Bubblegum Club

Tag: Stiff Pap

  • Darkie Fiction – Bringing back South African sounds

    Darkie Fiction – Bringing back South African sounds

    It’s been almost a year since the duo Darkie Fiction burst onto the scene with their nostalgic, feel good single ‘Selula’. Produced by Stiff Pap’s Jakinda, Darkie Fiction’s Katt Daddy and Yoza Mnyanda didn’t expect the track to have such an impact. “It was honestly just experimenting, trying, seeing what we could be if we came together.” recalls Yoza.

    The past year has seen the duo work hard in studio with like-minded producers to create their debut EP ‘Sobabini: A Mzantsi Evolution’. Meaning the two of us, the title is a reference to joining forces between rapper Katt Daddy and singer Yoza Mnyanda. Born out of frustration from hearing local music on commercial platforms that didn’t sound South African, the EP references a time when local sounds were dominating the airwaves. “We missed hearing Boom Shaka vibes and TKZee vibes. So we wanted to carry the baton from those kinds of people”. Yoza explains.

    Featuring productions by Fosta, Original Swimming Party, DJ Mdubulo, Thor Rixon, Albany Lore, as well as Maloon the Boom, the duo were looking for producers eager to experiment with them, but who also had their own style. “We want to take these producers out of the alternative/leftfield boxes and bring them into mainstream along with us. To change the perception of how people consume music and what people perceive as South African music.” says Katt Daddy of the duo’s decision in choosing the right producers for the EP.

    Stylistically the duo is similarly rooted in South African culture, with their photoshoots and videos referencing local culture heavily. The cover art for ‘Selula’ for example aims to portray the lives of Black South Africans during the 1970s & 80s that wasn’t documented or as Katt Daddy put it, “Black people were not seen in fancy houses with dinner tables and paintings on the wall.” Adds Yoza, “we wanted to say ‘hey, we grew up very nicely, [our parents] did their absolute best’”.

    Aiming for a shift in the local music industry, the duo believe that there is an appetite for local sounding music, but a lack of commercial support for it. “You play TKZee in the club now and people go crazy. But it’s access, it’s not circulating on radio, it’s not played on television. That’s what drives us to get back to be circulated again because we hope that our names are the names they speak of when the wave of the South African music industry shifted one day.” Yoza explains.

    Noting America’s dominance of media and culture, Katt Daddy also believes a major factor in the success of American sounding local music is due to an inferiority complex amongst black people thanks to apartheid’s legacy along with black South Africans admiration of black Americans who went through similar struggles during the Civil Rights Era. It is for this reason that Darkie Fiction is focusing on South African music for South Africans. “We’re not making music to be noticed in America and go to America, of course I’d like to be exposed to countries overseas, but it’s very important that we make music for South Africans as South Africans.” explains Katt Daddy.

    With the EP still fresh, the duo is currently working hard on promoting it and will be releasing a video for ‘My Ntliziyo’ next. “It’s focusing on the title of the EP, because we are also in a romantic relationship and lots of people ask if we are in one or not, so this video is going to say yes we are.” shares Yoza of the treatment for the video. They do have new songs in the pipeline, but are giving their EP some time to breathe first.

    Having played the likes of Design Indaba and Oppikoppi, the duo are no strangers to large stages and  feel more comfortable in that environment. “It’s actually the smaller stages we find more challenging. We performed at Kitcheners and that was the smallest stage we’ve ever performed on. It’s challenging, intimate, very different vibe, not to say that we don’t enjoy it but we conceptualise our performances on big spaces.” explains Katt Daddy. “We watch a lot of how Boom Shaka used to perform. We have a lot of grievances with the music industry at the moment. Sometimes we go to shows just to see how people perform and it’s so boring. So we decided to actually put on a show. We sweat! The visuals, the music, the performances it all has to tie in together and when you see Darkie Fiction on stage you say yes that makes sense. Quality is very important for us.” continues Yoza.

