Deon-Simphiwe talks to Dj Richie Colin aka Skietreker about his album

He is widely known as Richard or “Skietreker”, but this time he introduces us to his new name, Dj Richie Colin. A few years ago he wrote and published a collection of poetry called Apartheid Ek gaan jou Boks.  His latest project is a music offering called Supergod, under the name, Dj Richie Colin. Acoustic Strings recently had an honour to conduct an interview with him to learn more about the latest project and many other things.

Deon-Simphiwe: Thank you for consenting to this interview Richard. Before we begin, which name should I use to address you? Is it Richard or Reitumetse or “Skietreker” or even Dj Richie Colin? Don’t you fear your identity may be absorbed in these names?

Dj Richie Colin: (*Smiles*), my mentor once advised me about having too many identities, and now I truly see what he meant, but in short I would define it as a path that God wanted me to walk through so that I can shed that which is not me and inherit only what I stand for through my projects. I’ve always been Skietreker in the literary scene, but people couldn’t even pronounce that name (*laughs*). So I wanted to create a platform where we could all easily flow and speak as one. Richie was derived from Richard and Colin is the spiritual side of me. A Dj has to move the crowd through music and with the words and song I practice that.

Deon-Simphiwe: Well, thank you Richard. Firstly, congratulations on the new project, Supergod! Please tell us more about it?

Dj Richie Colin: With this project I wanted to highlight and underline that you can still praise & worship
God in dance, so Supergod reflects the changing times of now, the societies we live in, the food we eat, the songs we listen to, even the way we walk and carry ourselves, so I believe nowadays our ears should filter and learn to identify songs which add colour to our lives.

Deon-Simphiwe: How is the project doing so far?

Dj Richie Colin: The CD is doing really well I must say (*smiles*), I only began with 30 copies, then I moved to 50 and now I have sold over 115 CDs from garages to carwash spots and every possible platform keen on receiving good music. I had my doubts and I didn’t think the fan base would grow this much but God increased and elevated my faith.

Deon-Simphiwe: The copy I have suggests that the offering is a single. When is the full length album coming out and what type of sound can we look forward too?

Dj Richie Colin: Yes it’s a single, for I first wanted to introduce myself and only give my listeners a taste of what’s to come. So, I couldn’t risk releasing a full length album when no one knows me or my music. I wanted to grow my market first and know exactly who I’m targeting when “dinner” is ready. You can expect soulful and serene melodies that would take you on a pleasant journey and back. I’m not specific in my production, but when the inspiration hits me I create what the heart is feeling. So, kindly allow me to say whoever the listener is l try to find him/her through every element; through the kick or snare, bass or keys – hat or drum simplicity does it for me – expect genuine creativity soul mixed with love!

Deon-Simphiwe: Is it a self publishing project, if so why did you go through this route instead of the record company one?

Dj Richie Colin: I was in a space where I had no direction musically and I felt like I’m dying instead of growing. I submitted a few demos to record companies, knocked on many doors until I was blue in the face. This only proved that it’s a mission to get a record deal these days if you don’t know the right people or have the right contacts, truth be told. So I prayed and I prayed, hoping for someone to spot me and invest in me. I also believe that if it’s not your time to get a deal it not your time. That is how I went independent hoping to sell myself and encourage young and upcoming artists never to give up on their dreams because everything is possible with God.

Deon-Simphiwe: There seems to be an increase in self-publishing across the creative platforms. Do you think artists are taking enough control of their creative output thus creating a new way of doing things by going through this route?

Dj Richie Colin: Certainly! I would encourage self-publishing even though the risks are high. One could experience great financial losses if the product and market is not well studied, so you need to know what you are doing and you have to do research and learn from those who have made it in your craft. Look, learn, listen and ask questions but do it with love and nothing else.

Deon-Simphiwe: I don't want to read anything into the album title, but is there any significance in the name?

Dj Richie Colin: The title defines my journey of self discovery, the hardships and the struggles; the tears I cried and the pain experienced to be where I am today. And through it all the Lord has been there; He still is and will forever be a super God. We have always heard about Superman and Superwoman so I felt it was time to say something about Supergod.

Deon-Simphiwe: There’s a strong indication that Supergod is a dance album at best, at least from the arrangement point of view. But there’s a pleasing fusion with spoken word that I took a great liking to in the song, Connected as One. What were you aiming to achieve with this production and who did you work with?

Dj Richie Colin: Connected as One was born when I felt a gap between “you” and “I”, so I had to think of ways to connect and be united as one nation through singing and dancing. And the only element I could think of was music and I wanted to be heard in other languages as well, that is how I fused drums and words. I do my own beats and write my own poetry, and for the mixing and mastering, I worked with Dr Quantize, a very talented extraordinaire producer who is to release his own album in September this year.

Deon-Simphiwe: Still on the song, Connected as One, I find the words very matured and profound. The reference to the African culture is admirable. And the wordplay that you employ around the musical elements and the fusion of words from various languages is an absolute beauty because it’s not forced. What was the inspiration behind those words?

Dj Richie Colin: I wrote this poem four years ago while I was paging through my little sister’s (Mpho) grade 8 Arts and Culture book. I was fascinated by all these weird and beautifully sounding names. It would only be in February 2011 that I made a beat and married the two. They fused so well together, the melody lifted my spiritual energies, the bass touched me and the simplicity of the beat gave me a new life and changed my perception of poetry – now I don’t just write poetry, I live it.

Deon-Simphiwe: The two other songs are mostly instrumentals. Is this an indication that your interest is with instruments too?

Dj Richie Colin: I love instruments period. But I can only play drums and keyboards and of course a little bit of guitar. But I’m planning to spread my wings and learn to play other instruments.

Deon-Simphiwe: With the recent explosion of hip-Hop music in South Africa, and with the close association of the spoken word to Hip-Hop, one would imagine that you would also get into this genre. Is there such a possibility in the future? Or are you more on the dance/house side as I presumed earlier?

Dj Richie Colin: No; maybe collaboration would do. I find it best for one stick to what he/she knows and explore other avenues when jamming or getting out of one’s comfort zone – but never say never (*smiles*).

