Features : Hiphop From The South, South Africa That Is…

Hiphop From The South, South Africa That Is…

Free Hiphop Now ventures (via internet) to South Africa’s third highest populated city Cape Town, to get some info on a label making strides to simply get good music out to the world. During our conversation with DPlanet we learn what ‘Spaza’ is…

"Swart Gevaar - KONFAB"

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FHHN: Who are you guys and what do you represent?

Dplanet : Hola,,, I'm Dplanet, owner and Executive Producer of Pioneer Unit Records based in Cape Town, South Africa.

We're pushing our own style of South African Hip Hop. It's very important for us to have South African Hip Hop associated with innovation whilst retaining it's African identity. I'm originally from the UK so there's a wide variety of influences in our music, everything from Roots, Dub and Dancehall, to Detroit Techno, Grime and Electronica. We're fusing those influences with the best of what South Africa has to offer.

We're also at the forefront of a style of Hip Hop we call 'Spaza'. A spaza shop is a small informal shop usually found in the hood, often made out of corrugated iron container. It's a place where you can buy bits and pieces of everything. Likewise, Spaza Hip Hop is music where artists rap in bits and pieces of different languages. However, the style goes beyond simple linguistics, Spaza artists strive to represents 'kasi' (hood) life in South Africa through the content of their lyrics, slang and fashion. Spaza isn't a style of music, it's an expression of a way of life.

FHHN: What challenges do you currently face running a label in Cape Town?

Dplanet : South Africa is a very challenging market. The fans don't have a lot of disposable income and distribution can be difficult, especially as internet access is limited due to Telkom's prohibitively high prices (Telkom is our sole telecoms provider). I guess we also face a lot of the same challenges independent labels face all over the world - getting our artists heard and competing against the majors who have bigger marketing budgets.

FHHN: What are you most optimistic about in the midst of the adversity you face attempting to have a label where you are?

Dplanet : I'm always optimistic because we have so much talent in the camp, and South Africa's history provides fertile ground for inspiration. We really do feel like pioneers breaking new ground which is exciting. We also understand that nothing good ever happens overnight.

FHHN: In terms of an overall contribution to music in general what does your line up of artists bring to help the evolution of the art locally and globally?

Dplanet : As I mentioned before, locally we are really pushing Spaza. There is an urgent need to make Hip Hop that South Africans can identify with. So much South African Hip Hop suffers from an identity crisis as the US influence is so strong. Making people believe that we can 'own' our own style of Hip Hop is part of our mission. The Dirty South has Snap & Crunk, the UK has Grime, we have Spaza.

We are also breaking down cultural barriers by making music featuring artists spitting in up to five different languages (Xhosa, Afrikaans, English, Sotho & Zulu) on the same track. In a country that has been manipulated into division for so long we believe this is an important (if small) step towards unifying people.

With a more global outlook, Africa is the birthplace of rhythm. That rhythm found its way to the Caribbean, then to the US where it became Hip Hop. From there it spread out around the world and back to Africa. We represent one completed circle in Hip Hop's journey.

FHHN: Will you guys be coming to the states? If so where do you think you’d be most interested in visiting and performing?

Dplanet : We'd love to come to the States and perform - it would be the perfect way to keep the circle of Hip Hop's journey alive. A couple of artists in the camp have performed in Europe and the reception was fantastic. Whether or not we'll make it to the US depends on whether we can connect with a promoter who feels what we're doing. It's not an immediate target as we have a lot to do locally, but we'd certainly welcome the opportunity.

New York will always be a special place in the history of Hip Hop - that would be somewhere we'd really like to perform.

But of course there is a Myspace Page: http://www.myspace.com/dplanetbeats