Brothers in Fashion
Do you ever feel frustrated when you go shopping and all you see is bland, bad- quality mass clothing that is way over-priced? You can change that. All you have to do is invest your money in our local designers and get them to make your clothes for you. They’re not all over-priced or exclusive… many of them are making clothes for people just like you and me. They’re Proudly South Afr…ican and you should be too. You may have already read about the boys from Earthquake on Represent, now we introduce you to a whole lot of inspirational up-and-comings making waves in the Fashion Industry. We start with an intervies in downtown Jozi with one of our favourite young labels… Dubstar. Represent CHATS to Dub of Dubstars Name: Tabane Hlahatsi A.K.A: Dub How he pays the rent: Fashion designer and clothing label owner Name of label: Dubstars Business owners: Tabane and Paolo (340ml drummer) R – How did you get into fashion? D – For me, it was poverty (LOL). Basically growing up, my friends used to wear these expensive Italian clothes and at some point, my parents couldn’t afford to buy me all those clothes. I used to wear second hand clothing, then one day I decided, screw this, let me learn how to make clothes so that I could lace this the way I want to. It then grew into something I am crazy about. R- Where does the name for your label come from? D- The musical genre Dub. I love and listen to Dub a lot. A friend of mine started calling me Dub a while back&the name then was given to my label. I think it’s also about the kind of style I represent. Dub massive. Rasta massive. Military fire-ness massive! R- Have you received any formal training? D- Yeah, I started out at a fashion school where I learned the basics like pattern construction etc then left due to financial constraints. The rest was self-taught R- Have you done any formal business training to help with running your business? D- None, I have just received some vouchers from the Umsobomvu Fund to lace my website and put together a sound business and marketing plan. So far, I have been doing things instinctively. R- How long have you been in the fashion game? D- Formally making and selling clothes for three years R – What is your brand identity? D – Street R – What is that to you? Define ‘street’? D...
MISSY HIGGINS coming to “Africa”
There’s not only one Missy in the music industry as we just recently found out. Australian songstress and pianist Missy Higgins is on her way over to SA to make some friends. We went to her site and had a listen – not bad – think Joss Stone meets Cheryl Crow. If you love suolful piano balads, she’s your lady. Come on South African’s let’s show …her some love. The NIte Out boys in Durban invite you to join them on the 5 July. A Nite Out With Australian Singer/Songwriter Missy Higgins. Australian singer/songwriter Missy Higgins is set to appear in South Africa, performing in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town. Missy Higgins, who topped the Australian charts with her hit single Scar, taken off her debut album The Sound Of White is a superstar in her home country and is set to convert many a fan with her unforgettable brand of musically sophisticated, lyrically intelligent and emotionally raw style of song writing. Her debut album The Sound Of White featured her runaway hit Scar which debuted at #1 on the Australian singles chart and the title track notched up ten weeks at # 1 on the airplay charts becoming the most played song on Australian radio in 2004. Scar led to Missy receiving an ARIA (Australia’s Grammy’s), plus nominations for Best Female Artist and Single Of The Year. Her critically acclaimed album The Sound Of White also hit #1 down under. She has sold over quadruple platinum in Australia and has established herself as the success story for 2005/6. Missy Higgins will be performing in South Africa on: 1 July ’06 – Tanz Cafý, Bryanston – Johannesburg 2 July ’06 – 88 Lounge, Norwood – Johannesburg 4 July – Tings ‘n Times, Hatfield – Pretoria 5 July ’06 – Vestige Bistro & Bar – Durban 7 July ’06 – Independent Armchair – Cape Town 8 July ’06 – CD Wherehouse in store – The Green Dolphin, Waterfront – Cape Town She has been quoted as: “Artist of The Year” – Rolling Stone. “What can I say about Missy Higgins? She is the epitome of a perfect performance. She is beautiful, she is graceful, and she has one hell of a voice. & Miss Higgins on a balmy (almost) summer evening: I can’t think of anything better.” – DCB Magazine “Melody, raw emotion and the truth. Sometimes that’s all you need. A Star is born” – Herald Sun, Melbourne. “Every one of these songs is worth experiencing. Together they show the depth and breadth of a truly rare talent” – X-Press, Perth Missy Higgins will make an appearance on...