Deon-Simphiwe: I’m sure you know how people like categorising music as a way of contextualising it. How would you, if at all you do, describe your music?

Dj Richie Colin: Two phrases describe me best: I’m instrumental and Soulful; I’m a Gospel artist trapped in a “house music” body.

Deon-Simphiwe: The era after 1994 has brought its many challenges among South Africans, preservation of languages being one of the prime examples. How important it is for you as an artist to help the marginalised languages not fade? You have Setswana heritage right?

Dj Richie Colin: Yes, ke Motswana Rra and I believe you are much stronger in your own understanding and truly have a deeper feeling to that core through your own language. However, even though I lost some Setswana in my pursuit to learn Sesotho, I’m comfortable with both languages. But now, simply due to language hunger in me, I try to learn the deeper meanings of simple Setswana words so that I could speak like my grandfather the late J.R Seape, thus preserving our language too.

Deon-Simphiwe: There's a conspicuous humility about you, a trait which a lot of young people seem not to have these day. I say this having seen things you’ve written. A lot can be derived from a person’s writing. For example, you say the following in the album intro: “... For those who were there when I began, for those who are here and for those who are still coming, thank you for being part of this dream.” I'm not sure if you're aware of this quality about you. Would you like to tell us about what inspires such an attitude?

Dj Richie Colin: To be really honest those words came straight from the heart, and I didn’t even have to think about them – they just came out. And I never try to be something that I’m not; I always stay true. I was not aware of this quality though (*smiles*) – ke ya leboha!

Deon-Simphiwe: As our introduction suggested, you’re a versatile artist that has great interest in poetry. Have you been writing any new material for future book/s?

Dj Richie Colin: I tried to run away from poetry but beautiful words find me everyday. However, when I write now, it is through the energies from high above.

Deon-Simphiwe: Free State is renowned for its huge and admirable contribution to literature. Has this movement helped shape your consciousness and also inspire some of your work?

Dj Richie Colin: Truly, it has in a major way. Now I see more of what the movement is all about; one has learned to stand on one’s own two feet. Yes, “gold and diamond” have emerged from the Free State and I will not mention names for this page is not enough. I would therefore like to thank the soldiers who are keeping this movement alive and the icons who continue to inspire us to be better than what we are.

Deon-Simphiwe: Talking of literature, what do you think of the current state of emerging writers? Do you think there’s a creation of writers that would carry the heavy mantle worn by those who came before us? The late Phaswane Mpe and K Sello Duiker had begun this task after a long gap that was inspired by icons such as Dr Wally Serote and Don Mattera. Kgebetli Moele and other younger writers have also created that spark within the young again. Are you hopeful though, or are we creating social networking masters instead?

Dj Richie Colin: That question is critical especially looking at what some of us call poetry and literature these days. But I believe a legend or an icon cannot be replaced but we can only continue to walk from where these greats have been so that we can also leave footprints for those who will come after us. Yes indeed! We are rewriting history and telling our own stories profoundly.

Deon-Simphiwe: How do people get hold of your album and how much does it sell for?

Dj Richie Colin: My Album is only available in Durban and Thaba Nchu, but will be available for digital download soon. I can’t get it in bigger stores as they will regard my creative juices as a waste of time because the piece only has 4 tracks and is selling for R20. But who knows, the right audience may be reading this interview.

Deon-Simphiwe: Thank you for your time again Richard. I hope you don’t mind my using this name. Good luck with the single and the forthcoming full album. There’s a greater responsibility on any artist. I’m confident that you will handle it wisely.

Dj Richie Colin: Thank you so much for this opportunity; ke ya leboha!
Friends can catch me through the following contacts: Facebook: “Dj Richie Colin” and via e-mail: djrichiecolin@gmail.com

Botsotso site revamped

You may visit the all-new Botsotso site here. Submissions are welcome.

Being broke

“... I’m so broke, it’s no joke...”

~ Hip Hop Pantsula from the song Anginamali, featured on the album Mafikeng.

Atterbury House, Cape Town - 10-06-2011

Moses Taiwa Molelekwa - Mountain Shade

Video source: YouTube

Ken Gampu: One of the black pioneering actors

During the darkest days of apartheid, Ken Gampu, who has died aged 74, became the first black South African film star, and an inspiration to a generation of black South African actors by appearing in several international productions. There was a price to be paid, however, because most of the roles he was called upon to play were those of stereotypical noble savages.

As the independent filmmaker Peter Davis writes in his book, In Darkest Hollywood: "When Hollywood seized on Africa, it became a vast hunting ground for the white man; the pictures of the native people are scarcely distinguishable from those of the animal trophies."

Even when there were interracial friendships, in such films as Dingaka (1964) and The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980), both of which featured Gampu, they only existed "in a fictive South Africa that bore little resemblance to reality. The stories showed a South Africa where black/white friendships existed, by misrepresenting the harsh facts of increased racial divisions within South African life."

Gampu, like Paul Robeson many years earlier, had little choice. However, according to Eddie Mbalo, chief executive of South Africa's National Film and Video Foundation: "Ken paved the way for many talented black actors to start recognising their abilities. He also provided our local actors with the motivation to become bigger stars, proving that not even Hollywood is beyond their reach."

Testifying to this influence is Vusi Kunene, one of today's finest South African actors, who had wanted to act ever since he was six years old and saw Gampu in Dingaka. "That image of Ken opened up a whole new world for me," he explained. "My family was poor, and the traditional Zulu stories my mother told us were very real. Dingaka was such a story - good versus evil, tribal justice versus white law - and a hero who takes on a crooked sangoma (healer) to avenge the death of his child. I was hooked."

Dingaka, the first feature directed by Jamie Uys, was unusual for a South African production because it tackled issues of culture and race in a non-simplistic manner, and Gampu's character was more than the usual adjunct to whites. In the story, when a black tribesman (Gampu) avenges the murder of his daughter, following tribal laws, his quest leads him into the white courts, where justice for the black man simply does not exist.

