In recent years Durban bands have affected the national music psyche like a hijacked 9/11 plane. Only, their longevity and success have been more like the United 93 flight that crashed and burned before hitting its target rather than the ones that, with deadly explosive intent, actually did.
Yes, the Durban influence South African hip hop is comparable to the human tragedy and acts of war and murder that were the 9/11 hijackings. Eeeesh.
2 comments:
I think South African HipHop will transcend history, long after people forget all the Pearl Harbors and My Pet Goat stories...
Except, of course, for the songs about greedy Indians making money during Apartheid - let us not remind brownies about their racism toward their darker brethren.
South African hip-hop is actually really vibrant and interesting. I think it has a lot more interesting things going on than we do with hip-hop here, where the whole scene seems to have gotten fairly stale.
I have to admit, I started getting into hip-hop in SA only after overcoming my own biases in which I just assumed that it would be derivative. Instead it takes an American medium that itself owes a huge debt to African traditions and adds a South African urban component. Let's face it -- ain't nothing someone from Compton can tell someone from Soweto about keepin' it real. Some dude from the Bronx would be chicken feed in Alexandra township within about 15 minutes.
And oh yeah -- there are racial tensions among formerly dispossessed groups in SA. Head out to Cape Flats in Cape Town if you want to see evidence of that.
Cheers --
dcat
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