RAPPER Zakwe said it will be a long way to see if hip hop is back to the excitement it had in the past years in South Africa.
This rapper, who came to prominence with his first self-titled album in 2013, said that it must be corrected at the grassroots level.
He was speaking to this newspaper when he was asked about DJ Maphorisa’s text commenting on their music.
“Hip hop artists must work together. This group thing doesn’t work,” said Maphorisa on the X communication forum.
Zakwe said that unity has never existed in hip hop.
“Hip hop always has groups and different places. During the time of 2Pac, there were those who came from Los Angeles and others from New York. It is a difficult thing for unity to happen,” said Zakwe.
He said that although there was no unity, there is no longer any use in groups and areas.
“There is a point where I agree with Maphorisa that there is division but it will not be possible for all of us to unite. It could be that maybe Beast and Duncan meet because they are not together and are from Pretoria like that. There must be a return to the rapper scenes because first we knew that when we went to Johannesburg we would find stadiums with parties which are the things that grow hip hop. It’s like if you don’t go to church it will come out a little,” said Zakwe.
He said that he also honed his skills in these arenas, so it must be started by revitalizing them so that hip hop will flourish.
“We also came from these places. I try them a bit at the Bat Center,” said Zakwe.