The imposing, 6ft 2in tall Gampu was born in Germiston, not far from Johannesburg. He worked as a physical training instructor, a furniture salesman, an interpreter - he spoke seven native dialects, in addition to English and Afrikaans - and a policeman before a musician friend told him that Athol Fugard was looking for a tall man with a good voice to act in his first play, No Good Friday (1958), a cynical and embittered study of racism. The following year, Gampu had a part in King Kong, the hit musical about a black boxer, which had a successful run in London.

This article continues on the Guardian website where it was sourced.
Image source: Google - credit to the source.

K. Sello Duiker - The Quite Violence of Dreams

In this daring novel, the author gives a startling account of the inner workings of contemporary South African urban culture. In doing so, he ventures into unexplored areas and takes local writing in English to places it hasn't been before. The Quiet Violence of Dreams is set in Cape Town's cosmopolitan neighbourhoods - Observatory, Mowbray and Sea Point - where subcultures thrive and alternative lifestyles are tolerated. The plot revolves around Tshepo, a student at Rhodes, who gets confined to a Cape Town mental institution after an episode of 'cannabis-induced psychosis'. He escapes but is returned to the hospital and completes his rehabilitation, earns his release - and promptly terminates his studies. He now works as a waiter and shares an apartment with a newly released prisoner. The relationship with his flatmate deteriorates and Tshepo loses his job at the Waterfront. Desperate for an income, he finds work at a male massage parlour, using the pseudonym Angelo. The novel explores Tshepo-Angelo's coming to consciousness of his sexuality, sexual orientation, and place in the world. In a subplot involving Tshepo's student friend Mmabatho, a different lifestyle and set of experiences are explored - that of a young black woman who gets involved with a disabled German student who does not want to commit to marriage, despite Mmabatho's unplanned pregnancy. Of this novel Hein Willemse says: 'Should one wish to categorise this work it could probably be defined as a gay novel, or more particularly, a black gay novel. This subject matter has not been explored in this manner in English South African literature before. The novel challenges ingrained myths about maleness, black male sexuality, and urbanised Africans. At the same time it explores the impact of dysfunctional personal histories and the insecurities of relationships between young black and white students during times of personal transition.

The day Moses and Flo were found silent

Popular South African jazz musician Moses Taiwa Molelekwa (28) was found dead on Tuesday night along with his 35-year-old girlfriend, Florence Mtoba.

Their bodies were discovered at their business premises at the AICA Building in President Street, Johannesburg. Mtoba's brother alleges he arrived at the premises at 10.30pm on Tuesday night to find Molelekwa's body hanging from a beam in the room, and Mtoba's body lying on the floor. There were no injuries to the body of Mtoba. Police are uncertain whether the incident was a suicide or murder, and are currently investigating. Motives for the deaths are unknown. Post-mortems will be conducted to establish the cause of death. The 28-year-old Molelekwa shared a house with Mtoba in Newlands, Johannesburg.

Liz McGregor writes about Phaswane Mpe

Phaswane Mpe, who has died aged 34, was one of South Africa's most promising young novelists. His debut work, Welcome To Our Hillbrow (2001), was the first to record the huge changes that have transformed its inner cities over the past 10 years. It grappled with the struggle of black South Africans to create a post-apartheid identity after the collapse of the old racial hierarchies; the process was complicated by the arrival from elsewhere on the continent of thousands of black Africans, who were often more confident and better educated. Mpe belonged to the generation who grew up with the humiliations and deprivations of apartheid and expected to enjoy the fruits of freedom under democracy. Instead, they were confronted by new social ills: unemployment, poverty and HIV/Aids.

He was born and brought up in the northern city of Polokwane and went to Johannesburg in 1989, the year before Nelson Mandela was released, to study African literature at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), which had only recently opened its doors to black students...

This article continues on the Guardian where it was sourced.

Jerry Monk Molelekwa on his late son, Taiwa

Video Source: YouTube

Andile Yenana on the concept of Jazz

Jazz is an act of collaboration and improvisation and that is why I love it so much. I’m creating with people.

                ~ Andile Yenana

A Series of Undesirable Events: Deon-Simphiwe's imminent book release

Set in Cape Town, A Series of Undesirable Events weaves together six stories of close friends, who each deals with an unfortunate event. The author presents what may have been one story in fragments that each tackles social challenges such as infidelity, violence, HIV/AIDS and sexuality. There’s also a strong focus on the complexities of dreams and aspirations; on just how insincere some dreams and aspirations tend to be. Moshe, the protagonist in at least three stories, gives us glimpses of the disadvantages experienced by an individual who does not intimately know his dreams.  The result of such negligence ultimately breeds an internal conflict that only Moshe can address.

Like facial make-up that gets applied and removed later, this book reflects application of “make-up” on many levels of the society including attitudes. But the truth always comes out in the end.

Church Street, Cape Town - 08-06-2011

The literary corpus of Flaxman Qoopane; writes Peter Moroe

Flaxman Qoopane

How do you judge Flaxman Qoopane as a writer? The question is perhaps unfair for someone who has published over ten books, though most of them are autobiographical and short. As one who has lived passionately for literature - and of course journalism - Qoopane deserves a lot of praise. Let us look at his books.

 Qoopane's first book is A POET ABROAD. Here we are given insights into his time abroad and overseas, from Lesotho to east Africa and stints in Western Europe. He grew as a poet and writer over the years and the eclectic influences he was exposed to shape his broad minded personality.

 In MEMOIRS OF A CULTURAL ACTIVIST Qoopane recollects many of his contributions to arts and culture. Important meetings and committees he belonged to, and his role over the years as Free State’s outstanding cultural activist. As the title of the book clearly shows, the book is too premature though as other of his works like THE CONFERENCE and MACUFE 2001 show

 ADVENTURES IN JOURNALISM is one of the most interesting books penned by any local black journalist in the country. But alas the book is also dated, especially when you take into account Qoopane’s very recent fantastic contributions to journalism.

 In RENEILOE MPHO’S STORY, Qoopane’s love for his youngest daughter shines through. It is a book mainly for the very young but marred at the very end with tragedy. And we all know a child of two cannot write a book!

 OMOSEYE BOLAJI: PERSPECTIVES ON HIS LITERARY WORK is perhaps Qoopane’s best book. Here he has produced an objective critical work that does him great credit. He has not allowed the bonds of friendship to affect his critical skills which is commendable.