    Although Yoza and Katt Daddy aim to make music for South Africans they are acutely aware that in the current industry it is not sustainable as yet, still they believe artists shouldn’t be making music to be booked in certain places. “The ones that are making American sounding music are making the most money in South Africa and the ones that make South African music are the ones that get invited to Sweden or Switzerland to perform. It’s very funny. I think it’s possible and we as Darkie Fiction are advocating for that, that South Africans can be called to play overseas but you must not focus on making music so that you can perform overseas.” says Katt Daddy.

    Yoza continues, “…if you’re not being appreciated at home you should go where you’re appreciated. But I don’t think people deliberately don’t want to make it at home, it’s just the way it is. Hopefully it changes tho!”

    In the end Katt Daddy and Yoza want their listeners to take positivity from their music. “Be South African. Remember where you come from. Always stay positive in any situation. Just know that things will work out.” exclaims Katt Daddy. “Feel good. Katt & I both struggle from mental illness, so our music comes from there. It comes from when we’re feeling shit, we make music because it makes us feel better. And in turn when people listen to it they say they feel good. I think it’s not necessarily an intention that we’re going to make feel good music, but because of the place that it comes from for us then it ends up translating that way. Which is awesome.” adds Yoza.

  • 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

  • Stiff Pap at the forefront of Future Kwaito

    Stiff Pap at the forefront of Future Kwaito

    Since dropping their debut EP ‘Based on A Qho Story’, Stiff Pap have consistently been thinking of different ways to push their sound and live performances, competing with previous versions of themselves. Their agility and future-oriented vision has seen their fan base growing exponentially, revealing how they are plugged into the direction fans want SA music to move.

    Being at the forefront of a new genre, Future Kwaito, Stiff Pap appreciate and embrace its current amorphous nature. This open-ended framing of the genre restricts sonic inhibitions, meaning that global sounds and styles can be combined freely. This demonstrates their understanding of the global music context, with a grounding in South African associations of rhythm and lyrical storytelling. In this way their offering is something familiar yet different.

    “I feel like we’ve gone beyond what people would traditionally understand not just as Kwaito, but even Future Kwaito…We took the sound in a different direction, it’s more industrial and dark,” one half of Stiif Pap, Jakinda explains.

    With their sonic roots in Kwaito, they manage to seamlessly combine this with hip hop and electronic sounds. “We [are] trying to take something which is abstract and European and make it ours. We call it Kwaito instead of hip hop because Kwaito is basically the Southern African version of hip hop. It is a perfect description of what we [are] doing right now, but we don’t want to be boxed [in],” Ayema explains.

    Stiff Pap look to past and present musical history to reinvent the familiar. Their injection into the industry opens up a new avenue of progress for hip hop and Kwaito. “Changing the scene and breaking boundaries is really important to us, we see ourselves as a beacon of hope for all the kids who want to do alternative music.”

    Drawing on the varied sounds of Kanye West, Christian Tiger School, Schoolboy Q, Vince Staples, Teargas and the gqom wave, collectively they continuously attempt to disrupt the musical status quo. “Production-wise, I listen to more electronica than hip hop. I don’t actually know how to make hip hop beats, but in a way we are hip hop artists. So I think we’re showing people that hip hop is a much broader genre than they thought, especially when it comes to South African hip hop,” Jakinda explains, “We’re showing that you don’t have to rap in English to be international. You don’t have to sound American.”

    Style and image play a role in how this is translated for audiences. “A lot of people really like us because they feel like we represent them. We’re young black kids doing left field electronic music. We basically represent the black kids that are weird and different and trying to find themselves.”

    As a duo Stiff Pap represent how disruption can arrive through simplicity.

