City Stylin’ : A Story of Fabricated Dreams
Thanda Kunene talks to the guys behind Durbanite fashion brand Godz who started with not much but their desire and passion to succeed in the fashion industry. After much slog and learning all about doing business right, Godz designs are worn with pride by Durban stylistas and they’re making it big in Jozi with their own shop at Campus Square – Sharpile Thanda for the inspiring words! If you are a small creative business who’d like to be interviewed, please email Editorista on editor@represent.co.za Meet Smiso Mpafu and Nkonzo. Two young fashion designers that run a Durban-based fashion label by the name of Godz. Now for those of you fond of Durban street culture, you might have noticed the once-off individual custom design clothing which is of abundance around the sunny streets of Durban. Here is a low-down on the fashionistas and their path of entrepreneurship… * How did the name “Godz” come about when choosing a name for your brand? Design is a God-given talent. * Out of all the careers in the world, why choose fashion? Fashion is our main passion in life. We grew up around it, and there is nothing in the world that could take away the urge for doing fashion. * Please give us an outline of your typical day at work. The day’s work is prepared for the day before. Or else we also hang out waiting for people who want custom designs. As you know in the fashion world there is never a repeat of the previous day’s work. * Since when has the fashion label been running and what challenges did you come upon when starting the business? The label was formed in 2003 but was registered as a business in 2006. We had issues with funding as we wanted to open a shop. Business was going well but we didn’t have an official shop to do business so we had to do door-to-door sales to to raise the capital for a proper work space. * What are the achievements you’ve reached within the fashion world so far? We managed to get a shop in the central CBD but we lost out due to finances. We have now mangaged to obtain a shop at Campus Square which is located in the art hub of Melville in Johannesburg. We also had a fashion show showcase at the Kirk Franklin Gala Dinner in 2007 which was at the Zulu Jazz Lounge, Durban. In 2008 we had a chance to showcase our work at the eThekwini Easter Fashion Showcase. In 2009 we showcased at the infamous Umgababa Beach Festival and this year we...
Young Nations’ United States Of Africa on the shelves
‘I love my city I run it like a marathon’ GP (The City is mine)… Jozi hiphop heads will be all over Young Nations’ track dedicated to ‘his city’ Johannesburg – one of 15 hawt tracks on his latest album entitled United States of Africa. Don’t be suprised by Young Nations’ American accent that busts smoothly in and out of his slick beats- he’s a global being with South African roots who’s grown up in a number of different countries including the US, France and Congo… Just listening to his lyrics affirms his allegiance to and excitement about being in South Africa, the country of his birth. And anyway, who cares about accents anyways or where we’re from… it’s all about the beats and lyrics…So, you be the judge – does his album move you, is it moving SA hiphop and hiphop in general forward, is it fresh, is it innovative, do we love it?? Get a sneak peak here and buy it here. ...
Represent Interview: Mo Laudi
Meet Mo Laudi, a star-reaching globetrotting South African dj and MC living in Paris, (the city otherwise known as Paname by locals…just by the way). He’s a part of The Very Best and Radioclit, released and album with in 2006 with British punk rock band called weapons. Follow him on twiiter on @molaudi and check out his MySpace and of course Facebook. Meet MoLaudi Hey Mo, thanks for chatting with us… tell us…where did you grow up? Born in Seshego, zone 3 moved to the Polokwane suburbs when Apartheid ended, went to high school in Pretoria, higher education in Johannesburg Allenby campus, then AAA school of advertising. Who is MoLaudi in 2010? Same dude I’ve always been, just growing, still inquisitive, into various musical cultures, art, I love street culture, working on my album… What inspired you to get into music? My family, my brother used to loooove music, he had a book of lyrics, he would stop and start songs and write the lyrics down and even before that my parent used to have a community choir they would go to practice a few times in the a week in the evening, my mother was the conductor and my father sang bass, they would ask us who wanted to come to the choir competitions with them and we would mostly say yes. What’s your first memory of music? Music has always been around my house before I was born, there is nothing I can specifically call the first memory, I’m sure even when I was born someone was singing. I remember when I was toddler in the township, my mother would be practicing the violin in her bedroom and outside me and my friends were listening, amazed at hearing such a rare sound. What are some of your strongest influences and who inspires you musically in 2010? I’m inspired by everything around me, sounds of Ghettos around the world, ideas I read, visuals, Ronald Dahl, SA house, Mars Volta, 80’s rock, old school hip hop, electro, afro beat, Coupé Décalé , dubstep… What makes great music? No boundries, touching people’s heart, the connection, I’m personally into rhythms, I love a great beat that sound like it captures ancient spirits and at the same time new and fresh to rock any club around the world Whose music should we absolutely not miss out on in 2010? Mine, lol check out the The very Best, Radioclit, looking forward to the new M.I.A, I love Blk Jks, Spoek Mathambo, Gazelle What are the challenges of a South African growing up abroad? Visa issues, The displacement and the loneliness not being able...
