UnderGround Ad: ProVerb drops Write of Passage!

This is just to let you know that it's out there. Get yourself a copy at most music retailers today and find out what's on Verb's mind. I only heard one or two joints and DAMN!!!!!!

Look out for the review coming soon. [All writer hopefulls please email me your details and a sample of your work ASAP!]

HIP HOP LIVES!!!!!!!!!

UnderGround Launch: Perspektif presents Views & Insights

Western Cape MC Perspektif and DJ Madfingaz will be holding it down in Cape Town tonight as Verses presents the Views & Insights Mixtape launch at Zula Bar on Long Street. Perspektif will exhibit his new material that he has been working on since the breakup of his former crew, Supadan.

Views & Insights is his new mixtape, alongside DJ Madfingaz, that displays his lyrical skill, thought provoking concepts and showcases some older verses and material that was recorded by Supadan before 2006. DJ Madfingaz mixed the entire new project and will also play a set at the launch. Other artists to perform include Blaq Pearl Band, Badilisha! X-Change Poets with Boeta Gee on the decks. Tickets are available for R25 at the door. For more information you can add Perspektif on facebook by simply searching for his name.

HIP HOP LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!

UnderGround Ad: Ootz & XRate presents Nauts & Crosses

A giant leap foward for underground hip hop. Look out for the review coming soon.

PS. Check out the artwork on this project. Very impressive don't you think?

UnderGround Review: Driemanskap - Igqabhukil' Inyongo!!

I’ve wanted to do this review ever since I copped the album at Back to the City. However, we decided that it would be best to wait until after their official release date, 11 May, so the underground could get their hands on it and experience the sound that defines Cape Town Spaza rap for yourself.

If you’re unfamiliar with Driemanskap, here’s some background info. Their latest album, Igqabhukil' Inyongo was released under Pioneer Unit, and is their third offering. Their first two albums, The Battle of Gugulethu vol. 1 & 2, stirred up tidal waves on the underground with tracks like Mhee’, S'fikile Qha and Kwek’ Madoda to mention a few. So three albums in and with no sign of slowing down, El Nino, Ma-B, Dla and Redondo, who joins the crew after being released from Pollsmore prison last year, have once again made a classic contribution to South African hip hop.

Igqabhukil’ Inyongo directly translated means the gall bladder has split, but loosely translated means things are about to get crazy. Some would consider such a title a very bold statement to make on your album cover, but if you take a listen to the material, Driemanskap have more than just backed up the claim. The album is filled with bangers and exhibitions of platinum Xhosa lyrical skill. Tracks like 2000 We Shine, Snakes and Fakes Tsotsi, I Will Make It and Bambelela are all excellent representations of the everyday struggles faced in the Cape Town townships and that fine tuned Driemanskap sound.

A masterful solo effort by Redondo called Sphithiphithi serves as a hood anthem and a shout out to everyone out there on the hustle. This on its own should tell you a lot about Driemanskap and the connection they share with the underground community and all their fans.

In terms of production and cameos, the album features guest appearances by an all Cape Town cast that includes Sugar, Bizzah, Kanyi, Siya, Black Dillinger and Macho. On production, DPlanet put in most the work with 6 contributions. Other producers on the album include Hipe, Beatology, El Nino and Planet Earth. Overall, Igqabhukil’ Inyongo is another must have for fans of that real hip hop.

Igqabhukil’ Inyongo is available nation wide at most leading music retailers.

UnderGround Rating: * * * * and a half.

Ratings: * - Wack Shit, * * - Don’t Bother, * * * - Nice One, * * * * - Brilliant, * * * * * - UnderGround Classic.

UnderGround Theory: Keeping it Real vs. Keeping it Profitable, The Compramise.

- To the left – Morale, Maggz and L. Tido have chosen the compromise in search of fame, riches and diamond rings.

Since the inception of hip hop culture into the mainstream corporate market, artists have been forced to compromise their style of music to fit audiences that major record labels target as majority investors. Labels identify the trends in urban culture and propose the idea of making music which appeals to urban youths following that trend. What results from this is a compromise in style that is made by the artist to achieve high financial returns.

Evidence of this compromise is very visible in the United States hip hop market, with artists like Chingy, Plies, Soulja Boy etc, and has recently infiltrated South Africa, where artists have become tired of preserving real hip hop for minimal financial compensation. Between 2006 to now, a new style of hip hop has emerged in SA. A style that incorporates the commercial aspects of urban culture in order to make hip hop culture more appealing to modern day teens who are no longer interested in the metaphors, similes and the conscious material of artists of the past.