  • Film, music and art events to attend in 2018

    Get out your diaries. Here is our list of not to miss film, music and art events for 2018:

    Inxeba (The Wound) is on circuit in South Africa

    When: From 2 February

    Where: Throughout the country

    Inxeba (The Wound), South Africa’s official entry to the 2018 Academy Awards for best foreign language film, will be released in South Africa from the 2nd of February. It will be screened at a number of independent movie theatres as well as mainstream movie houses. The film focuses on bringing questions and realities around homosexuality and tradition together. It stars SA musician Nakhane Touré who has received much praise for his performance as initiate Xolani. The movie’s engagement with gender, sexuality and tradition makes it a worthwhile watch.

    Gaika performs in South Africa

    When: Johannesburg – 8 February

    Cape Town – 9 February

    All the way from Brixton in the UK, the dystopian style of Gaika will be greeting South Africans for the first time in February. His childhood was surrounded by various forms of tech and scientific innovation. His current mode of production is inspired by the digitization of humanity. You can look forward to a live performance of some of his recently released tracks, including ‘BATTALION’.

    Click here for more information about the artist.

    Drop in Drawing

    When: 10 February

    Where: Wits Art Museum

    From: 12:00 – 13:00

    For their Valentine’s Day Edition WAM will be hosting Drop in Drawing, and just as the title of the event suggests, all that is required from participants is to come by the gallery during the allocated time slot. No experience or booking is required.

    If a cheesy Valentine’s Day events such as a film screening or dinner is not quite your thing, we’d recommend giving this one a chance. Let your hand lead your chosen implement of mark making and experiment in a gallery environment. Honestly, what could inspire creativity more?

    ‘Cape to Tehran: Re-imaging and re-imagining personal history in post-Apartheid South Africa and post-revolutionary Iran’

    When: 13 February – 29 March

    Where: Gallery MOMO Cape Town

    Opening Tuesday, 13 February at 18:00

    For this group show a diverse set of artists have been selected largely from South Africa and Iran by the curatorial hand of Sepideh Mehraban. The featured artists engage with complexities surrounding their individual country’s histories and legacies of trauma. Emphasis is placed on personal experiences of both conflict and change through their work resulting in the presentation of a multifaceted discussion. This discussion takes on areas of cohesion and divergence between post-apartheid and post-revolutionary Iran.

    ‘Cape to Tehran’ does not take the form of a sole narrative but instead acts as full-bodied conversation amongst artists from varying geographies and generations. This show serves to juxtapose personal encounters of socio-political turmoil experienced by the artists in their motherlands. They create art as a way of reflecting instead of simply representing their experiences of change and conflict.

    Featured artists:

    Kamran Adl | Shagha Ariannia | Patrick Bongoy | Stephanie Conradie | Rory Emmett | Thulile Gamedze | Black Hand | Svea Josephy | Francois Knoetze | Wonder Marthinus | Sepideh Mehraban | Emmanuel de Montbron | Sethembile Msezane | Neda Razavipour | Kathy Robins | Roderick Sauls | Berni Searle | Rowan Smith | Jo Voysey

    Petite Noir & Slow Jack perform at Kirstenbosch 

    When: 21 March

    Where: Cape Town

    As part of the Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts, Petite Noir and Slow Jack will be performing on the 21st of March. For those who are feeling a little out of the loop, Petite Noir is a Belgian-born Congolese musician and songwriter now based in South Africa. His EP The King of Anxiety and his album La vie est belle / Life Is Beautiful demonstrate why watching him perform live should be on everyone’s bucket list. Slow Jack was formed in 2015, and has grown to include some of Cape Town’s best musical talent. Be sure to have a listen to their Soundcloud as a warm up for the concert. Access tickets for the concert online. The availability of tickets at the venue is dependent on online ticket sales.

