HHP on your screens (again.)
To say that Jabba is a star is an understatement, just listening to his song JIVA brings home just how much talent this superstar oozes – keep watching HHP as everything he touches turns to gold. We’re your biggest fans. As of Friday April 4, South Africa’s top Hip Hop MC, Jabu Tsambo aka Hip Hop Pantsula, joins e.tv’s prime time drama, Rhythm City, in a starring role – as himself – for 11 episodes. This is the rapper (and dancer of note) HHP’s acting debut in a daily TV series, so he is understandably nervous. “It’s absolutely amazing to be integrated into a show I watch on a regular basis. I like the free flow of characters on the show, and the dialogue freedom they are given. It just seems so natural. My role on Rhythm City is challenging because I have to act myself, but I am looking forward to the experience,” says HHP. Here’s how it all begins: New rival venue, The Hotplate, launches its opening night with HHP as the headline act. KO Sports Palace owner, Fats (Mpho Molepo), claims to know the star from back in the day – and proves it by leading our star to home territory, namely, The Kilowatt Club, for an after party. Suffocate (Mduduzi Mabaso) saves the day – and HHP – when an attempt is made to steal the star’s swanky car. The former gangster, now owner of The Kilowatt, sends the carjackers packing, leaving HHP extremely impressed with our thug-made-good’s street sharps. The band of boys begins a series of peculiar adventures when Suffocate and Fats take HHP on a private township tour – a visit that would never, ever, be legally available to your average sightseer. They introduce him to shady characters (like Special and Toolkit), and their favourite hangouts. HHP is so inspired by these escapades that he will attempt to record an album reflecting Soweto’s hardcore city image. Suffocate and Fats start having secret dreams of changing their careers. Enter HHP’s irate manager, played by Zolisa Xaluva. A deal will be struck and there’ll be cause for celebrations. Until the incident that threatens to put everybody’s music career on hold. Most of the episodes HHP appears in will be filmed in Soweto, where The Kilowatt and The Hotplate are situated. The drama’s cast members include some of South Africa’s top entertainers, such as Kelly Khumalo, KB, and Pam Andrews. “We are very excited to have HHP in Rhythm City. His appearance illustrates a storyline that will provide viewers with an intimate glimpse of the unpredictable side of the music industry. There was no one...
At last, Erykah Badu is Back
Erykah’s just released her (long awaited!) new album New AmErykah on her birthday -the 26th Feb – and we’re loving it. Watch the fab video of the debut sultry single Honey – or catch clips of the entire album on her MySpace site here. This first album subtitled “Part One, 4th World War” is part one of up to three albums that she plans on releasing this year and next. We’re still getting through it, but at first listen, it sounds like classic Erykah neosoul sounds, mixed up with trippy electro beats and modern twists. Great drifting sounds. Nice....
Goldfish signed to Pasha
Big Ups to Goldfish, Represent wishes them all the best. After extensive negotiations Goldfish’s second album has been signed to Pacha, the worlds’ biggest club and lifestyle brand, a massive achievement and further confirmation of the duo’s destiny to take the world by storm. The new album, Perceptions of Pacha, to be released worldwide in March 2008, features 10 brand-new Goldfish tracks and includes a second disc featuring a Goldfish live performance video and remixes by top DJs from around the world. Late March sees Goldfish head for the US to launch their album at the Miami winter music conference, alongside DJ superstars Frankie Knuckles, Axwell, Sander Kleinenberg, and David Morales. From there they head to New York to perform at super clubs Pacha NYC, and then to the UK to perform at Pacha London. With tours of the US, European performances with Paul Van Dyk and Pete Tong and a 3 month summer residency in Ibiza inked for 2008, the future looks golden… For South African Bookings contact: Raymond Bloom 0836020202...
