By Nick Kaoma
I have been worrying profusely lately; kwaito, afro-pop and house artists have been announcing album releases left and right centre whilst the only thing coming from the hip hop fraternity has been a deafening silence. I was gob-smacked this past Friday when I tuned into the SABC 1 music show, Live, and they were literally 40 house DJs and artists present who were there to give their 2 cents about their upcoming albums. It wasn’t just the likes of Fresh and Christos, but quirky characters like DJ Killer, a bony weird-looking figure, were there to push their stuff, regardless of how mediocre they material might be.
So immediately at the time I wondered to myself: where are all the summer hip hop releases? Just to be fair, the same programme did have a hip hop themed show a week or two ago where local rappers punted their upcoming albums fervently, but my point is that the noise being made is not big enough to catch the consumer’s attention, especially considering that their competing with international MCees that have released sublime albums such as Graduation, Finding Forever and Eardrum. Forget that albums by Jay-Z, Nas and Lupe Fiasco are also due later this year.
So it was with great pleasure that I learnt from the grapevine that a dope hip hop collection featuring some of the finest local MCees has officially landed. Titled,
The Classic Collection – Hip Hop Love Movement, it features Classic Love tracks from South Africa’s major hip hop superstars.
Outrageous Records, the preeminent Mzansi indie hip hop label, home to Zubz, Optical Illusion, H20 and Pebbles, states that “the objective of the Hip Hop Love Movement is to showcase the soulful side of South Africa’s major hip hop artists. The tracks featured are of happy relationships, marriages and motivation.”
The glittering line-up of artists featured on this groundbreaking compilation includes Tuks, Proverb, HHP, Zubz, Amu, Optical Illusion and Slikour. Be sure to cop it at your nearest music store, as you’d be hard-pressed to ever find such classics uniquely meshed together in one disc any time soon.
Track listing
1. Pebbles – Love Is
2. H20 – Isoka Lakho
3. Prokid feat. Sgebi – Get to know you
4. Tuks – Off the planet
5. Optical Illusion - Orgasmic
6. Mr Selwyn Feat. Maxhoba – You make me feel
7. Fortune feat. Clint Brink, Kabomo & Ramesh – Get enuff
8. Mizchif feat. Tk – A place for wife
9. HHP feat. Lois & Proverb – Love of my lewe
10. Wikid – Ooh baby
11. Zubz - Hadiende
12. Skwatta Kamp Feat. Relo – Sunshine
13. Proverb – Letter to my X
14. Amu – It’s over
15. Slikour Feat. R J Benjamin - Dreamer