    ‘Bakhambile, Parktown’, 2016 by Zanele Muholi

    Stevenson group show BOTH, AND: commemorating 15 years of the gallery’s existence

    When: 7 July – 24 August

    Where: Johannesburg and Cape Town

    The Stevenson gallery turns 15 this year. A commemorative group exhibition titled BOTH, AND will take place from 7 July to 24 August. This exhibition reflects on the foundations that continue to allow the gallery to stand tall in South Africa’s art scene – being a space that has its finger on the pulse of the art market while remaining dedicated to art history and the development of ideas. Two new directors, Sisipho Ngodwana and Alexander Richards, aim to unpack this through their curation of the show. They will look back and look forward, outlining the history of the gallery, its unique publication programme, local presence and global perspective. The show will include artists who began the journey with Stevenson, namely Zanele Muholi, Deborah Poynton, Nicholas Hlobo, Pieter Hugo, Wim Botha, Guy Tillim and Nandipha Mntambo, and those who joined the gallery’s journey at a later stage, like Robin Rhode, Meschac Gaba, Barthélémy Toguo, Penny Siopis and Moshekwa Langa. New and existing work by these artists will tackle the questions, “How have we, over the past fifteen years, collectively navigated the paradox inherent in the commercial gallery model? And what might the future hold?”

    Red Bull Music Festival

    When: 3-8 April

    Where: Johannesburg

    Just when the weather will be getting a little cooler, Red Bull plans to bring the heat to Johannesburg with the Red Bull Music Festival. Trompies, Oskido, Moonchild Sannelly, Moozlie, Stiff Pap and Distruction Boyz are among the musical stars who will be performing at this exciting explosion of sound. The festival has something for everyone, with artists from genres such as jazz, hip hop, electro, gqom and kwaito. Different spots throughout Johannesburg’s inner city will come to life at varying points throughout the festival. These spots include The Orbit, Newtown Music Factory, Republic of 94, Great Dane, and Kitcheners. Be sure to get your tickets online.

    2017 Fak’ugesi theme

    Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival

    When: September

    Where: Tshimologong Prescinct, Johannesburg

    This year will mark Fak’ugesi’s fifth consecutive run in Johannesburg. The festival is due to take place in September, hosted at the Tshimologong Prescinct in Braamfontein in partnership with British Council ConnectZA. It offers an interactive space to celebrate digital technology, art and culture in Africa. Events and projects that should not be missed at the festival include the Digital Africa Art Exhibition, Market Hack, ColabNowNow, A MAZE and Block party. Dates are subject to change.

  • Custom Conversations

    Popping up on numerous creative radars, Dada Khanyisa aka The Mighty Whale is propelling herself forward in the South African creative industry. A recent graduate from Michaelis School of Fine Art, the multi-faceted artist has already begun showing her sculptural paintings on big stages such as the FNB Art Fair in 2017 with Stevenson Gallery. The creative outputs are varied; from fine art to reconstructed custom sneakers, to tattoos, to murals (if you’re in Joburg peep the mural just completed at Constitutional Hill). Seemingly, at the centre of all these activities is a formal language that reflects the youth and street culture of young black South Africans. This formal language has it’s influences no doubt, but it’s clear that hours on hours of work have gone into refining Dada’s style. As her website states; “I paint as much as I sculpt and draw twice as much as I illustrate digitally.”

    Image courtesy of Dada Khanyisa

    A recent venture is a custom kicks project aptly titled ‘Conversations.’ An extension of Dada’s vast project of reconstructing sneakers to create custom kicks, this project focuses on reconstructed Converse sneakers and plays on the title to suggest it being open ended and not limited simply to a single narrative. A video made in collaboration with Chris Kets, Chawezi and Stiff Pap went public on Facebook, celebrating the artform of custom sneakers, and highlighting Cape Town’s rich house party scene, which serves as an inspiration for some of Dada’s paintings.

    Image courtesy of Dada Khanyisa

    The combination of fine art and fashion is nothing new, yet with Dada’s work it seems to take a fresh approach. Perhaps this is due to the particular narratives which gain exposure and are fore-fronted through her work, and perhaps it’s simply the vibrant and exciting ways in which the designs are executed and characters rendered? Either way, I’ll be taking 2018 to save for a pair of her custom kicks to treat myself with next Christmas.

