Bubblegum Club

Tag: boom bap

  • DJ SistaMatik doesn’t play hits

    DJ SistaMatik doesn’t play hits

    Originally from Soweto, Johannesburg-based Tumelo Kgwathe aka DJ SistaMatik first discovered her passion for sharing music with others at the age of 9 when her uncle gave her a box of tapes. “I played those tapes every day to everyone that came to visit us, and when I look back that’s where it all started. Because I just became that person that always wanted to play music for people,” recalls SistaMatik.

    Introduced to the world of hip hop through American movies, SistaMatik was fascinated by the culture surrounding hip hop. “To me that was like wow, I want to be an American, not in a shallow way but in a really innocent type of way. I just became that kid around the neighbourhood with the baggy clothes, trying to emulate that culture,” SistaMatik explains.

    Growing up in Jo’burg, SistaMatik found that the only place where she could find fellow hip hop heads was at a club called Metropolis run by DJ Blaze. This ignited her passion for hip hop even further and pushed her to learn how to DJ. “When I went there I found that everyone liked hip hop. They [knew] the raps. They play[ed] the music that I like[d], that I [could] never hear on the radio. So I started going there often and then it was like ‘I wanna DJ, I wanna try that out.’”

    The eagerness to learn led SistaMatik and her own sister to ask DJ Blaze for a lesson, which resulted in him starting DJ workshops. “He’s the guy that allowed us to touch the turntables back in those days. So salute to him.” Through these workshops she learned the art of mixing as well as the tricks of turntablism.

    SistaMatik’s sound and taste is constantly evolving, although when she finds a sound she likes, she sticks with it for a while. “I was really big on the Wu-era, but it keeps changing. Because later I was into the boom-bap KRS-One type sound and then I got into the more gangsta, thug music, Mobb Deep, New York street type music. I keep bouncing around different eras and different sounds. But I listen to a lot of hip hop. Local as well.”

    Film continues to play a large role in SistaMatik’s life, and she often finds songs through film. “I listen to film scores a lot. I’ll maybe download the score before I watch the film. That’s my main source [of music].”

    Although she specialises in hip hop, SistaMatik’s sets feature a variety of genres depending on the occasion. “…I love music as a whole. I’m very much against playing hits. The best feeling is when you’re playing and someone asks you ‘What is that?’ [because] they’re enjoying it.” The results are sets that feature a unique mix of underground gems, old school classics and the finest of African rap music.

    Her collaborations include providing scratches on Wanda Baloyi’s debut album, as a live DJ for Yugen Blakrok and an unlikely collaboration with pop singer ChianoSky. She is also looking to work with more people. When asked what her future plans are, SistaMatik reveals that she is aiming to score a South African film before the end of the year. Considering her affinity with film, that seems likely.

  • M(x) Blouse doesn’t have time for idiots

    M(x) Blouse doesn’t have time for idiots

    Joburg-based M(x) Blouse might rap, but they don’t consider themselves a hip-hop artist. Born at the end of 2016 as a creative outlet for KZN-born Sandiso Ngubane, M(x) Blouse’s first release was “WTF(SQUARED)” in collaboration with Joni Blud. The release made an impact and led to a performance at Braam’s Pussy Party and which was followed in May 2017 by the release of their debut EP ‘Believe the Bloom’. Produced with a heavy boom-bap influence and a lot of mistakes along the way thanks to naiveté, the EP nevertheless was a valuable learning for M(x) Blouse. “I think it’s true what they say, if you wanna do something, just jump in and hope to swim. Because after that I started seeing more interest from other people saying let’s work.”

    Fast-forward a year and the latest single from M(x) Blouse has sonically moved away from boom-bap, exploring areas such as kwaito and gqom. Produced by Thor Rixon, Stiff Pap’s Jakinda and Albany Lore, the track has helped M(x) Blouse push themselves as an artist. “It’s been amazing for me to just take a cue from them and how they do things and incorporating my rap into that. It’s opened up a huge scope for what I can do as an artist rather than trying to stick strictly to rapping in a hip-hop sense. So the growth has been crazy.” Another major growth-point for M(x) Blouse has been the switch to vernacular. “It just feels so comfortable, feels authentic, but I must add that I don’t necessarily feel like people rapping in English are not authentic. It would be a ridiculous notion to say that considering how much English is a part of our lives in South Africa. But for me specifically, writing in vernacular and mixing it with English just feels natural to me because that’s just how I speak.”