A new breed of MCs, dancers and DJs who have no problem with conforming to the ideologies of corporate giants was subsequently born and have since stepped onto the forefront as the new image of hip hop culture in South Africa. i.e. Da Les, L.Tido etc. Though artists like Zuluboy, ProVerb, Pro, Reason, Zubz and others continue to work hard to preserve ‘original’ hip hop by presenting it to the youth from new innovative and fresh angles, the simplicity and swagger filled lifestyle presented by these new ambassadors of hip hop is still chosen as the most popular style of music by high school kids and other impressionable youths.

Now the question is raised: Is this new perception of hip hop culture in SA a natural progression for our movement? And, will artists like Hymphatic Thabs, Ben Sharpa, Last Days Fam, Katz and others be forced to subject themselves to the compromise offered by the corporate world, in order to make being a hip hop artist living in contemporary SA financially viable?

Either way, the progression of hip hop in South Africa can only be determined by those who support the culture, and if heads come together to speak out against useless lyrics, capitalist views and first world corporate ideologies being pushed as hip hop in South Africa, the sense in our culture may well return. Until then, the artists on the strings of their puppet masters sing along and encourage urban youths to disregard reality, education, the dismantling of poverty, and to rather get those new Air Yeezy sneaks and get on your Tippy Toes.

Keep it Real, Profitable and Alive.

HIP HOP LIVES!!!!!!!!

[Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of The UnderGround Angle and heads who share our stream of thinking.]

UnderGround GiG: Killah Priest invades S.A. this month...

3 days from now on 9th May, the Assembly in Cape Town will play host to one of the underground’s living legends, Killah Priest. The Wu-Tang affiliate will rock the show alongside DJ Raiko and special guests. Tickets go for R150 pre-sale and R170 at the door.

For all you Jsec underground heads who wanna party with the legend, no stress. Killah Priest will also be in Jsec later this month. Stay on The UnderGround Angle for more updates on the Jsec show.

HIP HOP LIVES!!!!!!

Shout out to Swazone and the 4site team!

UnderGround Crew: 10 Digits drops History In The Making!

Our UnderGround Artists’ profile for this month will focus on Eastern Cape & Durban MCs and crews, so without further delay (once again) The UnderGround Angle is pleased to introduce to you, 10 Digits.

Reppin’ Uitenhage in P.E, 10 Digits emerges as a united movement of eight MCs, currently under the Hidden Prospects Entertainment label, who have just released their fourth mixtape titled ‘History In The Making.’ Though the name might sound unfamiliar, these cats have been on the grind for a minute. Formed in 2007 as a unified movement of MCs in the Nelson Mandela Bay area, 10 Digits have gone on to release three underground projects that have received much acclaim in the Eastern Cape, earned them a feature in HYPE magazine and a guest appearance on lifestyle TV show Ses’khona on SABC 1.

Beat maker and front man for 10 digits is Catalyst, who is also a member of EC's biggest hip hop crew around, Meta4. This Numb City native has been making a name for himself and pushing the Hidden Prospects stable in and around P.E so much that he got the UnderGorund shook. Catalyst has worked on projects with the likes of Dangatye, JKoaotic, Sensitive and Qalazive to mention a few, and has now focused his attention on 10 Digits’ ‘History In The Making.’

Not much is know about the new mixtape, which dropped on 2nd May, so it would be best to reserve our comments until after the UnderGround has had a good listen.

10 Digits consists of Loog, Major, K-Do, Loly-T, Extacy and Catalyst. For more info add Hidden Prospects or 10 Digits on facebook.

UnderGround Scene: Get-To-Spit, hip hop Nourishment for the Mind and Soul.

House No.6 on Leah Mangope Road normally operates as a Halaal spaza shop, but once a week Al-Shaams Halaal foods serves a rare delicacy on its menu, lyrical expression! Get-To-Spit is an open mic underground hip hop session hosted every Friday in Mabopane, a hood north of Pretoria which fell under the former Bophutatswana homeland during Apartheid. Heads, MCs and poets from Mabopane and surrounding areas are offered a platform to express their opinions on the deepest issues facing their respective communities, most of which are battling the harsh realities of poverty, unemployment and HIV/AIDS.

Reminiscent of Black Sunday in Soweto, Get-To-Spit provides opinionated & articulate young hip hop heads with a positive way to express their most intimate thoughts about living in the ghetto and the state of general society. As word spreads, the organisers might have to search for a venue bigger than the current lapa to accommodate Get-to-spit's growing audience, not to mention more spathlos.

If you happen to be in and around Mabopane on Friday make sure you get to Al-Shaams Halaal foods for Get-To-Spit from 6pm till hip hop infinity. - story compiled by Mooketsi 'Elite' Nthite

For more info or to perform, contact DJ Bosti on 0721406712