THE STREET POET FROM DAVEYTON

It is hard to find conscious Rap (Rhythm and Poetry) Music in the commercial scenes and thus, it is

preserved predominately by rebel artists. It is also hard to find rebel artists in the commercial scenes and consequently, they dominate the underground scenes. The painful thing is that their strong indispensable conscious message cannot reach many ears due to lack, if any, of airplays on radios and it's very rear for one to see their videos on Television.

I recently had a privileged of conducting an interview with one of them. I am talking about the Daveyton born and bred conscious emcee Khumbulani Claude Nebe. Daveyton is the ghetto township in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa. It borders Etwatwa to the north, Springs to the east, Benoni to the south, and Boksburg to the West (East Rand). East Rand is known for possessing vast amount of dope emceez and I personally feel like it is the Brooklyn, New York of South Africa.

Khumbulani Claude Nebe is known by his stage name "Maradona" and to some of his fans, he is just "Dona." According to his utterances, his name came in a dream. He was falling and and as he was about to hit the ground, he heard a voice wailing "Dona!" He started rhyming in 1993 through the inspiration he drew by listening to the likes of Shaggy and Shabbaranks around 1991 and 1992 but mostly, he was inspired by radio, television and books. And also that artistic need in him to shine.

By 1998, he had already established himself as East Rand's rap elite with the crew called Suthu Tribe. They later split. He then hustled as a solo artist until he met Third World Riderz in 2004. They got the streets gyrating up until their split in 2006. He then underwent Ukuthwasa Ritual (Initiation to Shamanism) in 2009 and he is currently looking for a record deal.

He said his style of rhyming is personal and emotive. I asked him what motivated him to write the song "Not A Thug" which featured on HYPE Sessions Mixtape Volume 16 and he answered: "One day I was in town. I was about to cross paths with this Indian woman, and she just quickly opted to walk on the tar road - so that anybody could see her in case I rob her. That made me ask a lot about myself."

I then asked him if he could be the President of the Republic of South Africa, what would he do to bridge or minimize the huge gap between rich and poor. He answered: "I would study what and how our Kings used to balance society. Then modernize that and try to plant the same seed in my successor, because I believe the only way to lead Africa is to be modernly African, mixed with a bit of 26ism of course - no joke!"


Written By
Amalahle Ashushu

Ndatenda

Amalahle Ashushu

In the beginning, there was a word. Biblically, the word created heaven and earth. And with satanic spell, the word created pebbles and pearls. But with divine retribution to Satan and casting of spells, the word created abyss and hell. I’m not going to dwell much on those utterances because I’m not well informed and reeling on that regard. And I do not have an interesting interest, about the biblical perspective with regard to the creation of universe and man. But yeah!  What I trust very well, is that the word created sound, rhythm and rhyme. Music and Spoken Word. Fables and Fairytales. Folklores and Anecdotes.

My African forebears have created civilization and education that came with written words. The Egyptian history and learning centers of Timbuktu attest to that. So therefore, my natural instincts, permits me to write with conviction, that in the name of my forebears, I’m the natural writer, narrator  and prophet. I discovered that I could written back in 2002 when I was doing my twelfth grade at Chris Hani High School. That was the year I wrote my first poem. But due to being discouraged by people around me, I did not proceed.

Then around 2008 when things were moving from bad to worst. When life was getting retarded, moving from stagnant motion to backward movement. I started reading voraciously and writing vehemently. I was inspired by my anger. Some of my writings were published by local media and on e-Zines. I experimented with journalism in 2012 by contributing for Mellow Mag and Kasiwired Electronic Magazine. Along  the way, I discovered that I have passion for pen and paper. And there are many people who told me that I’m gifted.

I then felt, that I owe it to them and the passion in me, to keep on writing. It’s been a little while now, since I thought of starting my own blog. After numerous procrastinations , and a little bit of inspiration from Ras Vuyo through his allusion, my mind had finally reached the rubicon which gives birth to this Amalahle Ashushu (Hot Coals) blog. It is going to provide the reader with hot news about unknown talent. This blog’s appellation has been inspired by my last name. This blog would narrate my story. Your story. Our stories. Particularly THE ART – with more emphasis on underground talent. There is more to come.    

Amalahle Ashushu
Ndatenda