are doing right now.
For instance, we have MashBeatz who did a mixtape titled “If You Know, You Know” with Thato Saul, if you haven’t listened to it, please go listen to that mixtape because it’s super underrated.
We all know MashBeatz from working with the “The Wrecking Crew” boys and “Rubberband Gang”, he obviously worked mainly with A-Reece on projects like “Reece Effect” and “Fire In The Water”.
You could tell that he was clearly setting his way and comfortable working with him, but ever since he left Rubberband Gang, and obviously right now the reasons are unknown. But since his departure, he has managed to work with different artists showcasing how dope of a producer he really is and giving us dope music we would have never gotten if he stuck in his comfort zone.
I still want to see him work with more artists in the game following in the footsteps of Zoocci Coke Dope, and allow his sound to touch a whole lot of artists in the game allowing for the culture to reach even greater heights.
Another individual who is currently running the game is Blxckie, he is literally running the game if we are being honest and he is showcasing that South African hip hop is alive now more than ever and thriving, mainly through the moves he has been making.
Blxckie is the true definition of camaraderie because it doesn’t matter who the artist is, or who the rapper is, he will work with anyone because at the end of the day, the music is what matters and he doesn’t allow his ego to get in the way of that.
Blxckie has features with almost every rapper in the South African hip-hop industry, obviously, there is a handful of them that he hasn’t worked with but you get my point though.
Despite his sound being recognizable, Blxckie is still versatile and has managed to kill every feature he has done, no matter who the artist is, with songs coming out sounding dope due to it being like a different element every single time that he manages to portray with the artist he is being featured with.
A lot of artists should take notes from Blxckie because it would truly liven up the game and bring more mainstream attention to it.
Now I’m not saying that go and collaborate with every single rapper in the game and dilute your sound but at least come together with other artists where you complement each other on a song, giving your skills and talent level a bigger platform to perform.
Working together and creating that sense of camaraderie especially when people have never done so previously, opens the door for new sounds and great music to be produced.
Competition
The other factor we need to discuss is the competitiveness within the game or at least the lack thereof, rap or I guess hip-hop is a competitive sport, and lately, the game has been missing that.
I’m not saying that I want beef amongst artists, but I would like for them to challenge each other as well as themselves in order to take their careers to greater heights within the game, but it’s like some people are afraid to step up, and step out of their shell and do what is necessary.
Some rappers are so quick to rap about how they are the best but have never proven it, but anyway, I digress.
Let’s reflect on the Cassper Nyovest and AKA situation, and what we got out of that.
At the height of that beef, AKA gave us “Composure” and in my opinion, that is arguably one of his best songs, despite it being a diss track.
Check out “Composure” by AKA below;
Obviously, that was a diss to Cassper Nyovest who replied with “Dust 2 Dust”, which is weak if I’m being honest, but my point is the competitiveness between these two artists had the game feeling really interesting and exciting at the time.
Listen to “Dust 2 Dust” by Cassper Nyovest below;
Even the competitiveness between A-Reece and Nasty C has the game in a frenzy every single time, whether it be direct or just a subliminal shot
These two also know how to make things interesting because it is always a case of who got the better of who? Who had the better bars? Who had the more provoking content? and that is what we need sometimes otherwise things could feel boring at times, but hey maybe that’s just me.
Anyways, the last incident that I can recall just because it had everyone talking was J Molley and The Big Hash.
These two were up-and-coming rappers trying to be established within the game during the same time, where they were often compared to one another because of the way their sounds are quite similar, both being able to rap while still giving us melodies at the same time, so it is not surprising that they were pitted up against each other.
The Big Hash first came out with “I’m Sorry” on his mixtape “Life + Times 2”, which he did with 808x.
Listen to “I’m Sorry” by The Big Hash and 808x below;
The Big Hash was the first to draw his gloves but J Molley didn’t back down, he came out with “I’m Good”, throwing a lot of shots at The Big Hash. Some bars that caught my attention were;
Ironic how these young boys wanna call my name out for clout
Meanwhile be on the phone calling me tryna hash this shit out
Guess these the life and times we’re living in
Typical cycle of the internet
Cause in person they always back peddling
Check out “I’m Good” by J Molley below;
The above are some really tough bars, anyways that was a dope offering from J Molley and they still continued their back and forth, with The Big Hash replying with a freestyle on Stogie T’s Freestyle Friday Series, which is pure competitive sparring at its finest.
Obviously, J Molley responded once again with “Pallbearer”, which you can listen to below.
The Big Hash closed the battle off with his track, “How To Kill A Dead Body” with Flvme, check it out below.
My point is that South African hip hop is on full display with the competitive nature amongst these two, they were grabbing everyone’s attention and if you saw the Twitter timeline at that time, it was just full of J Molley and The Big Hash.
But obviously, despite both of them being melodic rappers, they were able to put on a rapping spectacle, I mean everything was just dope between these two because as I said, everyone was just waiting to see who was going to what next, who was going to come up with the dope bars, so it was really amazing to see.
But yeah, I hope you get my point though, with everything, South African hip-hop is the best genre in the country and a lot of the new up-and-coming young rappers are putting the game on the map.
The likes of Blxckie, 25K, Die Mondez, Lucasraps, Costa Titch, Thato Saul, and many more are keeping the game alive and well but with the elements of camaraderie and competition infused into that.