 It would have been very strange if a man largely recognized as a poet did not produce a book of poems, hence Qoopane’s THE VISION OF A POET is a welcome book. It shows the author has been producing fine poems for a very long time.

 The CONFERENCE and MACUFE 2001 are small books that illustrate the author’s contributions to arts and culture yet again. Whether such books are necessary or not, or should have been part of MEMOIRS OF A CLUTURAL ACTIVIST is not the province of this piece.

 For his rather prodigious writings and great love for the world of literature Flaxman Qoopane deserves a lot of praise. (*In July 2005, Flaxman Qoopane celebrated his 50th birthday in Mangaung)

This article was sourced from the Free State Black Literature website. It was originally published in September edition 5 of Kopanang.

Lee Siegel interviews Spike Lee

Ever since the romantic comedy-drama She's Gotta Have It antagonized black women and black men in 1986, Spike Lee's films have enjoyed the outrage of various groups. Between Do the Right Thing's racial and ethnic provocations, however, and last year's She Hate Me—a sexual farce that offended lesbians and feminists—the social context for Lee's films has changed. In Hollywood, the bar for racial provocation has been raised to wearying heights. At the same time, nakedly commercial entertainments—blackbusters?—from Barbershop to Get Rich or Die Tryin' appeal to a black audience that barely existed 20 years ago. Lee's recently published autobiography, Spike Lee: That's My Story and I'm Sticking to It, offered an occasion to talk with the sometimes inflammatory director about movies, money, race, and the gentle art of making enemies.

Slate: I wanted to talk to you about your book, which I've been reading. Why do you call it That's My Story and I'm Sticking to It? I mean, do people think that you're making stuff up?

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Lee: No, I just thought it was a good title. It's not really to rebel or anything. I just liked the title.

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Slate: Of course, I was particularly interested in what you have to say about the situation of blacks in Hollywood. But also in your statements about the Holocaust. You pretty much said that any movie about the Holocaust is going to carry all the prizes.

Lee: Whoa, whoa! What I was speaking of specifically was the feature-length documentary branch of the academy. I mean, there was a time—you could do the research, I don't have the chart in front of me—but for a period of over 10 years, almost every film that won best feature-length documentary was about the Holocaust.

Slate: That is an issue, right? It's followed you throughout your career, the relationship between blacks and Jews.

Lee: It's not an issue for me.

Slate: No, it's an issue for everyone else.

Lee: I have nothing to do with that. But I remember thinking when we were nominated for 4 Little Girls and then finding out that a rabbi was a producer for the other one: We're not gonna win.

Slate: Next time you have to get a minister.

Lee: I don't think we'll need it.

Slate: You know, I go to a Clint Eastwood movie, and I see that time after time, Morgan Freeman is playing Clint Eastwood's sidekick. Everyone loves these movies; they always win awards. But nobody complains about that. There's no black group that complains and asks, "Why can't Clint Eastwood be Morgan Freeman's sidekick?" Would you like to see a black uproar over that?

Lee: Oh, man. We have more things to have an uproar about than Morgan Freeman. But the point that you make is true, that we just don't have the lobbying power that other groups have, and it has to do with political and financial clout. So, that's that.

Slate: You've said that things will change when there are more black producers.

Lee: I used the word gatekeepers. I said that I really want to see a wider, more sweeping change in the breadth of subject matter and stuff, which is only going to come when we get those locked positions of the gatekeepers.

Slate: But then you look at a lot of these movies that make so much money: Barbershop, Beauty Shop, and Marci X, which I know is not a big favorite of yours.

Lee: Marci X didn't make any money.

Slate: OK. But can you be so sure that if the gatekeepers were African-American they would promote films that are in the social or aesthetic interests of black audiences?

Lee: Look, you get into that position and you know that first of all your films have to make money no matter who you are. But I can confidently say that if there had been a gatekeeper at MGM, I don't think Soul Plane could have gotten made. I'm confident in saying that.

Slate: So, if you were the head of one of these studios for example—

Lee: No, that's not something I want to be or aspire to be.

Slate: But if you were, you wouldn't give a green light to projects like that.

Lee: Well, all I'm saying is that there would be more variety and diversity as far as subject matter. And I would hopefully see a greater picture of African-Americans' experience vs. one that's limited to comedies and hip-hop, drug, gangsta, shoot 'em up films.

Slate: You say in this book that you were really surprised that Damon Wayans could go from Bamboozled to Marci X.

Lee: That was a surprise to me. Look, I'm not in Damon's shoes. Everybody does what they want to do for their own specific reasons, but nonetheless it was still a surprise. Because Bamboozled [Lee's film about how blacks are represented—and how they represent themselves—in American entertainment] is really an indictment of that type of film.

This interview continues here, where it was sourced.

Quentin Tarantino on violence in his movies

“I tend to be attracted to genres that deal freely in violence. If a character is shot in the stomach, I want to see him bleeding like a stuck pig. It shouldn’t look like a stomach ache. His stomach has been pierced. His gastric juices are running all over the place. It’s a horrible thing. And the film has to deal with that.”

 Quentin Tarantino 

Flaxman Qoopane writes about the images of women in Bolaji’s work

Many say male writers have some difficulty in credibly portraying women in their writings; though some show startling insight, as Nadine Gordimer has pointed out.

 How does Omoseye Bolaji, an impressive black writer of fiction portray women in his works? Interestingly a large number of women will say "quite well" mainly on the strength of Bolaji’s novel, IMPOSSIBLE LOVE. Certainly Betty is portrayed in a very positive light, with women being respected a lot.

 In THE GHOSTLY ADVERSARY a work women also like because of its resonating anti-rape message Bolaji portrays women well, especially Dimpho who is actually a peripheral character.

 Experts believe that the strength of TEBOGO INVESTIGATES, such as it is, lies mainly in the way Bolaji gives us insights into the diverse characters, suspects, mainly through interviews. Re-read the conversations and see for yourself how this works out, including the dislikes, tendencies biases of the ladies in particular.

