September’s Very Own is On

If every month could litter its own rapper and stand proud there are a few which can hold their own. Do you remember these rap lines? “june one six seven one/ the day mama pushed me out her womb told me ‘nigga get paid’”. Ja, that was June’s very own rapper Tupac Shakur yelling props.

Now fourteen years later October has Drake while September’s own rapper is a Bushbuckridge emcee called Young Kay-Cee. Swagger-laced lyrics popping on oft-auto-tuned deliveries lay a blue carpet for this 18-year old’s introduction to a game that does not tolerate mediocrity.

Young Kay-Cee’s real name is Kamogelo Namane and he has been holding his own down since he burst into the scene during the Luv Ur Hood sessions at Ga-Kabila, Acornhoek and other Bushbuckridge locations. His first real media breakthrough came in Masta H’s 2011 release Mapulaneng Mixtape Volume One on a track titled 1, 2, 3 Mabhebeza with KFB.

After that glare he has been seen at various sessions dropping ill rhymes. There has been criticism though; often valid; often not since every generation is entitled to its own ‘unique’ style. Truth is that rap has lost its street witness (poetic) creds and very few rappers are telling tales about funerals, drive-by shootings, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse and socio-political messages. If you do that you are called ‘deep, underground or conscious’. You don’t receive the same mainstream acceptance that Nas, Biggie and Tupac enjoyed when they covered these beats.

Rappers of the new millennium often relate stories about the cars they drive, cribs they screw b-tches in, bottles they pop, clothes they wear and whose swag drips the most. It often tastes crass.
While Young Kay-Cee does not really fall into any of the two aforementioned categories, what stands out is that he is the next big thing in South Afrika as he kicks ass big time. He’s neither AB Crazy, Kwesta, Morale, Maggs or L-Tido. He is one of standout rappers featured in the upcoming Masta H album, Mapulaneng Volume II with his kick ass solo ride ‘We On’. He also features on one other song with his All Star partners in crime Masta H and KFB.

Masta H’s Mapulaneng Volume II will hit the streets in October 2011.


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THE PRESIDENT’S PATIENT – A REFLECTION I

AUGUST 30, 2012; After a long creative sabbatical I was once again back in the field; meeting the cast for a script reading at Chikitsa, a joint situated on what used to be Horror Cafe. Script reading is most often a tedious and time consuming process which very few creative people would like to be part of. They would rather be a fly on the wall of casting than sit for half a day listening to would-be actors pronouncing difficult words.

I should say i was looking forward to this exercise because I tend to use big words in my writings and to actually see the next person bite their tongue to pronounce them is often a game for me. So, here we were at Newtown making our way to Chikitsa, a nxa pozzie next to World Of Beer for our session.
I should say i was impressed by the professionalism of the actors as they pitched one by one. The core cast was there, Regina Dube (Lieutenant), Napo Masheane (Susan), Paul Mzaca (Tshepo), Thabo Monareng (Lukas) etc. They all came excerpt for those small roles which we call bit parts. You know when you get to utter a single line in a film we consider you gifted and worthy of every praise. So, on the script reading day we decided to give them a rest so we all chipped in to deliver the lines.

What made everything more interesting was when Gwyza popped in; on his way to another meeting and we had a chat. You should remember that Gwyza was the guy who got popped in the last film; Cast the First Stone. He was quite a maverick and played his role so excellently I crossed my fingers that it was going to open doors for him – I am waiting for his big day. We discussed his upcoming album and what I can do. Maybe I can do what I am doing right now, write some few lines and get you hooked.

So, after director King Shaft have explained how broke we were and how everybody had to give their all as if we were operating on a fifteen million budget it was my time to explain the concept of The President’s Patient. I tried to be brief that the cops should understand that they are actually a task team made up of the cream from the NIA (State Security Agency), Crime Intelligence and Organised Crime. I explained the moral of the story.

And as we finished and got down to munching our lunch I couldn’t wait for the first day of shooting. I couldn’t wait to see all the research that Napo told me she did for her role kick in as she will be kicking butt.

I looked forward to Paul being a cop and not a toughie. Day One carried so much promise the night just dragged on.

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THE PRESIDENT’S PATIENT – A REFLECTION II

I  know you have been wondering why it took me this long to update you; well this is what I remember since memory is weapon. I am unleashing it right now

DAY TWO: JULY 31 - First day of filming stars with music and dance. Now you know if there’s one thing that us Afrikans have as an advantage over everybody else it’s our ability to sing and dance over anything. We don’t need a beat since we got music in our DNA. Every single Afrikan you see infront of you can sing and dance; they may just be shy but tell them the key to their emancipation lies in them impressing a jury with their dance moves I swear to you everybody can do that and leave whites incarcerated. The late Busi Mhlongo once said, paraphrased by culture writer Bongani Madondo; “we were in church before we went to church”. I love that. We are born in worship and we worship with our body and voices!

So, this day starts with King Shaft, Mikhail and Sibusiso leading in song and dance outside our peach operations nerve centre in the heart of Newtown. The building stands proud like a penis on Viagra. There is singing and dancing as the technical crew is assembling equipment which we will need for the shoot. Apparently we will be shooting our first scene barely hundred metres away from here. The scene is the one when our radical young minister gets shot - not potshots but automaticed. I shudder to notice that I have made love on that street a million times; busted a million nuts but I hardly remember its name. I hope it is Henry Nxumalo Street. I loved Nxumalo so I hope this is his street. You know it, that one way main artery of Newtown that passes past Mary Fitzgerald Square.

The first scene we shoot involves the attempted assassination on a young radical minister who wants to change the way government has been doing things for the past eighteen years. The scene is about the actual shooting with an Uzi automatic and the bodyguards getting into the action. Our bodyguards are reaaaal huge.

The assassination attempt goes through without hiccups and our two heavies are real pros; in dark suits and pistols. Our minister is suave, played by Momelezi Ntshiba. The scene is wrapped as soon as it started and then we move to the assassins. On set we have some of the people whose call-up will be in about two hours such as Napo Masheane, Paul Mzaca and Thabo Monareng who will have to change into wardrobe soon and become the team investigating the crime.

First our assassins are having a field day with the 1973 Valiant that they chose for the hit. It’s surprising why these two hitmen, played by Mofenyi Malepe (Calvin) and Motlatsi Mahloko (Alexander) chose a vintage to take out a freshly minted politician. We take our time to shoot the scenes that involve Monde (Prince Twala) when he was going about his hoboic ways of writing people’s numberplates and being a nuisance.

It’s a logistical challenge for the crew members responsible for art and continuity as every little detail should be repeated over the five days that we will be shooting.

On the day we actually shoot too many scenes that when we finally audit them at the base camp we find that we managed to can nineteen, including the on-location investigation, interviews with eyewitnesses, parts of Monde’s life on the street and a scene that involves a confrontation with streetkids by first the assassins and then cop Lukas.

At the end of day one we all can say we have had a good start. As those who have made films before will tell you; the first and last day are always the most challenging. We await day two with anticipation.

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