We jammed at Throwdown by AfriPOP! this weekend. The monthly gig is becoming a staple for anyone looking for music beyond the playlists of commercial radio stations. Underground and going places MC Choc headlined the event in downtown Johannesburg. On the decks were the lovely DJ Soulo Starr and DJ Party Time. You might know Party Time as one of half of the Dirty Paraffin duo. Download DJ Party Time’s [...]
Music acts who dare to break the mold are finally getting the recognition they deserve. Spoek Mathambo’s Father Creeper album released by Seattle based Sub-Pop Records and Sony Africa was a neon sign that the world is ready to hear what urban South Africa has to offer. It’s so rare to hear the electro-kwaito-can’t-box-it-it-so-awesome beats that are propelling the likes of Mathambo and Dirty Paraffin to global recognition. Well, it [...]
Check out this vid by BBC reporter Louis Theroux. Not sure how I feel about this one but I’m sure it serves a purpose for many people out there. I’m always amazed when British people come to Africa to marvel at all the corruption and crime. I’m equally amazed by white South Africans who are in shock at the current state of South Africa . It’s a shame they weren’t [...]
“Ah, Africa,” sighs William Lai, 60, as he gazes out across the great plains of parking lots that define Johannesburg’s Chinatown. “Where I was born. Where my children were born. Home.” In Apartheid-era South Africa, Chinese citizens were considered “Asiatic” or “coloured” and Japanese “honorary white” (don’t ask). In post-apartheid South Africa a group of Chinese-South Africans fought to have the same benefits given to black citizens through Black Economic [...]