 Many might argue that THE GUILLOTINE, Bolaji’s book of ten short stories, is a typical male writer’s book, Here there is no predominant female protagonist. It seems the women are essentially treated as objects of desire by men in many of the stories. ; but at least the author sometimes gives us glimpses into the minds of women. . For example, in the story, The Blackmailer a lady friend of the hostess, Thandi, ponders over an attractive yet mysterious male visitor: "The lady grinned. She had guessed right. Thandi and all her men! But let me be charitable. At least I’m enjoying one of her parties now. The little cat. Certainly knows how to make money,"

 In TEBOGO FAILS the reader is introduced to the type of romantic love in IMPOSSIBLE Love on a minuscule scale. The protagonists old fashioned sentimental even unrealistic love for Khanyi shows that once again. Bolaji allows his sentimental side to dwell on the type of woman which owes more to fantasy than solid reality.

 Things turn full scale in PEOPLE OF THE TOWNSHIPS where there is wholesale castigation of women. The book seems to be a work of despair, though many people might not disagree with the negative way most of the "ladies" are portrayed in this work. But even amidst the general cynicism it is instructive that the author - narrator - has great praise for good women like Lupna.

 Bolaji thus far has not produced any fictional work featuring a great female protagonist, but in his books women have certainly been given a lot of treatment.

This article was sourced from Free StateBlack Literature. It was originally published in Kopanang in 2004

Robert Aaron - Sax in the Ozone

Video source: YouTube

Koeberg Road, Milnerton - 18-06-2011

Green Street, Cape town - some time in May 2011

Craig Canavan writes about the legendary Madala Kunene

This article appeared in the July edition of Blink magazine which was published in 2005. The magazine has since closed down.

Struggle N Poetry Slam

TKZee's Palafala

Video source: YouTube

Vector, the new villain in town

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An alley behind Century Gate - 16-06-2011

Homer goes to hell

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Long Street, Cape Town - 20-06-2011

Professor Njabulo S. Ndebele on South Africa's past and present creative dynamics

Interviewer:  Arguably, some of our most creative work, especially if you look at drama for instance, came from a time when this country was the most oppressed. What is your view of creativity and liberation and creativity and oppression and the dynamic between them? Could we somehow have lost our creativity in this moment of liberation? Can we get that back and how? Or am I wrong, are we being more creative than ever?

Njabulo Ndebele:  Yes, I think that it is true to say that oppression led to a lot of novels, drama and so on, and that after 1994 we then got confused. Now there’s fresh writing coming up, I think, in response to basically two things. One is that we can be fired by the possibilities that democracy has opened up. I’m thinking of the American poet Walt Whitman, who celebrates democracy and the growth in the individual, the expressive possibilities. I think it is possible for South Africans to be fired by the possibilities.

But then possibilities also create their own constraints, which bring about frustrations which artists have to respond to. One of the biggest frustrations, if I can go back to it, is the sudden realisation that our democracy is now facing its biggest threat. We have been seduced by the incentive schemes and reward systems of the capitalist.

This has triggered a particular kind of behaviour which, from the point of view of sensitive artists, suddenly looks like we are losing out again. I have just finished reading Niq Mhlongo’s novel, After Tears.  It’s a story of this young student who has been at UCT in the law faculty and he goes home, and he’s got a new nickname, “Advo”, short for advocate – they call him advocate even before he finishes. He goes home and they say, “Advo is back, he’s got a degree!” But unfortunately he says, “I can’t get my degree because I owe so much money and they won’t allow me to graduate.” Which is a lie; the truth is that he failed. He lives with this lie, and his mother decides to sell the house in order to pay for him. He lets her do it; he doesn’t say anything until right at the end, when they’ve lost everything and they discover he has been lying.

Now that is a hell of an introspection because I suspect there will be a lot of people who live lies – the opportunities for lying in this world of enormous incentives, of money, of making it, the opportunities for taking the short cut, living the life, are enormous. I think that novel is an act of bravery.

We as black people, because we have been the victims, have not been too comfortable about exploring the darker side. But we are in power, we also have a darker side, and it must be surfaced for contemplation and reflection. Precisely because we are now the standard and what is the standard?

I see a lot of posturing in some of our public debates, as if people hold the truth totally. You put the fear that you don’t know aside, by projecting an all-knowing intelligence. I think the writers, the artists, the dramatists, are increasingly focusing on these sorts of things, and that’s to the good of us all. That’s the second thing that I think is happening, and I think we’re going to see more and more exciting stuff coming out that gets us to think deeply about who we are.

This excerpt was sourced from the Nelson Madela Foundation site

The magic that is Tony Allen

Video source: YouTube

Buitengracht, Cape Town - 13-06-2011

Bessie Head on her third novel, A Question of Power

In my novel, A Question of Power, I was extremely bothered to define evil. I was looking for answers all along to questions of exploitation. And I was looking for balances; that is, if we have to live with good and evil we ought to present them as they really are. That book has created more difficulties for me than my other two because it was a complete kind of inward turning to my own life.
There were certain things I had to sort out. The difficulties it created were the two levels. The internal level was so disturbing to people. And then, running throughout the book it, to balance this inward turning, was an everyday world where a little village gets on with its everyday affairs and is interested in progress and development.

Everything is very sound because people have come back to me and said, ''Yes, yes, it’s very off-putting.'' But when you go back again, once you've gone through it you see the conclusions reassure people because there are conclusions from this experience. The conclusions are reassuring. But what is violently disturbing is that you get a reader in the helpless position of coming along with the writer. It's like as you open the book you're going into a dark tunnel. And once people sense that they're being pulled into a dark tunnel where horrible things may happen to them they withdraw. In fact most people tell me that they stopped reading the book at page fifty. They do not want to be in the helpless position of following into a nightmare.

This excerpt was sourced from the book, Conversations With African Writers.

Phoenix Village, Milnerton - 18-06-2011

Boo Kaap - some time in May 2011

Rusana Philander writes about the forthcoming celebration of James Matthews' work

In a tribute to one of South Africa’s best known and loved poets, local and British artists will perform in a special concert in honour of James Matthews.

