Music Features Archives - Page 15 of 17

Cutthroat Entertainment

Words by Caron Williams Photography by Max Mogale From Def Jam, Death Row, Bad Boy to Roc Nation, each iconic era of hip hop has been accompanied by equally iconic record labels that have helped shape the genre. Whilst prolific musical…

Music Features

10 Best Debut Hip Hop Albums

Words by Mercia Tucker They say you live your whole life to make your first album and a year to make your second. It’s part of the reason why debut albums are so magical and sophomores, more often than…

Maftown’s Impact on SA Hip Hop

Words by Mercia Tucker Mafikeng is home to some of South Africa’s most talented and celebrated artists. When considering the cultural capital of South African music and entertainment spaces in the 90s, however, Maftown hardly came to mind. Kwaito took…

Da L.E.S – Larger than Life

Words by Mercia Tucker It’s April 2016 and the VIP section of the Zone 6 venue in Soweto starts to fill up with the fashionably late. The precursory pouted pics posted, small talk starts to run thin amongst the invited…

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AKA’s Marketing Strategy for Caiphus Song

Photography by @blaq_smith In the lead up to the release of his latest single, Caiphus Song, AKA conceptualized an impressive marketing strategy which resulted in an immense amount of media buzz. With what began as the perceived break-up between South African entertainment’s most…

Music Features

5 Classic SA Hip Hop Albums

Words by Mercia Tucker Classic, adjective \ˈkla-sik\; judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind. In the musical spectrum there are many interpretations to this definition, some arbitrary and others rational…

SA Hip Hop Brand Kings

Words by Mercia Tucker “The Superstar shoe was dead. The shoe was dead. And Run-D.M.C. singlehandedly brought that shoe back” said Angelo Anastasio, Marketing Director for Adidas 1984-1991. It was Russell Simmons’ idea for the group to record a track…

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Can a SA rapper break into the American market?

Words by Mercia Tucker New York is to hip hop what Mecca is to Islam. The city has cultural significance that birthed and evolved the genre, and is expressed in odes to the city from Kool G’s Streets of New…

Separating the artist from their art

Words by Mercia Tucker “Can you separate an artist from their art?” is an old question but is still a relevant one. That there exists in the world a bond stronger than an exceptional artist’s with his art, I’m not…

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Interview: A-Reece

Words By Mercia Tucker You can probably remember the first time that Lehlogonolo Mataboge made you go “Whoa! This kid can rap!” You can probably remember the time after that when he outdid the first and your jaw dropped at…

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i-Genesis review

Genesis Gabriella Tina Manney was too protracted a name to walk on stage with so Gigi LaMayne became the anagram of sorts that we were to introduced to this little stick of dynamite as. LaMayne being the phonetic equivalent of…

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Top 10 Albums of 2016

In as much as 2016 ran us through the gauntlet of political uncertainty and upheaval, and the death of some of our most beloved pop culture icons, it has been an oasis of good music in an otherwise acrid cultural…

Music Features