Entertainment

Do it for the Kulture not the Chaos

Jifa Azumah January 29, 2020

3 minutes read

There’s no doubt that 2019 was the year of ‘The Yanos’. The genre took South Africans by storm with the likes of Dj Maphorisa x KabzaDeSmall, Semi Tee & Miano allowing nobody to rest with hit after hit. However, why not switch it up and get a different perspective as we chat to Simiso ‘CelestialMic’ Hadebe, Lungelo Manzi, Yashna Lutchman & Wandile ‘Teabag’ Ngidi of Cultured Chaos Entertainment about their opinion of 2019 and if Hip Hop took a back seat during this time.

Cultured Chaos Entertainment was formalised in 2012, founded by Wandile ‘Teabag’ Ngidi and Co-Founded by Siphelele ‘Mzi’ Mzimela. The company is a one stop shop for all media and entertainment needs, from artist development all the way through to events co-ordination .

In 2019, Teabag launched the Recording Label side of the business– with Sunday’s being the traditional studio session time for local artists and producers. From those recordings, the Choice Assorted EP was born.

‘Hip hop artists took a knock’ as 2019 was declared the year of “The Yanos”. Do you agree with this statement & did it affect your craft in anyway?

Lungelo Manzi

“I don’t agree. Hip-Hop has always been an art that innovates. Newer genres and sounds like ‘Amapiano’ become popular because it is something unfamiliar, with a rhythm that is easily accessible. Hip-Hop has and will remain relevant because it takes what is current and adapts its influence to create a better sound that reflects the culture of today. It doesn’t affect my craft as much because there will always be a love for Hip Hop in any era”.

Celestial Mic

“I do agree that amapiano were at the top of their game, and maybe the game as a whole, but I personally wasn’t affected, I still made my moves and gained more ground then I did the previous year”.

What is your take on what took place with the music scenery in 2019 but most importantly what’s the 2020 Vision looking like for Cultured Chaos Entertainment?

Wandile Teabag Ngidi

“I think change is always welcome in order to keep the music landscape fresh and its audience thoroughly captivated.

There was a lack of change or growth in SA Hip Hop and that saw the genre really lose a lot of market share to amapiano. On the Hip Hop side there were too few fresh new artists emerging with new sounds and making it on a mainstage nor were there any Hip Hop DJs that really carried the torch. Very few established Hip Hop acts released much music, that drought saw many fans turn their attention to amapiano.

This is why in 2019 the vision to flood the market was born. The team held Sunday studio sessions for 7 weeks straight and have produced over 38 songs that will all be dropped in 2020…Choice Assorted EP was just a taste test “, he shares.

Which Hip Hop artists do you think continued to make strides last year, regardless of the Amapiano wave and what do you believe kept him/ her relevant?

Lungelo

“I have two- K.O. released Supa Dupa which carried the first half of 2019 and to do so, coming back from all the challenges an artist of his calibre has faced, is commendable. The second is Sho Madjozi. By embracing her culture and fusing its influences in her writing, she catapulted herself to a number of achievements in the Hip-Hop, including a BET award”.

Teabag

“Nasty C and Youngsta CPT are two artists that kept things going last year. They stuck to their original formulas in terms of the music they made. They engaged with their supporters on a more personal level and grew their fanbases. They developed Nasty C and Youngsta fans and did not only focus on SA Hip Hop fans – SA Hip Hop lost a lot of market share to amapiano, but that’s because those fans were fans of popular culture and not specifically Hip Hop”.