The concert, which is entitled Age is a Beautiful Phase, is happening on July 6 in the Cape Town City Hall. It is organised by the British Council, which is an international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. According to Harriet du Plessis from the British Council, the council creates international opportunities “for the people of the UK and other countries, and builds trust between them worldwide. We call this cultural relations,” she said.

In this unique collaboration between the talented Melanie Scholtz, who will be supplying vocals, and British saxophonist, Soweto Kinch, they will make this jazz musical tribute a night to remember. The concert also features Kevin Gibson on drums, Brudon Bolton on bass and Andrew Lilley playing the piano. The evening will include a special opening performance by the Tribe of Benjamin and a dance piece by Heal the Hood.

The 82-year-old James Matthews is a well-known journalist, author and poet. He was born in District Six and was drawn to writing and poetry at a very young age. His first writings were initially published when he was only 17 years old.

Afterwards, he also worked for many well-known newspapers but it was creative writing and poetry that stole his heart. He continued to write about the issues confronting working class families on the Cape Flats. In 1972 Matthews published his first book of poetry entitled Cry Rage, banned by the apartheid government. For concert enquiries call 021 460 6673.

This article appeared first in The New Age

A mural in a subway, Observatory - 05-06-2011

Mandla "Spikiri" Mofokeng's first solo release - Skonkonyana "funny face"

Fela Kuti - Sorrow, Tears and Blood

Video source: YouTube

A special invitation to Short Story South Celebrations at BOEKEHUIS

On Tuesday 21st June revel in Short Story Day South – a celebration of prose’s short-yet-perfectly-crafted form on the shortest day of the year!
Tuesday 21 June 2011, 6 for 6:30pm


At BOEKEHUIS we will celebrate this occasion with South African Masters of the short story – with a cast of inspiring storytellers

David Medalie, Harry Kalmer, Chris van Wyk, Ivan Vladislavic, Tuelo Gabonewe, James Whyle and Vuyolwethu Seripe

The event will last about 45- 60 minutes

Please join us as listen to some of the best!

Find more info about Short Story Day South at http://www.shortstorydaysouth.co.za/


When: Tuesday 21 June 2011, 6 for 6:30pm
The shortest day of the year!!

Where: BOEKEHUIS Bookshop, Cnr. Lothbury and Fawley streets, Auckland Park (Parking available)

RSVP by Monday 20 June at

011 482 3609 or Boekehuis@boekehuis.co.za

(plenty free parking available)



And the Masters are:

David Medalie is a novelist, short story writer and anthologist. ‘The Mistress’s Dog’ for which he has just won the Thomas Pringle Award for short stories. Of “The Mistresses’ Dog”, the Pringle Award judges said that “the power of this story lies in its understated dramatic irony.”

Harry Kalmer already has eighteen plays to his credit, in addition to which he has also produced six works of fiction. En die lekkerste deel van dood wees was the runner-up in the Sanlam / Insig Groot Romankompetisie (2007).

Chris van Wyk is the author of numerous books for adults and for children. His most recent is Eggs to Lay, Chickens to Hatch, the second book of his memoirs. Shirley, Goodness & Mercy is a heart-warmingly honest story about a young boy growing up in the coloured township of Riverlea in Johannesburg, South Africa during the apartheid era.

Ivan Vladislavic's early story collections, Missing Persons and Propaganda by Monuments, were reissued by Umuzi under the title Flashback Hotel. He is also the author of the novels The Folly, The Restless Supermarket and The Exploded View. Portrait with Keys was published in June 2006, and is an archive of writings on a small segment of Johannesburg that has been walked, observed and reflected upon over the years by the author. In June 2007 Vladislavic won the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award for Nonfiction for Portrait with Keys. In a hat trick of nominations for Ivan Vladislavić, the author’s latest novel Double Negative has just been shortlisted for the M-Net Literary Award. The book has already been named the winner of this year’s University of Johannesburg Prize for Creative Writing, and is shortlisted for the Sunday Times Fiction Prize, which is awarded later this month.

Tuelo Gabonewe is a writer of a short story collection, Planet Savage, soon to be published by Jacana.

Vuyolwethu Seripe is a freelance writer and artist based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She contributes articles to a variety of urban publications and is a keen observer of South Africa's emerging urban cultures. In 2010, this young writer was selected to attend the Caine Prize Writing Workshop along with eleven other African writers.

James Whyle is a South African playwright, screenwriter and journalist. He was announced as the winner of the 2011 SA PEN/Studzinski Literary Award, for his short story, “The Story”. Whyle’s story was chosen by JM Coetzee from a longlist of some two dozen entries.

Findings of the Truth AGAINST Reconciliation Commission by Aryan Kaganof

Noted South African film maker Aryan Kaganof presents 4 short films (20 minutes total):

A Perfect Day
Gare Ithsebeng (music and poetry by Lefifi Tladi)
Reich Dance Redemption (poetry by Lesego Rampolokeng, music by Alec Empire)
Ashraf Cassiem: I’m Resisting (directed by Dylan Valley, music by Blaze)

Aryan Kaganof is a project of the African Noise Foundation. His films include The Uprising of Hangberg (co-directed with Dylan Valley), SMS Sugar Man (the first feature film shot on a mobile phone) and The Exhibition of Vandalizim (with Zim Ngqawana and Kyle Shepherd). Fore more information about this filmmaker, click here [http://www.badlit.com/?p=16905]

A delicious and affordable (from R35) brown bag lunch will be on sale at the venue.

Date: Thursday 23 June 2011

Time: 12:45 for 13:00pm

Venue: Lobby Books, Cape Town Democracy Center, 6 Spin Street

Contact: Andreas Spath at aspath@idasa.org.za or 021 467 7606

Parking options:
Street parking in the area is safe.
Parking garages open to the public in the area include:
Plein Park (Plein Street; to get to the entrance, turn off Plein Street into Barrack Street and then into Corporation Street).
Mandela Rhodes Place (entrance in Burg Street, off Wale Street).