Submerged Sunday with Goldfish at Emmarentia
What a wunderbar way to spend this Autumn Sunday in Johannesburg – get out there and enjoy your hood before the hordes arrive for the footie… go go go! Old Mutual Encounter Concerts and 94.7 presents Submerged Sunday with Goldfish with special guests Flash Republic, Good Luck and DJ Dean Fuel on the 2 May, at Emmarentia Dam, Johannesburg Botanic Gardens. All may look forward to the electrifying surreal jazz and electronic tunes of Goldfish; the electro-tinged and funky house music of Flash Republic; one of Cape Town’s most prolific and in demand deck masters DJ Dean Fuel and Good Luck’s unique approach to dance music which has molded their sound into a blend of live instrumentation, delicious dance grooves and the sultriest of vocals on this chilled Sunday afternoon. Goldfish consists of the proudly South African, David Poole and Dominic Peters who continue to attract large audiences to their special brand of catchy electronic music using exciting new techniques to create live dance remixes. Even though they are both classically trained musicians, they moved into the genre of jazz. Their unusual electronic sound is created by using a variety of musical equipment. Concert visitors can definitely look forward to an engaging mix of authentic and vibrant songs. Tickets are available via www.webtickets.co.za for R80 and at the gate R100. VIP Tickets (Golden Circle) are also available for R200. Book early to avoid disappointment. Patrons are urged to buy tickets before the time. Should the concert be rained out, the ticket may be used for any of the other Encounters Shows at Emmarentia Dam for the same monetary value. Also, please remember that no alcohol, glass or cans will be allowed into the venue – there is a fully stocked bar on site. Entrance to the show is on Thomas Bowler Street. Gates open at 13:00 on 2...
Vernissage: Nicholas Hlobo and Lerato Shadi
Nothing like hanging out with arty types sipping on house red at an art opening in Jozi, always lots of eye candy around of both the artistic and human kind -after all, you can always hang out with the smokers outside if it gets too hot for you in amongst the talented. Tempted? Shimmy your touche over to the vernissage (très french for art exhibition opening) of Nicholas Hlobo and Lerato Shadi at on Thursday 6 May from 6 – 8 pm at Brodie/Stevenson gallery. The exhibition runs until 4 June 2010. Image: Left to right: Nicholas Hlobo, Isitulo samaNgesi sihlal’ iBhulukazi… 2010, ribbon, rubber on canvas; Isisele, 2010, ribbon, rubber on canvas Brodie/Stevenson is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Nicholas Hlobo, comprising new works on canvas. Any traditional notions of ‘painting’ technique are soon discarded as we encounter surfaces that have been slashed and then delicately stitched with ribbon and rubber, pockets of swollen canvas about to burst open, and ghostly allusions to real-world objects and spaces that seem to collapse in on themselves under the weight of imagined space. The artist has made the following comments on this new body of work: “The notion of pathways is carried out through this work. The lines that suggest these paths are drawn on a white sterile surface that I read as a landscape, or as skin. The lines bring with them energies that fertilise the landscape, resulting in certain areas swelling up as if impregnated by higher forces from faraway universes. The bulging areas are almost synonymous with skin trying to deal with ailments that have taken over. The skin of these objects also has to do with the space that exists somewhere deep in the core of one’s soul or imagination where everything moves with freedom that cannot be easily understood. Everything in this space is held tightly together and yet allowed to roam free. “One of the new works is titled ‘Icephe ifolokhwe ne bhoso yi five Pounds ten, isitulo samaNgesi sihlal’ iBhulukazi…’, which translates as ‘A spoon, a fork and a knife is £5.10, on an English chair now sits an Afrikaner woman’, and draws its title from a children’s game popular in the Eastern Cape in the early 1980s, where kids would sing this rhyme while running around chasing each other. I believe its origins have to do with the end of the Anglo-Boer war.” Nicholas Hlobo was born in Cape Town in 1975, and has a B Tech degree from the Wits Technikon (2002); he lives in Johannesburg. He was the Standard Bank Young Artist for 2009 with a solo exhibition touring...
Represent Review: Cape Town International Jazz Festival 2010
Between bracing the Cape winds, running between stages and having dinner with Bilal (coughcough), our two fabulous Jozi representer’s Lebogang and Akona (you’re always a Jozi girl for us) still managed to cover the Cape Town International Jazz Festival for us this year… and with such panache… What can we say besides a massive Sharpile. Watch your snailmail for your thank yous 😉 See Lebogang’s gorgeous photostory of the event here and read Akona’s review below: Represent! This year’s 11th annual Cape Town Jazz Festival, which took place last weekend, once again got it’s stamp of approval for being one of the grandest music festivals in the country, I also think this event, previously known as North Sea Jazz Festival, is one of the better organised festivals out there save for the crazy Cape Town wind trying to get it’s time in the spotlight. The line – up was incredible, the most exciting part for me are the number of fusion artists I had never heard of – you see, the Jazz Fest for me is the place I go to be introduced to new music without being caught out as an ignoramus by die-hard fans. T his is where the artists have to bear their souls through their craft, this is where they introduce themselves to the possibility of new fans – me being one of them of course. 42 acts, over two nights, on 5 stages = a whole lot of dancing, singing, crying, with a healthy dose of soul touching music to keep you entertained. On the first night, with a late start to the evening, I was blown away not only by the Cape Town wind at the ‘Bassline’ stage (which was setup outside of the International Convention Centre) but also by the Japanese fusion jazz group – a six man group playing what I’d call dance music, with a very jazzy root. It was impossible not to be mesmerized not only by their energy, but the way in which they got the audience involved, singing hooks, dancing, clapping along and creating a measurable heat out in the open stage (audience by now had to do just about everything not to succumb to the thrashing of the wind). What was most important is how the band didn’t seem bothered nor allowed themselves to be distracted by the wind and sand smacking them about on stage, they never skipped a beat – at one point I saw the saxophonist cough out some dirt only after blowing his instrument to the tunes. The Soil and Pimp Sessions is a vibrant band who transcend any expectations, MC, trumpet,...
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