Guest Host On Cliff Central

Nov 5, 2014 | ,

Radio continues to be a primary media platform in South Africa, and across the continent, probably more so than the print media, whether magazine or newspaper. I have been tempted to dabble in the space over the years and had illusions of being a radio producer many moons ago. I have had ample opportunity to be on the mic as a guest in my various guises from poetry to working at Destiny Man. And then, a couple of months back, Thabo “T-Bose” Mokwele asked me to guest host his show on Kaya FM while he was away on holiday. Having worked in and around the media and entertainment spaces, I have...

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Meshell Nedegeocello’s Comet, Come To Me Mini-Documentary

Nov 2, 2014 |

There is something sensual, guttural, and wonderfully calming about the bass. As a child, I was always fascinated by how the bassist in jazz bands always seemed to be the funkiest, even when playing the upright bass, which forces one to be relatively static on stage – not really something you can fling around. And then bands and musicians like George Clinton’s Parliament Funkadelic, Sly & The Family Stone, Con Funk Shun, Ohio Players and Bootsy Collins, that bass funk went a whole different level. This is what drew me to Meshell Ndegeocello who has been one of my favourite musicians...

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Digital Crates: What The F#@k Is A Jay Electronica?

Sep 15, 2014 |

Jay Electronica is probably one of the most fascinating characters to enter the realm of hip hop. The trajectory of any artist is to put their music out there, build a sustainable career (although with some of these people out here, one does wonder), and go from there. But, the New Orleans native, who was born Timothy Elpadaro Thedford, has had hip hop fans anxiously waiting for an album for over half a decade now, especially after the tracks Exhibit A and Exhibit C, both produced by Just Blaze, were released in 2009. The closest we’ve come to an album is the compilation What The F#@k Is A...

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Digital Crates – Yasiin Gaye: The Return (Side 2)

Jun 4, 2014 |

My Digital Crates feature, albeit erratic (as with most of this space), is the opportunity for me to share the really dope music (in my view) that I come across. The beauty of the digital realm for me continues to be the fact that I am not dependent on radio, television and the major record labels for the music I listen to. Whether it is through social media or randomly browsing the web, there are many artists and deejays that I have 'discovered' that have become part of my life's soundtrack. Amerigo Gazaway is most definitely one of these. I recently wrote a short post on him, sharing some...

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Digital Crates: Amerigo Gazaway

Mar 24, 2014 |

I have wanted to do a Digital Crates post on Amerigo Gazaway for a while. I first came across him in 2012 when he was still involved with Gummy Soul Record Company. The Pharcyde’s Labcabincalifornia continues to be one of my all time favourite hip hop albums while A Tribe Called Quest have served as a critical soundtrack for significant parts of my life so when Amerigo created a musical journey, which he called Bizarre Tribe: A Quest To The Pharcyde, that blended these two groups, I was hooked. Bizarre Tribe was described as follows: “Utilizing the original Jazz, Soul and Funk recordings...

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Red Bull’s Film On Music

Mar 11, 2014 | ,

Red Bull has gradually positioned itself at the forefront of sports, creativity and lifestyle, embedding itself in everything from extreme sports and dance to music, football and Formula One. In 1998, they started the Red Bull Music Academy in Berlin as “a world-travelling series of music workshops and festivals” with the main segment attended by “two groups of 30 selected participants – producers, vocalists, DJs, instrumentalists and all-round musical mavericks from across the planet”. It has been held in as diverse places as Cape Town, Sao Paulo, Dublin, Melbourne, London, Seattle and...

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