Google on strings - 09-06-2011

Raphael Saadiq - Good Man

Video source: YouTube

A Series of Undesirable Events - the manuscript

The dazzling sound and moves of Zakes Bantwini

It's difficult for one not to think of the famed Distance Music when listening to Zakes Bantwini’s second solo project, Love, Light and Music. In fact, it’s difficult not to think of the greatest house music vocalists that have helped transform this genre to a soul-saturated music it had been. The movement that may be credited for this effect on house is that of the mid to late nineties, including the first two years of the second millennium. Here one thinks of greats such as Karl the voice, Peven Everett, Roland Clark, Ten City's Byron Stingly and so forth.  One would be committing a crime for not to mentioning women of great vocal stature such as Ultra Nate and Lisa Shaw among others.
All these vocalists, and the songs they featured on, gave house music what one may refer to as the most admirable quality of the genre – the voice. The prominence put on the voice in house music is not to say the beat is less important. In fact, the beat is what mostly distinguishes house music from other dance music genres, due to meditative element it seems to carry. This feature is from the repetitive and enchanting beat, which music purist seem not to understand – they prefer live instruments.

With the release of Love, Light and Music, Zakes Bantwini has taken us back to that glorious era of house music, which was then dominated by Chicago. The Illinois city, through legends like Larry Head, Alton Miller, Theo Parrish, Frankie Knuckles, Marshall Jefferson and many others, transformed house music to a genre that possessed a lot of soul. One travels as far as Chicago in this musical journey to illustrate the significance of Love, Light and Music. Chicago in itself gave rise to a sub-genre of the music called Chicago House, and continued to play a pivotal role in the development of house.

Zakes’ album is a production that has achieved wonderful result that many locally produced house albums seem to be missing; simplicity and elegance. House music as we know, is a genre that doesn't have its roots in South Africa. But like many other genres of this world, it also found a home here where it would be given newer versions. Zakes’ vocal delivery, together with his, Black Coffee's and other producers' compositions and production on the album, succeed in giving house music this newness one referred to. This new definition does not only show in production, but shows pleasantly in Zakes' dazzling dancing moves, which seems to be inspired by the godfather of soul, James Brown.  And to see Zakes perform with his band is a truly enchanting experience.
Another beautiful quality about Zakes’ music is that he performs with a full band. There had been house music artists that have done this before, some still do. However, most use a few instruments and make a significant use of computerized sounds to complement the live instrumentation. Zakes' repertoire is of a full band: drums, keys, horns – the works. This quality about Zakes’ music stands to bring new audience to house music.

Love, Light and Music is a beautifully composed and produced album. One would expect great quality work from any project that features Black Coffee. This is not to say that Zakes may have not done it alone. In fact, Zakes Bantwini, born Zakhele Madida, studied music which forms a solid foundation for his creative output. Apart from the production and instrumentation he renders on the album, his voice is the crucial feature. The man sings and so beautifully he sings. It all seems so easy because he doesn’t try to be anyone out there.
Take for example, his hit classic song, Clap Your Hands. It starts off with vitality, an urgency that promises a truly memorable listening experience to someone listening to the album. The drum beat is jovial. The keys, much like the famed South African Mbaqanga, promises dance and bliss as expected of the genre. And when the thumping bass joins the fray, one acknowledges that this is truly an amazing song. Zakes authenticates this in his opening vocals thus: “I feel like dancing. I'm in the mood. I feel so fresh and clean, nice and easy...”  He uses a call and response technique that gives the song a celebratory mood. This technique can also be found in other songs on the album. Songs like Make the Sunrise Tell and Wasting my Time, continue the core legacy of house music with their mellow pace and elegance.  There’s also Juju, a song enjoying international appreciation as reported in some publications. It appeared first on Black Coffee's Homebrew album which has been a great success. But Mindlo & Essential's remix of this song on Zakes' album, doesn't strike the same successful chord as the original one.  But again, it’s a remix.

Love, Light and Music is indeed a refreshing album. And if it’s not the music that would appeal to you, then it should be Zake’s mesmerizing dance. The man moves ever so well. What is pleasant to note is that he doesn’t rehearse his dance moves as reported in one interview he did. He’s also a business man through his production company, Mayonie Production.  One can only hope that another dazzling performer would emerge from Mayonie production. It is after all home to Zakes Bantwini, a revelation that shows that South Africa still has abundant talent to unearth.

Deon-Simphiwe Skade
.

Upper Main Road, Obsevatory - 05-06-2011

Recovering Lewis Nkosi - Our cultural heritage

Jun 08, 2011 at 11:19 AM Issued by: WITS

Attention: NEWS EDITORS

For immediate release:

8 JUNE 2011


RECOVERING LEWIS NKOSI - OUR CULTURAL HERITAGE

Recent debates on the role of the black intellectual both in the apartheid era and since 1994 have shown the tremendous amount of work that still needs to be done to recover the country's rich intellectual history.

One such intellectual is Lewis Nkosi who will be commemorated by literary luminaries and the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER) on Monday, 13 June 2011 in a seminar titled Remembering Lewis Nkosi: Exile, Music, Memory. The seminar will feature academics from various institutions, novelist Nadine Gordimer, poet Oswald Mtshali and photojournalist Alf Kumalo.

The whole-day event will focus on three aspects of his literary production: the critic, the essayist of exile, and the novelist. The event will culminate in a panel discussion by Gordimer, Mtshali and Kumalo chaired by writer and literary agent Sandile Ngidi at 14:30. Nkosi, who passed away last year at the age of 73, was one of the last surviving members of the 1950s Drum generation.

Born in Durban, Nkosi started his career as a journalist with the newspaper Ilanga lase Natal before moving to Johannesburg as a Drum reporter. His famous novel won, Mating Birds, banned by the apartheid government, won the Macmillan Silver Prize. In 1960, Nkosi accepted a fellowship to study at Harvard University and left South Africa on an exit permit which was enforced for 30 years. His third and final novel, Mandela's Ego, was shortlisted for a South African Sunday Times literary award.

"His legacy is enormous. As a novelist, essayist, critic, playwright, editor, journalist and scholar, Nkosi earned each of these designations individually, and this diversity has sometimes obscured the overall magnitude of his contribution to South African culture," says Prof. Liz Gunner, visiting professor at WISER and event co-organiser along with Dr Jon Soske of WISER.

