Stream DJ Kenzhero presents Party People Vol. 1
OKA: You have been in the South African hip hop music scene for a solid ten years? What have you learned in the process, and how did you achieve this?
DJ K: The market is not shaped yet, there is a lot of opportunities for young people to make hip hop into a business, lifestyle, or hobby. So I’ve used the opportunity to bring acts that may have never made it here in the 90s when they were not allowed into the country because of Apartheid.
OKA: Party People was one of the first, if not the first hip hop club night in SA to invite overseas artists. Please give us a rundown of the major acts that have took the stage at Party People and which were your highlights?
DJ K: Yes I mean there was a period where most artist were shifting into commercial hip hop but their aim was premature as the scene was still developing which left a gap for acts that have not made it here, so we nearly jumped an important era. I grew up in the golden era of hip hop so I brought guys like Bahamadia, J-Live, Kev Brown, Masta Ace through Party People, and other acts like ?uestlove, Dj Premier, Mos Def in collaboration with other people or production companies …They have all been highlights for me.
OKA: Who are you currently most excited about in the SA hip hop scene, and what do you think is the future for conscious hip hop in SA.
DJ K: Well there cats like Tumi, Pro Kid, Proverb, Amu, etc who came from the 90s era and are still relevant, but also new cats like AKA, who captures all kinds of markets. The label “conscious hip hop” has changed or evolved. It’s a long and tired argument that you’re either a successful hip hop artist or not, you could say conscious things and whatever else on a record but it’s important to say conscious things on a record because it’s getting extinct and that would cause a huge moral degeneration in hip hop in SA.
OKA: What are you career highlights thus far?
DJ K: Many. Most with SA acts or events in SA, but the Masta Ace gig is in my top 5. Meeting Mos Def and ?uestlove were good moments, and connecting Dj Premier to meet Mandela was huge too.
OKA: Pick five of your favorite albums.
DJ K: Birth Of Cool by Miles Davis , What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye, Innervision by Stevie Wonder,
Black Star by Mos Def & Talib Kweli (Black Star), and
Beats Rhymes and Life by A Tribe Called Quest.
OKA: What’s next for Party People?
DJ K: Doing a reunion show with Masta Ace, Bahamadia, Kev Brown and J-Live in December. We also have Party People TV
, Party People radio,
Party People outside of SA, and
Party People compilations in the works.
OKA: Finally: hip hop entrepreneurship is not such a big phenomenon in SA. What do you think should be done to encourage the hip hop movement here to look beyond the music and grow hip hop as a business?
DJ K: I think the entrepreneurship is there, it’s just in its early stages. The next generation born in hip hop will have no choice but to take it on from what the past and current generation has done. We can’t use too much of what the United States or elsewhere are doing, we need to find a way to morph our scene according to what SA is doing.
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