Contributor: Xam Kind , XAM! (PRONOUNCED ‘Gam’ - Khoe Khoen word for Lion)

A couple of days ago while scanning the net on my Facebook profile, seeing the Hip Hop soapies and uninformed hissy fits, I decided to pose a question. My profile update read -“Who is the Godfather of SA Hip Hop? This has nothing to do with stroking egos”. Initially this question was Plain and simple. Excuse the pun, as Mitchells Plain to most is the birthplace of South African Hip Hop and the Godfather would stem from this Township.

But once my Facebook friends started commenting to the post I realized how much we were learning from each other and how vast the story of this culture is. As comments where added I was asked to give my answer to the question I had posed. Not wanting this story telling session to stop, I continually commented on posts relating to contributors’ personal links to the culture of Hip Hop because to me we were being a communicating community of Hip Hop. Still being asked to give my opinion or answer to the question I posed, I shared more of my story.  

Wag gou! (Hold on!)

I hail from Mitchells Plain (an Apartheid township on the Cape Flats) and was fortunate to be amongst the pioneers and personalities of Cape Town Hip Hop while it was flourishing. Through this journey met beautiful, talented, extraordinary people and also experienced life in this open creative state.

I saw BBoying (Universal Zulu Nation and all the crews who came before-first bboys in SA: Dr Boogie, Kid Pop & King Stud of the city kids breakers 1983), Graffiti (Gogga, Falko, Mak1, Chromo, Emile YX, Muff2, Ice, etc - beautifying the ghetto), Dj’s (Dj Real Rozzano, Ready D - giving us the soundtrack to the Evolution), Mc’s (you know most of them, to many to mention- you can shout their names out!) and something that I see lacking today, namely Knowledge Of Self (For me personally, King Jamo of The Universal Zulu Nation Cape Town chapter helped with my thirst for knowledge).

We were always searching and acquiring information about our story, be it present or past and what work to do for the future. We had communal meeting places and the most well known being the Base (88 Shortmarket Street, Cape Town). All races and creeds met at the Base from all over the Cape Town area. We were and are to a degree today still a community of young men and young women with the fire to express our views on social, political, economic and spiritual topics that affect us. 

 So to come back to the question I posed - “Who is the Godfather of South African Hip Hop? This has nothing to do with stroking egos”. I feel I should have posed the question this way – “Who is/are the pioneer/s of South African Hip Hop”.  I feel, as so many do, that all the positive contributors thus far to the culture of Hip Hop are pioneers in their own right. We should show our appreciation for the fruits we enjoy because of their wanting to be different to the mundane system. I could definitely go on for days talking about the joys and disappointments I have experienced through the culture of Hip Hop …but to answer my question…

“I think and feel there are two key pioneers of South African Hip Hop for me. (You hear the beat box drum roll) They are Dj Real Rozzano first and foremost …and Dj Ready D. It’s like they had the matches and the swael.”

To end off – You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you – Go work with it.