Snuggle up at Splashy Fen
If you don’t have plans for the Easter weekend yet and you’re into folk music and rocky sounds, get your tent out and head to the 19th edition of Splashy Fen and j u s t c h i l l o u t…..! There’s a TENT HOTEL for those not into busking it as well as a Family area so you can even take your kids and get them looked after… Enjoy. Splashy Fen here. With the 19th edition of South Africa’s longest running and best-loved music festival just weeks away – Easter weekend March 20 to 24 – it’s probably a good time to think about which ‘ultimate outdoor sleeping experience’ to opt for at Splashy Fen 2008. Just as this year’s roster of over 70 bands and solo artists is more appealing than ever, so are the choices of where to snuggle up under the Southern Berg stars at the end of each day.General Camping Areas The long-standing tradition of staking out a site, setting up camp and settling in for a weekend of fun and fellowship means the general camping areas will no doubt continue to be the first choice for many festival-goers. As always, entrance to these campsites is included in the ticket price and campers can also look forward to improved ablution facilities. Family Campsite With the festival fast approaching its 20th anniversary, it’s not too surprising that many Splashy ‘veterans’ now have spouses and children in tow, making the centrally-located, cordoned-off family campsite an option well worth considering. Although it carries a R100 per vehicle surcharge (payable on arrival), it must be remembered that entry for children under 12 is free. In keeping with the growing numbers of young and young-at-heart festival-goers, the family campsite will this year be even bigger and offer exclusive toilet facilities. The children’s marquee and entertainment zone will also continue to be positioned within this area and a full programme of daytime amusements plus an evening child-minding service will again be available. Tent Hotel Would-be festival-goers who mistakenly equate any form of sleeping outdoors with ‘roughing it’, will be pleased to know that the tent hotel offers a hassle-free, comfortable camping alternative. After all, what could be easier than checking in to a pre-pitched and spacious tent, complete with mattresses and linen, to enjoy all the expected amenities of a ‘regular’ B & B at very affordable rates? Situated in a prime position overlooking the festival site, this professionally run establishment is the perfect choice for those wishing to enjoy the ‘ultimate outdoor experience’ without forgoing any of their regular creature comforts. Visit www.kreefhotel.co.za for bookings and...
JEREMY PURIN opening at Blank
Head on to the BoKaap-based gallery Blank. Jeremy Purin is one of the most exciting recent graduates to emerge onto the local art scene and definitely the most energetic. At blank projects he will show an evolving installation, creating an interactive environment (that will hopefully not destroy the space). OPENING: WEDNESDAY 5 MARCH (18h00) CLOSING EVENT: FRIDAY 28 MARCH NEXT DOOR: VERF – A group show by five young local artists can still be viewed in the gallery space until the end of March. Participants: Marna Hattingh, Christo Basson, Alex Emsley, Hannes Bernard and Katrin Coetzer. blank projects 198 Buitengracht Street, Cape Town Tel: 072 198 9221 Email: blankprojects@gmail.com by...
Catch the 2nd half of the Dance Umbrella
If you haven’t been yet, hurry, just over a week left to go. Read all about the FNB Dance Umbrella here – see the program below: On Thursday and Friday, March 6 & 7 from 20:30 at the UJ Centre for the Arts, Jazzart Dance Theatre will present their renowned work Cargo. Cargo is the 7th in a series of inspired collaborations between two of South Africa’s most exciting movement theatre companies, Jazzart Dance Theatre and Magnet Theatre. It uses performance to re-imagine the archive of slavery at the Cape and to bring it to the attention of a wider audience, while linking the past to our present reality. For so many centuries cargo has come to this place, our city, the Cape of Good Hope. Porcelain and silks and spices and slaves. Slaves from Mozambique from Madagascar, from India and the Indonesian archipelago. For 186 years between 1652 and 1838 slaves were a major part – sometimes the major part – of the unique and diverse society in formation at the Cape. Today, slavery haunts the city, an incrustation of the past at the heart of the present. It is “a past that will not pass” and yet it is so little remembered. Nelisiwe Xaba (RSA) and Kettly Noel (Mali), get together with a work called Correspondances in the Dance Factory on March 7 & 8 at 19:00. Two people – two women – meet after many correspondences. Meeting place: under a lamppost in a modern city, in front of a disco, at the beach, in a room or a closet. Here they are. Their bodies are here. These girls are here. They have come to tell their stories, to exchange opinions, to laugh, to fight. In 2008 Moving into Dance Mophatong (MIDM) will be celebrating of 30 years of existence, innovation and collaboration, all brought together in an institution devoted to learning, sharing and pursuing the passion of dance. To mark this incredible milestone, MIDM will start the festivities at the 20th Anniversary of the FNB Dance Umbrella International Dance Festival with the remounting of the award-winning work Hanano – Blessing of the Earth which will feature most of the original cast of the work including the choreographer Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe. The second work in the programme is Ek se Hola! a work that looks at perceived ideas of our youth in South Africa. Gregory Maqoma has choreographed “Ek se … Hola!” on Moving into Dance Mophatong Company, which blends Kwaito with contemporary dance. This work is energetic and inventive and builds bridges between popular urban dance forms and theatrical contemporary dance. These programmes are on March...
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