Q&A with Magesh
We spoke to Magesh recently regarding Maftown Heights and this is how it went down
1: Motswako as sub-genre has a come a long way, some people might even argue that it’s full on genre the same way Kwaito is, in your opinion,what would you deduce that metamorphosis to?
You’re right, It’s a sub genre under the banner of SA Hip hop…because it’s dominantly the Maf-town crew…I don’t think it has reached the status equal to kwaito…I view it in a similar fashion as Durban kwaito with a fresh element with its own signature…
Q 2: These are the good and exciting times for SA Hip Hop, the biggest songs in the country right now are Hip Hop songs, the quality of the music videos is on another level. However, there is also animosity between other artists and that could lead to a conflagration of the culture, how can we avoid that? young fresh talent and very competitive…. In a young country where youngsters are paddling their own canoes with no adequate support/structures. I think OG’s also have a pivotal role to play in bridging/influencing the young guys because we also underwent similar conflicts…
Q 3: MTVBase and Sizwe Dhlomo set out to break the internet with that#SAHottestMCs list and they did. And of course opinions are subjective and people will never unanimously agree on any kind of a list but how much of that list do you agree with? I have not seen the list….
Q 4: Selling 20 000 or so copies in a country of 50 million people is not really impressive and I understand that most of our people live in dire penury and they have to worry about bread, so how can we sell more copies especially out of the country, in other parts of the world were people have disposable cash? If you want to do business in Africa, you have to build relations and invest in those relations. Globally, it’s also similar, building networks with other stables. Most of our artists have had a pleasure of travelling abroad to showcase our talent. During those trips, it’s an opportune time to exchange contacts and cultivate them exchanging material and enter into some of contractual agreement for distribution and other opportunities. We also live in a digital era where everything is at our disposal…Facebook, twitter, IG and LinkedIn.
Q 5: Lastly, whose performance are you looking forward to the most at Maftown Heights 2014?
Honestly, the lineup is amazing and as you know I’m a lyricist so I pay great attention to lyrics and craft of
Their performances…Maftown Heights always introduce new artists who have enormous talent so it’s refreshing
To watch new talent. Something to look forward to…