Wednesday night was the second annual South African Hip Hop Awards at the Alex Theatre in Braamfontein & Live Magazine SA correspondents Nomsa & Thapelo were on hand to bring the news exclusively from the venue with live tweeting & instant updates. The set up from outside looked proper with a red carpet & expectations were high. Here are my thoughts of the night:

The Good

The hosts were amazing. Nicholus Welch aka Pule The White Skhotane & Boboza held it down! They were very entertaining while ripping apart every rapper present at the event (even those that weren’t there). They went overboard at times but they were the reason the crowd stayed alive throughout the night. The organizers managed to get the OGs of the game Cashless Society, Mischief & Senyaka to perform at the event; (The Mischief performance was very awkward as he had a bouncer/bodyguard on stage with him. Only he knows why). The live performances were awesome as well, especially Da L.E.S’s performance of his new single called “Fire”, when he brought a pole dancer onto stage, blowing everyone away. He also brought out AKA & Maggz to perform his megahit, “Heaven”. Cassper Nyovest killed it too, performing his award-winning hit “Gusheshe” with BOYZ N BUCK$’s OkMalumKoolKat. Khuli Chana closed off the show bringing the event to an emphatic closure and capping off a wonderful night for Hip Hop.

The Bad

The timing of the event was horrendous as it started at 21.20 & ended in the late hours of the morning around 2 am. There was a long line at the entrance & apparently there was a mix up with the guest lists. The sound system was not of the highest quality (something many South African productions suffer from) and this made it really hard to hear what some of the performers (like Senyaka & Gigi LaMayne) were saying on stage. They had videos snippets of cyphers they recorded as promotion for the event & the videos kept cutting in-between the MCs spitting rhymes & due to the sound system it was rather hard to make out what they were saying.

Verdict

The event is still relatively young, so major props need to go to Ozmic & his team for investing in the game, ie. putting their money where their mouths are. I personally believe in the movement & very soon these awards will grow from the intimate Alex Theatre to the nationwide stage of the Sun City Super bowl. It will take a collective effort from stakeholders and the general public to support the movement & help it grow.

Hip Hop Still Lives!

Twitter: @Thapelo_Mosiuoa

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