Famous
proponents of this genre could arguably be Stone
Seete and HHP.
The appeal
of this expressive yet conscious lyricism is reminiscent of tribal chants, but
when laced on beats and synthetic rhythms that range from krunk to dubstep, we
have a sound that is both intellectually stimulating and simply street savvy.
PRO’s remark
that most rappers ‘bacwele ekasie, when nima ngicwelwe yikasie…’ rings true for
these MC’s who have recently been joined by a gorgeously eloquent queen by the
stage-name Chazz.
She lays
down the back story that, “…the crew started off with 4 members (Oz, Majik, Pee_Rev and JohnnyL) and I
was a single artist, but we grew to realize that Hop Skoch and Chazz were
aiming at the same target market.”
Hop Skoch has always believed in the political power
of hip-hop, a unique and unprecedented juxtaposition.
A binary
understanding of power and authority characterises the group’s core message, and
as opposed to the more palatable Motswako
Hip Hop which typically results in the promotion of superficial traits,
their hip hop is pent on conveying messages about the trials and
tribulations of political, social, and economic conditions of our society.
And without
using the township as an authentic site of “Blackness” in the Hip-Hop, Hop Skoch has embraced a variety of
localities as root of their consciousness.
These Kagiso bred artists, muster undaunted
portrayals of township reality without delving into misogynous tendencies of the
genre while their adrenalin fuelled lyrical flows at car-spinning contests and
drag-races, with fists clenched on spit-caked microphones say – They Are Kasie
as Kasie Can Be.
P’Rev agrees that activist reasons for Hip Hop
should be to become an indispensable tool, “to not forget where we come from.
It’s very vital to express ourselves in our mother tongues to emphasize the
diversity of South Africa and its cultures. We got different rhyme styles as
individuals, and I’m the type that likes to flip words and talk about opinions
people fear to voice out.”
Drawing on
the call-and-response form so common in ritual chanting to the ancestors, their
music follows an ancestral cue inventing and re-inventing their vocabulary into
a verbal sorcery fusing drum beats and words of defiance from a new generation
of dissidents.
Hop Skoch, even though known to be a mere childish
game, has become the grid for directing new feet-stomps of a new kind of
protest, and with the recent inclusion of a female member, gender disparities
are tackled head on with a feminine bravado that explodes from Chazz’s lyrics.
And as a
group’s producer Thabo Ngwenya
explains that “… there is always a stigma attached to South African hip hop that
says it not lucrative. We are bringing a unique attribute to hip hop that will
gain competitive advantage and market share within the industry at large.”
Similarly
with “the game” I sense angst, or common teenage ego when asking about the
meaning of the group’s name, but members know precisely the gravity of their
responsibilities within a volatile industry and what’s required from them as
authentic creative minds.
DJ Gada and
Oz explain it as “a game played when drawing blocks on the street and throwing
a stone on the highest level you can reach. It correlates with our character
because we represent a nature of a child born and bred on the township streets
and have fun it what we do. And the game represents the Hip Hop game we just
joined, therefore the blocks represents the skill and the levels we keep
reaching.”
Musical influences
span from PRO, Shiya Shezi , Khuli Chana, HHP, Notshi, Red Button and Flabba at
the local industry level and internationally they are fans of Eminem, Lupe
Fiasco, A Tribe called Quest, Mac Miller, Kendrick Lamar and Black Hippy as a
whole, to name a few.
With Hop
Skoch tracks featured on the Y-FM, Ke Madi Mixtape, they have had a little
stint on the airwaves; and with their upcoming project they aim to implement
aggressive marketing strategies targeting all traditional media channels.
Images by Mawaza Entertainment
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