Maliq, Hakeem, Killa M and AQ form the group Ba4za, a Rap crew from Pretoria (Tshwane). Their dedication to consistency, their alternative sound as well as their great sense of organisation has brought them to the shore of mainstream exposure as they work on growing their listnership.
Herewith the interview with us as well some tracks from their new album "THE BRUTHAHOOD". The album is available at all good street culture stores around the country's main centres (Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town). To order the album directly, visit the following websites :www.houseofhiphop.co.za & www.streetsheet.co.za.
Vinyl1980.com: Ba4za, welcome to Vinyl1980.com. To the large Hip Hop Internet community, who are Ba4za?
Maliq: I think we all have a definition of who Ba4za is. All four members have different views because they all bring different things to it. To me personally, Ba4za is firstly an alternative in the sense that you can let someone know that you can be a man, a father, a husband and still be an MC and harmoniously be that. I am a lot of things before being an MC and that’s what I bring to Ba4za.
Hakeem: It is an alternative to what is going on right now. We are a people of substance at the end of the day, lyrically, musically when you compare us to most of the stuff that’s being played right now.
Maliq: Apart form being your favourite rappers, Ba4za is a brotherhood and like Malik said in one of his lyrics “we document the life and times of Hip Hop”. We’re individual MC and together we form Ba4za.
Vinyl1980.com: What is the meaning of the word Ba4za?
Maliq: It’s two forms if you like. I always say, it sounds cheesy, we started in 2004 and we are four in the group but there is also another side to it. “Bafo” means brother in Zulu. Just like Killa M was saying it’s a brotherhood.
Vinyl1980.com: So it started in 2004. So how have the past 4 years been?
Hakeem: [Laughs]…A rollercoaster and like I said we’re all about substance. Between the EP and the LP, we’ve been working on solo projects, trying to touch base with our fans and making sure that when our main project comes out it is well received, by defining our market and getting our music to all relevant places including other countries.
Vinyl1980.com: Where are you guys headed from now on?
Hakeem: We’re building momentum. Ba4za has never been something that starts with a high pitch and ends with a low picth…
Maliq: Just to add to that, you look at distribution for instance, it’s not your conventional distribution. We try to be realistic. Like Hakeem said we’ve tried to identify our market. We could have gone through the conventional distribution channel but we try to go independently so that we could fish out who is for real and who is just asking if the cd is out and getting ourselves into a deal whereby we end up owing people. Right now our cds are available at all street culture stores.
Vinyl1980.com: Throughout the country?
Maliq: Throughout the country. In a store like the Ritual in Jo’Burg, at Shelf Life in Cape Town. So when you put the dots together, it’s street culture. It’s bigger than Hip Hop. That’s our market right now.
Vinyl1980.com: You guys are from Pretoria. How is the scene there?
Hakeem: It’s progressive. You have guys who are promoting their current projects, you have guys who are happy to be just performing in Pretoria. You have crews who want to break out. When they do break out, it will be a great thing. There is competition between the various crews. Some take it positively, others take negatively. For those who take it positively, they learn to work together and help make the scene a progressive movement. It’s like a baby who is learning to walk.
Vinyl1980.com: How long is that going to grow until it’s fully mature?
Maliq: I would not put an estimation but it won’t take a long time. I can guarantee that. We even discussed that with Nyambz when we were dropping the EP. If you have a 1000 people, consistent fans, whenever you drop stuff, whether it’s weak or strong, they will buy it. These are not fans anymore, they are cult members and I think that’s what we’re working at.
Vinyl1980.com: Is your music for everyone?
Maliq, Hakeem, Killer M: No…
Hakeem: This music is not bubble gum. It’s for progressive people.
Vinyl1980.com: What is the main message behind the music?
Maliq: It’s growth. It’s knowledge, self-empowerment, self-enrichment. This is what we’re trying to convey to people.
Vinyl1980.com: Back to the Pretoria scene. Is there any beef between the crews or is there harmony right now?
Maliq: I don’t know. If there is beef, well the guys who are doing that haven’t expressed that on a one to one basis. But we have our suspicions. I think that if someone has a problem with me, he can either make it public through a track or come talk to me as a man.
Hakeem: Hakeem is saying this right here, right now. If you have any beef with Ba4za, come to me and let’s sort it out. We’re not going to entertain guys who behave like children…[laughs]
Vinyl1980.com: The Album The Brotherhood, production wise, who is involved?
Maliq: We have AQ, the production on Click Click Boom was by Jake One and that is not some MySpace shit [laughs], obviously Nyambz. We can’t forget Kenzhero, we can’t forget Ootz.
Vinyl1980.com: Is the sound consistent?
Hakeem: The sound is consistent…
Maliq: We’ve maintained the sound we had on the EP. We picked up where we left off and we grew from that.
Hakeem: We do music. We’re from Cap City (Pretoria) and Cap City is considered to be the university of Hip Hop in South Africa.
Vinyl1980.com: Is there any producer breaking out in this album?
Hakeem: [Laughs] There were not a lot people putting themselves out for us to reach.
Maliq: We’re not in the business of breaking out producers. We’re more concerned with consistency and so far, cats like Kenzhero and Ootz are the ones who could bring out the sound we were looking for. The other alternative if I may call it that is your Dome etc…
Hakeem: I mean DJ IQ was breaking out in this album.
Maliq: You don’t ask Prokid why he didn’t put Kenzhero on his album...
Vinyl1980.com: Performance wise, how is the Ba4za experience, is it similar to what you would hear on the cd?
Hakeem: The Ba4za performance experience is not what you would get from the cd. You have to be at the show to see that.
Vinyl1980.com: Do you perform with a band?
Hakeem: No we don’t.
Maliq: We do the normal Hip Hop thing: Rapper, Dj. The performance is not what you would hear on the cd. During the show, there is a lot of interaction with the crowd. It’s a proper live show
Vinyl1980.com: Will there be any footage put on the Internet for people to watch?
Hakeem: Yeah of course, people can check the following websites: www.sheetstreet.co.za or www.houseof hiphop.co.za or even Vinyl1980.com. Anywhere where you can download stuff, we’ll put it on: the YouTube and the likes so that people get interested in the brand ‘cause Ba4za is just not music. It is also an entire brand. We’ve got merchandise available.
Maliq: Can I commit Ba4za on this interview. We plan to be consistent. People might sleep on this website for whatever reason and for the sake of consistency, we need to get everyone on board and when you look at Vinyl1980.com you see consistency. We identify with consistency. That’s what Ba4za is all about.
Vinyl1980.com: What is you view on the current state of South African music in general, across all genres? And what would you like it to be?
Hakeem: I think I have passed the time when I used to take shots at the industry, but no record label except for a few unknowns, is interested in building up an artist. They only wanna make that money from the first project and see if the next one does the same. Look at all the old timers, they are all superb musicians because the recording labels invested time and money in them. Now your music gets treated like a single. If you don’t make them any money from day one, labels are not interested in building your career.
Maliq: The Revolution won’t be televised. How does that apply to music? Determining the success of a musician on sales is not right. The music industry in this country and around the world is lost in that thing whereby people vote with their money. Back in the days of Bra’ Hugh Masekela, artists were pushing stuff. They had an agenda. I think this generation has no agenda. They are only concerned with the number of records they have sold.
Hakeem: That’s why we are an alternative. We bring music with substance. We are musicians. We can’t quit music.
Vinyl1980.com: Any last word, shout outs?
Maliq: [laughs] The Revolution will not be televised…
Hakeem: Ba4za is out… |
