Recently, there has been discord about whether or not South African hip-hop is DEAD. We’ve been hearing from some of the most influential names in Hip Hop from the past decade share this sentiment in public forums. So we’ve attempted to tally the score and try to make sense of the idea.
Let’s briefly go back to almost 30 years ago when RSA RAP was first introduced to a national/international audience. The backdrop was a country gaining its independence from Colonialism and Apartheid. In 1995 at the 1st Democratically-Elected Inauguration of then President Nelson Mandela, ‘South Africans bore witness to a then Cape Town based rap group POC affectionately known as (Prophets Of The City) historical performance. To most South Africans POC was the first introduction to Rap music, let alone on such a big stage and with an unapologetic SA context. Following such a large platform it would take at least another decade and a half for recording industries to seize the opportunity to cultivate and exploit Rap music as they did with Kwaito (which was the number one genre in the 90s) amongst black youth.
Fast forward almost a decade later (2004-05), with a steadily growing underground scene, Hip hop starts to permeate and show its influence on young black kids who were discovering digital file sharing and the internet for the very first time. Till then the ecstatic of a hip hop artist/fan didn’t look like anything a regular South African would identify with, that was until Vernac Rap (Motswako, Kasi Rap, and Spaza ) became prevalent as an extension of hip-hop expression.
Some say that was the game changer because up till then hip hop hadn’t made it to the consciousness of “mainstream” South Africa, but lived as a lowly funded subgenre that neither the private sector nor record labels would invest in full, in a meaningful way.
Without a doubt, the biggest inflection point to date was somewhere between 2010 and 2016. SA Rap next to Dance Music was finally seen as one of the biggest genres if not the biggest at least then. The year 2010 was a significant one as a country, the eyes of the world were upon us and SA Rap music had made bigger strides since ’95 and had curated and cultivated a viable scene. An unlikely collaboration between a veteran and an up-coming and relatively new artist (HHP x JR – Show Them ‘Make The Circle Bigger’) arguably is the biggest song of that said year. The song would go on to be featured in a plethora of adverts, campaigns, and activations association around the first Fifa World Cup on African soil.
The year is now 2022, and we’re confronted with an interesting question, is SA Hip hop dead? To get a better understanding, one has to consider both sides of the argument, ie relevance, and profitability. Starting with the latter – profitability is Rap as a product still commercially viable or not? Objectively speaking that’s a resounding YES! Without question, Rap Music is not only still creating new “Stars” to date but it also is creating unique revenue streams and is being exploited by brands and the recording industry, from live performance, synchronization deals, merchandising, etc. at a higher rate than ever before.
For context in 2014 which in Rap is regarded as one of the best years in SA hip-hop history, Cassper Nyovest speaks on how at the time he was still the only artist to have gotten a RISA certification as he won the Album of the year category for Tsholofelo at the South African Hip-hop Awards (SAHHA). Though Skhanda Republic by KO and Levels by AKA would also go on to get plaques of their own respectively months later, illustrating just how far Hip hop has come. Today we have more artists not only going platinum multiple times but doing it regularly with damn near every project released. The advent of social media and DSPs has made it easier for artists to monetize their music further than before for a lot less than it took to print CDs.
Less than 5 years removed from that supposed peak, why is there a growing feeling that Hip Hop is dying or Dead!?
When the genre is young it is a far more common place to see a lot of “first time” accomplishments, which in turn can create a perception of peak popularity and excitement. Ultimately maintaining the same amount of excitement is harder over a longer period when the novelty of firsts has waned. True value is tallied up through sustained success and mainstream influence.
I think it’s safe to say Hip hop is part of the furniture and is here to stay. The future looks even brighter with artists like A-Reece, Shane Eagle, Willy Cardiac, and Patrick Lee who represent a different mold of independent artists who have already had success to varying degrees primarily online.