HYPE mag caused a stir when they came out with their rather off target Top 50 Emcees in SA (BUMPER ISSUE). One of the rappers who was clearly pissed by this list was Morale, who instantly took to twitter to hit at HYPE, but Sugar showing his an OLG G of the industry as a whole, having been on tv as a child before escalating to Skwatta, just opted to voice his view on this steez via a letter. Its a dope read hey, school some young'ns on SA Hip Hop.
Greetings fam.
To some this is old news and might go unnoticed, however I feel it needs to be said and documented as are the stats in the 50th
Hype Magazine Issue. Documenting Hip-Hop in S.A. is a big task and with
such, comes great responsibility as to many this is not a part time job
or hobby but the reason for ones being.
At first I was going to ignore whatever stats came out and keep mum on
my opinions but after much hype, controversy, word of mouth, various
radio discussions and interviews I listened to, I felt the need to say
something and went on a “twitter rant” on the night of July 26, 2012.
After which I got a hold of the magazine, they’ll be examples about me,
some others about others, I might have forgotten but you’ll get the
gist. Here are some of my thoughts in not too much detail…
- For a South African magazine I felt there was too much biased towards American music. As American as hip-hop is, your magazine is consumed by South Africans and should reflect the growth of the culture in South Africa. Not saying that you should not include the Americans but a more balance approach should have been considered for the home grown. This very point leads to the reason why a lot of SA acts were not considered at some very crucial points throughout the magazine.
- Missing Top 50 Hip-Hop Moments
- The birth of Le Club
- YFM Rap Activity Jam
- Ikapa vs Jozi event in Cape Town, mid 2003, where an
underground hip-hop scene filled the 3 story upmarket Dockside
nightclub. BVK, 5th Floor, Mizchif, Godessa, ProVerb, Ramesh, Skwatta Kamp, Zubz and Amu. Brought to you by YFM and UCT Radio.
- Zwai winning best hip hop SAMA in 2002
- Skwatta bringing home the 1st real Rap SAMA with Khut en Joyn in 2003
- Battle of the Pro’s: ProVerb vs Pro Kid at The Rand Show
- Inqaba hip-hop sessions in Durban
- Missing Top 50 Most Important Songs in Hip Hop
(Songs I consider to be “game changers”)
- Amu “Skillz”
- Pitch Black Afro “Pitch Black Afro”
- H2O “It’s Wonderful”
- HHP “Tswaka”
- JR “Show Dem” / “Gata Le Nna”
- Morafe “The Whole Thang”
- Ramesh “It Rocks”
- Spex “Hizo”
- Mizchif “Fashionable”
- Skwatta Kamp “The Clap Song”
- Tuks “Senganga”
- Teargas “Chance”
- PRO Kid “Woz’ Uzababona”
- P.O.C. “Neva Again”
- Da Les “We On Fire”
Missing 50 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time;
- Various Artist’s “The Muthaload”
The 1st hip-hop compilation to be released by a major.
- Jack Parow “Jack Parow”
The impact of this album on the Afrikaans Rap scene cannot go unnoticed
- Pitch Black Afro “Styling Gel”
1st rap album to go platinum
- Amu “The Life, The Rap, The Drama”
Long awaited 1st offering from Rap’s god father
- Missing Top 50 SA MC’s;
If this list was based on feelings and opinions I wouldn’t step to it
but you stated that your reasoning is based on impact thus the below
- Skwatta Kamp (2x Gold Albums and with members sitting on 5
out of your 50 covers, that’s 10% of the material you put out, not
worth considering?)
- H2O
- Pitch Black Afro
- Spex
- Mizchif
- Kwesta (2x SAMA Nominations, Channel O Awards Nomination,
Voted Grittiest Rapper in the World by SOHH.com and a Hype Mag Cover)
- Shugasmakx (Over 40 000 downloads sold on “Numba 1” and a Hype Cover)
- Loko a.k.a. LokoMotion
I don’t claim to know it all but having being in the mainstream for a
decade I believe my opinion and views will resonate with many.
This issue might sell a lot of copies but let’s hope it is not the issue that takes away from your credibility.
Over and Out
Shugasmakx
Buttabing Entertainment (Record Label of the Year – Hype Awards 2008)