The seminar aims to engage with the above themes, recover his legacy and raise questions on the economy of culture in contemporary South Africa. "Key in these discussions is the issue of culture. Why does culture matter at all? How does it matter in the present over-heated political climate filled with polemic and rhetoric? What is the place and role of the intellectual at the present moment - any kind of intellectual? What, one may ask, is the economy of writing and of knowledge production in our present turbulent space at the bottom of Africa?" asks Gunner.

For more information please contact Prof. Gunner on (011) 717 4228 or Dr Soske on (011) 7174280.

This press release was sourced here

Woodstock-bound taxi - 04-06-2011

Roberta Flack - Love and Let Love

Video source: YouTube

What's your inspiration?

In this capitalist world, what inspires you to do what you do they way you do? And what gives you strength to carry on with what you do when things are not going well? I'm inspired by love. What's your inspiration?

Deon-Simphiwe Skade
.

Martin Scorsese at his best - GoodFellas

The border between fiction and reality

To tread between fiction and reality is to brave insanity as defined through our conventional ways. But the beauty that exists on the border of the two realities is simply too incredible and too alluring to ignore. But tread carefully nonetheless. For each reality requires a set of it own realities for one to survive in its realm.

Deon-Simphiwe Skade
.

Musa Manzini's remarkable debut - New Reflections

Common's finest - Heaven Somewhere

Video source: YouTube

A boy named Blade

I'm walking down a dark street in Milnerton. This is not to say that the occasional lights that are lining along the houses don't serve their purpose of clearing the dark. The night is just too cold. It’s sulky with mild emissions of mist. The loneliness of the streets is profound – the cold has spoken its truth with its curfew. The walk is to my home from a nearby shop.


I see a white boy of about fourteen walking ahead of me. We’re headed towards the same end of the street. He's wearing khaki shorts and a black hoodie. His feet are covered in the comfort of what seems like blue skateboarding takkies. He walks with a pissed-off attitude – it’s in the way he drags his feel and limps like a young gangster that I say this.
As I get near him, he turns around and says: “Hey man, you're not scaly or anything like that right?”

“No I'm not. I'm the most innocent person alive.”

“Okay,” he says, not catching my little joke. It's at night for god’s sake and I'm black.

“I just want to know like, like, are you like going to walk to the end of this road?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Okay man, can I like, can I like walk with you then?”

“Sure,” I say, fascinated by his reference to me as a man and for his frequent use of the word ‘like’. It is his attitude more than anything else that interests me. I can tell that something has upset him. His not-so-thin lips twitch into an expression of annoyance whenever he speaks. His blue eyes carry fire.

“Do you like know where that big park is?” the boy asks me and before I answer, he adds: “I'm going to my uncle's house. It's like opposite the park.”

“The park is further down this road. So, we're like cool,” I say, trying to show him that I also have some swagger about me.

The next thing he starts telling me about his father who he says has invited a new girlfriend to their home, their flat. The boy doesn't like his father’s girlfriend because she's Coloured. He says it took him a while to get used to his father's fiancé, who is also Coloured.

“Don't get me wrong man. I don't have anything against Coloureds and Africans, but like…,' he pauses for a moment to breathe. I watch him swallow saliva and catch a breath.

“I mean like, like, my mother says everyone should like marry among their own people: Like a Coloured with a Coloured, you know? And an African with an African.”

I nod, but not in agreement. I just do this to show him that I'm listening. Because he's a young boy, I find it easy to conceal my shock. I wish to ask him to explain a few things about the concept of race as he understand it, but remember that he needs my ear to offload his apparent troubles.

“I'm sure you know what I mean right? No offence,” he says, trying hard not to chase me away with his frank observations. Each time he looks at me, his blue eyes flash the meagre orange light back to the night. But the light blue colour in his eyes refuses to disappear. For the first time I notice that the young man is tipsy.

He tells me that there are Africans fellows where he stays and that the one African guy has invited two African girls over. But because he's having problems with his life in his trousers, he cannot rise to the occasion. The young boy adds that the friend of the African guy's girlfriend tried playing with his own life in his khaki shorts, because she had been drinking and had gotten naughty. But the boy refused to let her play there where he keeps it all private. That is why he ran away into the streets to his uncle’s. He says the inebriated lady attempted running after him, but she fell to the ground. Thus he escaped.

I look at him and his blue eyes dance around nervously. I get a sense that he’s not certain about my take on his story. He looks like someone who’s feels guilty about a verbal offence that he caused. And like an afterthought, he adds: “Don't get me wrong. I don't have anything against Africans, man.”

I look at him again and notice his pronounced uncertainty.

“Okay man; how old are you?” I ease him off his awkwardness.

“I'm twelve.”

‘He's a tower of a twelve year old,' I think to myself as he continues to talk more about his ordeal with his dad, whom he says beats him up too. The boy reveals that his mother stays far away in Johannesburg and that he misses her. What becomes paramount as he speaks is that he wishes to get to his uncle’s place, fast. So, I allow us to part as we get to the street corner adjacent to the one that leads to the park. But before we go our separate ways, I enquire about his name.

“I didn't get your name.”

“I'm Blade,” he says, flashing an innocent smile as I shake his tender hand.

“I'm pleased to meet you Blade. I'm sorry about your situation with your dad. It's messed up man!”

“I know.”

“See you, then. Just don't go out there cutting people down on your way to your uncle’s, hear?”

He raises his hand but this time doesn’t flash his smile. The boy seems to have a dry sense of humour. But I remember that he's having a terrible time with his dad, so I discard my perception. I should not expect a happy face after all; I mean his father has pissed him off.

As I walk on towards my place, I pull out my cellphone to record my encounter with Blade while it is still fresh in my mind. I type:

‘Blade, young man, I'm sorry about all the troubles in your life at such a tender age when you should just relish being a child. This is a crazy world man. All that you told me is not fair to you. I hope your father comes back to his senses and also stop hitting you. You're a smart kid. I still find what you said extraordinary in many ways, but more so for your maturity and articulation of it all. I hope you find peace man.’

As I try to send the SMS to Blade, I realise that I don’t have his number. The only thing I do is to wish him luck in resolving the matter. It is just too tragic.


Deon-Simphiwe Skade