Hip hop has claimed a spot in my heart, especially local hip hop which has grown tremendously over the last few years. So I was very excited when the Mayibuye Hip Hop Festival came to Buyel’ Embo Village in Khayelitsha (yes!). Finally, a chance to meet some cool kids, talented artists and dope fashionistas.

The Festival, which took place on Saturday 24 May, did not only bring hip hop to Khayelitsha, it also brought rain and a few disappointments with it as well. Firstly, we were told the festivities would begin at 11:00, which ended up being 14:30. Not a good thing especially for people like myself who are extremely impatient.

Secondly, we were promised a vast variety of elements that would be showcased at the fest; such as beatboxing, B-Boying, graffiti, urban street fashion and street entrepreneurship but there was none  of that! The only thing we had were performances from a few artists such as Raptile and Bob, and DJ Rea Rozzano.

Thirdly, there was supposed to be a fashion showcase which I was seriously looking forward to, being a huge fashion fanatic. But…nothing.  The weather was not on its best behaviour as well, with the rain putting a huge damper (see what I did there) in most of our fashion choices and our attention spans. What was supposed to be a festival full of hip hop cats in their dopest outfits turned out to be a mouse playground with no cheese bumped up whatsoever (see what I did there again). But hey, at least the music was cool and it got some people singing their lungs out, and some fashion choices put a smile on my face.

On the bright side, there were some dudes who really held it down in the street fashion department, and some amazing performances from the artists who graced the stage despite the cold weather. DJ Rozzano was able to hold it down until the event (eventually) kicked off at 14h30.

The Mayibuye Hip Hop Festival might not have lived up to the expectations it put in our minds, but it was a cool effort to see that hip hop music is being celebrated in South Africa.

All images by Andiswa Mkosi