Clothes do not make me African
A true Representer Ur Highness brings up a topic that’s been runnning around quite a bit in our circles… does your style define who you are as a person? Does it mean because I choose to have a weave I am ‘shallow’ or ‘trying to be ‘white'” (that’s a whole nother topic we need to talk about…this white-bashing nonsense – watch this space). Why should I be judged and who are you to jud…ge me? Does what you wear represent your mind and opinions? Surely we should be free to wear whatever suits us without fearing that we are being ‘UnAfrican”? What do you think…? No doubt in your daily life you have run into dreadlocked black brother or sister head wrapped in turban long skirt and the Bob Marley bag,not neccessarily rastafarian but just a “REAL AFRICAN”. But really does all that give the true African sense? Does it seem that some Africans think that they are more African than the other Africans walking past coz he/she has got s-curl& cut or a sister has hair weaves and they don’t go to poetry sessions… they think Skwatta kamp is hiphop and they think Kwani Experience is a new drug? Does how you look, what interests you , who you hang with suddenly give somebody their true African sense? It just seems to me that most Africans who have ever been colonised , are just suffering with their blackness. Yes, in the past we were made to believe our skin is too dark or hair is too curly – it needs to be stretched , and now that we are enjoying the fruits of freedom we do what ever we please with ourselves. So now most of the other Africans who even after liberation still wanted to lighten their skin, strech their hair and dress in western designs are what…. hmmm…. fake (note that all aspects mentioned refer to the external appearance)? In these 21st century revolutions against the system and so forth, do you need a certain look in the revolutionists eyes to get your point taken seriously? Can you be you be considerd to have an African conscious mind if you dont look according to what they perceive to be real African (dreadlocked and all)? Trust me im not hating I am a poet, I got an afro myself and I dont know if I look strange but I manage to get a few stares, mouth gags and giggles here and there . Though I have noticed being around these circles that they manage to outcast and judge people based on how they look or the music...
Help Bring Mariah Carey to South Africa!
Wouldn’t it be great if we supported our local artists as much as we support international ones! Just picture it: “Help bring Wonderboom to Hotazel”, “Help Bring PitchBlack back” And so on. In the second of our series of SA-based sites that petition international artists to visit SA, the focus falls to… MARIAH! *To see the first Represent fanclub article featuring the U2 fan… club click here.* We must admit, we loved her in the 90’s *blush*, but we’ve kind of outgrown her. Clearly that’s just us. Appears that the Mariah fan site has all kinds of juicy goodies on SA fans – like Mariah fan get togethers…. see above photo of some fans singing her songs Karoke style! 🙂 They also have an article on one of the “1st South African fans to meet or see Mariah Carey up close”, a woman called Lynette who shares her experience online with all the fans: You will never guess what – I SAW MARIAH !!!!!!!!!!!!! I subscribe to the “Mariah Live” mailing list and got a chance to be in her new music video “Bringin’ on the heartbreak” ! The video is shot as part of a rock concert, so we got to be fans in the crowd at her concert for the video! And it was free. I was so anxious with anticipation – the thought of just getting to see in person was overwhelming me. I couldn’t believe that I was going to get this chance. So a friend of mine and I got there at 5:30pm and we waited outside for 2 hours before we went inside, then waited again till eventually she came out. She was stunning. She just had to wave and the crowd went mad. I’ll never forget that feeling when I got my first glimpse of her. The crowd went wild and the screams were deafening. It was so exciting – I was jumping up and down 🙂 It was like I was the only one in the auditorium and no one was watching me going crazy 🙂 I couldn’t take my eyes off her. We were like 12 rows from the front, then there was a section for the cameras and then the stage. I was so excited that I was a mere 15 meters from Mariah! Then she was being interviewed by different tv channels and then came on stage and said she’s gonna change for the video shoot and will be back. We waited so long while the crew setup the lighting and cameras. There is such a lot of work involved in making the video. And so on. Click...
