Black, White & Grey Over the past few weeks, the ‘Rainbow nation’ saw its colours go about their separate directions over the many race concerned comments that surfaced. The most controversial being the tweet by Penny Sparrow that brought about outraged through its labelling of black people as ‘monkeys’. IzibeleMaloyi investigates where the Hip Hop culture fits in on the race debate.

rowing up in a republic with so much rich history, one would believe that all the bad of the past remained that- the past! Well, as we have seen in recent weeks, one would be very naïve to believe that. There’s no denying that all our historic events

are what made us who we are as a nation today. Having said that though, does history have to steer the today of our beloved country?

GWe’ve seen a number of times our government use historical segregation as an excuse for poor service delivery, and an arsenal when garnering votes at election time. Of course, this is by no means a way to say ‘just get over it’ – but rather a suggestion that we all learn valuable lessons, and better our thinking to accommodate the changing times.

We took a moment to look at this transformation through the window ofHip Hop Music.2015 was a very that displayed the dominance of hip hop brands in South Africa. CassperNyovest filled up the 20 000 seater, The Dome. Kiernan Forbes went global as he became the first SA hip hop artist to have his song on rotation on London-based BBC 1Xtra. Two of the game’s legends, ProVerb and Amunition, both celebrated ten years in the industry – ProVerb marking this occasion with a release of his 5th studio album, The Read Tape! The year also saw rappers not only drop hits after hits, but some also seeing their albums grab the gold status! The country’s official rap battle league, Scrambles4Money, had a very good year too as it managed to deliver international battles for the first time in the country.

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The art form is one of the oldest and has grown to become a formidable tool in how people around the world express themselves. It has become a universal language that helps people of all nations understand themselves and their situations better. Needless to say, hip hop is a global culture unifying many, day by day. However Hip Hop artists have a responsibility of feeding the people with ideas, beliefs, notions and feelings that are not only lasting, but meaningful. If the message is Liberation, perhaps the listener may be liberated.

In an interview with The Guardian on March 13th 2015 controversial rapper Kanye West said: “Racism is a dated concept. It’s like a silly concept that people try to touch on … to separate, to alienate, and to pinpoint anything, it’s stupid. … it’s something that was used to hold people back in the past, but now there’s been so many leaps and breaking of the rules that its played out, like a style from the 1800s.”

A prime example of how the game has broken racial boundaries is Detroit’s very own, Eminem. Em came to the scene as a white rapper, in a very much black dominated culture.

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The Shady Records boss rapped his way to the top and proved his worth. He’s managed to win the hearts hip hop fans of all races, solidifying his spot as one of the game’s living legends. Looking at all his accolades and accomplishments, it’s safe to say ‘the real’ Slim Shady showed how insignificant race is – and how important skill is! It is also evident that Chad Da Don, a White Rapper from Pretoria has been received very well by the South African Rap Market as we’ve seen him collaborating with influential African artists on his come up.

I believe music knows no race – it’s a spiritual thing. The ability of a song to move your heart and soul while making you groove a bit, has absolutely no connection with black or white. This is not to say, tough, that music (hip hop in particular) has not had its fair share of racial debacles. Nonetheless, I would literally run out of adverbs to describe how the culture impacts those who follow. Let’s lay off the racial tweets and posts, and just enjoy good music together (seriously, lets!). Can’t we all just get along?

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