    The single, “Is’phukphuku”, Zulu for idiot, speaks of freedom and those that encroach on it, the idiot being those who restrict the freedoms of others trying to have a good time. “The beat to me just communicated a sense of freedom and I wasn’t necessarily thinking this is a song about freedom but that’s eventually what it came to be. In the second verse I talk about this dude who approaches a woman. She’s trying to have fun, he offers her a drink and she’s like ‘nah, I’m cool bra, but thanks’, but he takes that the wrong way and starts calling her a bitch. That to me is someone who is making a space unsafe for someone. That sort of became what the track is about, but it really didn’t start off that way, it just clicked in the end.”

    The video that accompanies the single is a visual feast featuring M(x) Blouse in South African fashion from the likes of ALC Man, Nicholas Coutts, with jewellery by Stefany Roup and Lorne, while dancers and supporting cast can be seen rocking Nicola W35T, and Art Club & Friends, with headgear by Crystal Birch. “I identify as non-binary. So it was important for me to express that stylistically, so the styling very much communicates that I’m not bound by gender in terms of what I wear. When you dress how you feel it doesn’t matter how you express yourself in terms of fashion. People always raise an eyebrow. So I really wanted a video that expressed that kind of quirk, if I can call it that, and being in a space as someone who is different you always seem like a fish out of water. I wanted to find a space where me and the people that I’m with would just look like a bunch of weirdos in the space, so we ended up going to a fish and chip shop!”

    An EP or album isn’t on the cards for the next year at least, but M(x) Bloue will be releasing music this year. “I do have one or two more singles that I want to put out before the end of the year, but there’s also the Thor Rixon collaboration which is a house track, I’m very excited about it.” They are also looking to perform more in 2018. “What I’ve been trying to do is, at least here in Joburg, gather like-minded artists and do our own shows. So I’m hoping that’s going to pan out real soon.”

    Having found a way to touch on social issues much like their hip-hop idols such as Nas and Lauryn Hill, without boxing themselves within hip-hop, M(x) Blouse is able to push themselves creatively. “I don’t even know what genre to say I am doing at the moment, but I’m happy to be exploring the limits of what I have to offer.”

    Credits:

    Photography – Aart Verrips

    Styling – Bee Diamondhead

  • Face-to-face with deKiller’Clown

    Hailing from Johannesburg, rapper, producer and all-round artist deKiller’Clown’s music draws inspiration from the sounds around him and the situations he finds himself in. With an older sister who studied sound engineering and introduced him to a lot of music including hip hop he started making music from a young age. “I started making music at 8 or 9 years old just because I looked up to my sister that much. I just got into music from the inspiration that I drew from my sister,” deKiller’Clown remembers, “At the time she was listening to a lot of The Roots, Erykah Badu, J Dilla, a lot of that old school hip hop. I was introduced to hip hop and fell in love with J Dilla.”

    Although he tried his hand at production around the age of 11, it wasn’t until a few years later that he took producing seriously. “Later on in life around 17/18 I met up with some friends who then inspired me to get into producing and that’s when my producing started.”

    While he doesn’t favour any particular emcees or producers, “I pretty much have favourite songs throughout different artists”, deKiller’Clown is inspired by what he is listening to in the moment as well as artists such as Nekro, Jedi Mind Tricks, Kanye West, Travis Scott. “Kid Cudi was a huuuge influence,” he emphasizes.

    A member and producer for Indigoat Clan,the crew was started by his high school friend ET and him as a way to create music for themselves and their friends. ”We made music for a long time before we put a name on it. At first it was just making music just for our friends to chill with. Listening to music, listening to ourselves. I think we were making for 2 or 3 years before we came up with the name.”

    His debut solo mixtape ‘I Changed The Name’ is a reference to the ongoing struggle he’s faced in naming the project over the almost 2 years he’s spent working on it. “I couldn’t really pinpoint what I was trying to do with the tape until I realised it’s me basically exploring all the different elements that I can explore with myself musically. Because I was inspired by so many genres like grime, trap or boom bap it was so evident in my music and it’s something I only noticed when I put together the EP that I’ve actually got a shitload of different sounds on this,” says deKiller’Clown

    Releasing the project towards the end of September the lead single ‘Vodka’ is currently getting the video treatment. With an eye for cinematography deKiller’Clown is hoping this will be the first of many to accompany the release. “I wanna do as many videos as I can for the tape because I have different ideas for how I want to display the songs visually,” deKiller’Clown muses.

    Drawing inspirations from across the hip hop spectrum and beyond deKiller’Clown hopes his music inspires others to not feel restricted in their self-expression. “Hopefully I can inspire other people to make music too. I just wanted people to not really feel like as a rapper you need to stick to rap, you need to stick to boom bap or you need to stick to trap. I just felt like music is an art that needs to be explored.”