We’re Cool Like DAT… another SCOOP!
Do the names LADYBUG, BUTTERFLY or DOODLEBUG mean anything to you? If you’re a real HipHop head and have been along for the ride from the 90’s you would know that those are the names of the absolutely fabulara members of the band DIGABLE PLANETS. They’re peers of classic HipHop bands Arrested Development and US3 – all three of these bands introduced the heads behind Represent to a new st…ye of HipHop in the early 90s that found us wandering into the arms of sweet soulful hiphop never to look back…. If this is the first time you have ever heard of the Digs or even if you are their biggest fan, find out all about them at their MYSPACE post (Have you got yours yet Representers???). Or you can go to their official site by clicking here. Or you can read all about them on this VH1 special. Well according to their website, they will be performing in Johannesburg at one of Represent’s favourite Jozi events – the Arts Alive Jazz Festival at Zoo Lake…. It’s cited to take place on the 2 September and will indeed be held at Zoo Lake…Obviously we will fill you in once we have more information. BUT THAT’s NOT ALL! Digable Planets are billed to perform with the legendary Brian Jackson – a swift fingered pianist and one time musical partner of Gil Scott Heron (“The Revolution will not be televised.”) One of the most famous hits that they created together was “The Bottle”. We are double-blessed Jozi! So yip – it’s a double SCOOP – remember where you heard it first! not only the most chilled HipHoppers known to us but one of the finest funk and jazz musicians alive…two-in-one. ENJOY! Picture is a link to the Digableplanets.org site… taken by Danny...
Dance your way towards SPRING
We love it when we start getting Press Releases for September, it means that SPRING is not far away and you know how we love SPRING. So to encourage us all to look ahead to the gorgeous Spring and Summer Months to come, we thought we’d publish it. We also love the Moving into Dance Company so book your tickets now for SPRING! Civic Theatr…e site. Moving into Dance Site Moving into Dance Mophatong will premiere a new work by Gregory Vuyani Maqoma in the company’s first ever season Flesh at The Johannesburg Civic Theatre later this year. Maqoma’s latest work Flesh is part of a triple bill which also includes Catching the Bird by Sweden’s Marie Brolin-Tani and eMandulo choreographed by Thabo Rapoo. Flesh is inspired by Japanese spirituality, philosophy, rituals and discipline in line with the spiritual healers and prophets of Southern Africa. Stripped of all excess, the work is based on the minimal aspects of unencumbered flesh. Flesh persists, even when transformed after death. Catching the Bird is an abstract piece of choreography inspired by Igor Stravinsky’s two most famous works, the Firebird and Rite of Spring. In it Brolin-Tani has addressed the dichotomy between identifying oneself as part of a group or a culture while still standing alone and taking responsibility for oneself as an individual. As the bird is the image of freedom, and fire is the image of passion, the work depicts the independent, free, passionate soul that is the core of every human being. The Stravinsky music used by the Danish composer Henrik Munch is the base to which he has added in both contemporary and traditional South African music to show how the similarity in the rhythmical complexity stretches worldwide. The scenography designed by Hans-Olof Tani emphasises the atmosphere of searching and the past and current fragility of the internal soul. Brolin-Tani was assisted by is Melody Putu and Belinda Nusser, both South African dancers formerly with the State Theatre Dance Company. Brolin Tani is artistic leader of Skýnes Dansteater, Malmý, Sweden and founder of MBT Dansteater in Denmark. She has produced more than 20 original contemporary dance productions since 1987. Catching the Bird is the result of a Swedish South African cultural collaboration and is supported by the Culture Fund of both governments. The work was premiered in Malmo Sweden in 2005. Thabo Rapoo’s eMandulo explores issues about the importance of the role played by women in traditional society and how that impacts on contemporary living in term of values and morals. For 27 years the trailblazing Moving into Dance Mophatong (MIDM) Company has been presenting a unique contemporary cross-cultural...
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