What we do online echoes in eternity. Few people know this better than Montle Moroosi aka Big Space. “Damage has been done. There’s nothing I can do about it anymore. If I Google my name, it’s whatever it is.”
If you do choose to google Montle’s name, you’ll see on the first page that in 2013 Montle and Max Barashenkov got fired from their jobs as writers for now defunct men’s mag, FHM, for making a joke on Facebook about corrective rape. Not the smartest move when you’re writing for a magazine about women, and a callous and insensitive thing to do even if you’re not. Things weren’t exactly helped by their public apology which tried to point the blame more outward than inward, and pissed people off even more. When I got asked to interview Montle about his Remix 52 project, the FHM firing was the first thing I could think about asking him about.
It’s been nearly 4 years since Montle and Max got fired, and ever since Montle has struggled to get a job. I asked him how the firing has affected his life? He thought about it for a few seconds before replying, “Pretty bad but after a while, there’s nothing you can really do about it. I’m blacklisted. I can’t work at a major media thing. I can’t even get a job at a call center. I applied for that shit. I have degrees bruh. I speak better than most white people but I can’t get a job trimming pubes off a fuckin hamster. I guess it puts you down for a bit but hey, when life gives you lemons, take the lemons and throw them at Renee Zellweger’s face. Shit happens, and I’m not the first person it’s happened to.”
As you can tell, Montle has a unique way with words. He has a propensity to fuck with people, a lot, and people naturally take umbrage to his offensive nature. I ask him if he ever thinks of the consequences of his words when he’s saying them, he replied “Ever since I started talking shit about people, the day I realised what my fucking personality is, I always thought ‘One day I’m going to get punched in the face’ or something like that, one way or the other. Of course, everything has a consequence like that. Every action has a reaction but also some people overreact. But I don’t think I’m infallible.”
I followed up by asking him if he does it to get a reaction? “It depends. I guess back in the day, when I was writing more, you do something to get a reaction. That’s an old technique. Trolling was there before the internet.” .He continues, “Sometimes I just say something because I find it funny, I have a dark sense of humour that could be insensitive but I guess that’s my sense of humour, or maybe how I deal with things, but again, it’s subjective. I’m not Adolf Hitler, I could be Mugabe, or one of them real niggas. Pol Pot, he gets high. (Laughs) But definitely not Hitler, Pol Pot, maybe.”. Montle seems to always be trying to find a joke in everything. Kinda like The Comedian in Watchmen, although that’s probably not the most flattering comparison.
What I find strange in the whole saga of Montle being fired is that his white compatriot, who was also fired, hasn’t had much trouble getting work whilst Montle has struggled to get hired again. Granted, Montle still has a habit of digging his own grave by saying offensive shit, but it’s something to take note of. I also find it strange that someone like Okmalumkoolkat, who was actually convicted of sexual assault, hasn’t really faced much professional backlash and his career is better than ever. Casey Affleck, who has been accused of sexual harassment and abuse, won an Oscar on Sunday. Mike Tyson is making Soulja Boy diss tracks and training fucking Chris Brown. All these men have committed crimes against women and no amount of thinkpieces or twitter dragging has stopped their careers from flourishing.
It makes me wonder: Do you have to be famous first for the consequences of these actions to not to affect you? Do we let artists off the hook more because we like them? Or because they have value? If Montle was higher in the entertainment hierarchy at the time, would his career have suffered as much? It seems that if you can make bank, then you can say or do whatever you like about or to women, and the entertainment industry will turn a blind eye. As long as an artist draws money, they’ll be booked, regardless of their transgressions. However, if you’re on the lower rungs of the ladder, you’ll find yourself even lower for much longer.
Montle has since tried to move on and put his past behind him as best he can. The not being able to get a job thing has allowed him to focus more on his music, which I guess is what you call a silver lining. Last year he put out 52 remixes, one every Friday. He’s worked with Jumping Back Slash and Okzharp, as well as managed a small, underground record label called Wet Dreams. The label features himself, his girlfriend Rose Bonica, Vega -who used to live here but now he lives in Norway- and Mzu, “he’s a TV actor, SABC 1, but he also makes music.” Wet Dreams will be releasing a compilation, which according to Montle “is gonna be amazing.”. They’re also curating music for the SA Art Fair.
Big Space also has a project with Spoek Mathambo coming which apparently has no rapping ‘cause “It’s weird being 32 talking about pussy on my mind.”. So that should be interesting. He also has an LP coming out in June.
The cat has been keeping his head down and keeping busy, and there’s no doubt that he’s talented. That should be a recipe for success but I don’t know if audiences will accept Big Space now, or if he’ll ever be as big as he could have been if he didn’t say the things he did. That being said, the court of public opinion is a strange beast and many artists have been forgiven for worse crimes. Maybe people will forgive and forget, and maybe he’ll find an audience who appreciates his fucked up sense of humour as well as his music. Either way, Montle Moroosi will always have to live with the consequences of his actions.