    Watch the video here:

  • Stiff Pap Serve up a Tasty Debut EP

    Influence matters, not so much the marketing strategy, more the effect the art we like has on the art we make. It’s pretty cool to be living in a time period where crop after crop of South African musicians are drawing inspiration from those who came before them, continually reinventing the sound of the time, and pushing new waves forward. Sure, some sketchy cats are using sample packs to dominate the radio, and we have more than a few versions of our own Drake, but afro-centric and afro-futuristic sounds have made their way from bedrooms, back-rooms, garages and studios to clubs, pubs, shebeens, festivals, and radio stations around the world. Not only are young South African musicians inspired by Kanye, they draw influence from Spoek Mathambo, Boyz N Bucks or Petite Noir too. With solid foundations being laid by the forerunners, and ease of access to information about making and releasing music, the stage is set for a new wave inspired by the current guard.

    Stiff Pap plan on being a big part of that new wave. They call themselves a “future electronic kwaito” duo, which, if you’ve heard them, sounds about right.  “I was raised around a lot of Zakwe, Abdus and the Durban kasi rap scene.” AyemaProbllem, the rapper of the duo, tells me about his influences, also mentioning the likes of Kanye West, Schoolboy Q, Okmalumkoolkat and TKZee. On the production side of things, Jakinda takes a huge influence from Christian Tiger School, LV, Dj Lag, Rudeboyz and Kanye West (specifically Yeezus). Together, they sound like a 2017 version of Dirty Paraffin washed with gqom.  

    Jakinda, who has also been making waves as a producer on his ace, with both of his solo EP releases, Afrika 3000 and I Can’t Sleep, getting love from the critics, explains about how the duo got together, “We met last year in the dining hall at the UCT residence we were both staying at. Ayema had heard a beat of mine on Soundcloud and recognised my face on the profile, so he approached me in the dining hall and asked if he could rap on it. That beat eventually became the first Stiff Pap song, Dlala. Once we made Dlala we knew that we had great potential as a duo and we became Stiff Pap.” From there, the 2 started working on their debut EP, Based on a Qho Story. “We started working on the project back around August 2016. Each time I made a really interesting beat that I thought would go on my own solo EP, I played it for Ayema and we ended up using the beats for Stiff Pap. I think that was a good decision, because each of those beats were always missing something or they were just too weird alone, but with Ayema’s raps, everything came together.”

    I notice they’re wearing Sol-Sol in their press shots so I ask if repping local brands is intentional. “We feel like our sound represents South Africa,” explains Jakinda “so we wanted a local brand that matches our style and their clothing is amazing. We also wore Two Bop shirts and Converse shoes. To us that was the prefect combination, with some help from our friend Dada Khanyisa who styled the shoot.” Style and image are important to Stiff Pap. “It’s so important!” exclaims Jakinda, “We both care a lot about the way we look and dress, it’s an important part of who we are as Stiff Pap, there’s an aesthetic which we are trying to express through our art.” Ayema followed up with “The best quote I’ve ever heard has to be “You have to dress good, in order to feel good, in order to do good.” It’s so important for us, as upcoming artists, to have our own look. So this is probably the most important thing for us outside of the music.”

    When it comes to the music though, Stiff Pap, want “to give people an outer body experience, make them feel a rush of ecstasy.” According to Ayema. “At the same time, we wanted to raise the SA Hip Hop scene, try to push more of an authentic sound.” Stiff Pap are confident that that’s exactly what they’ll do, so much so that when asked what they want people to take away from Based on a Qho Story, Jakinda, all cool and calm, replies with “This is what South African Hip Hop will sound like in the next 5 years.”

    Give it a listen below and see if you agree.

     

    Credits:

    Photographer: Micha Serraf
    Stylist: Dada Khanyisa
    Models: Jakinda & AyemaProbllem (Stiff Pap)
    Videographer (Behind The Scenes): Larah Fisher
    Creative Assistants: Christian Mpazayabo and Vuyo Vannucci Ndifor​