I'm not sure if you guys are familiar with Core Wreckah. You may have seen his government name on many a byline of music articles but he finds a lot of joy in rapping too. Originally from Maseru in Lesotho (Hey! We went skiing in Lesotho once, but I digress), Core Wreckah is half of Corporate Nemesis. A month ago he released a new joint. It's called Get Clear, produced by Cymtom and featuring Earl Scratch. Your thoughts?
You know how theblagg feels about Zubz so to know there is a new album on the way makes us happy. It's called DragonLion_FullCircle. Hm. Yeah. You know how The Last Letta is about album titles. Quick, finish the title: Cochlea...
Get your dap from us when you see us if you answered Cochlea - One Last Letta. The first single off DragonLion_FullCircle is called Extras. There is no video quite yet but you can rap along to it through this lyrics video. What do you say? Are you feeling it?
Please don't ask us about 2Face Idibia's Red Devil get up, we don't have the number of his designer. Or the fire station.
Sony Music and Rockstar 4000 are passionate about our continent. Or so they want us to believe. That's why they've enlisted America's Golden Shower expert R.Kelly to hook up with African artists for a song about "Africa's power." Hm.
With Naija's 2Face, Ali Kiba from Tanzania, Ugandan rapper Navio, JK from Zambia, 4x4from Ghana, Amani from Kenya, Fally Ipupa from the DRC, Gabon's own Movaizhaleine and The R-ah (say it like Uncle Ruckus no relation)on it, it's set to be something to hear.
The joint is called Hands Across The World and will officially be launched next week Tuesday. But you know the internet waits for no blogger. So below is a snippet of the song. Let us know what you think.
Prepare to get schooled young blaggers and blaggettes. Got your notepads out? I'm just playing. For real though, Coptic's new leak just landed in theblagg's e-mail and you know we had to share.
You guys all know Coptic, right? I'll be honest, I didn't either until this week. Sorta. Thing is, we all know his music, just not the man behind the beats. Coptic - a Ghanaian-born and raised American producer - is responsible for giving us Biggie's If I Should Die Before I Wake and I Need A Girl by Diddy. I know you're singing along right now...
Cool, so Coptic saw that there's a gap in the success rate of African hip hop artists in the American market. Not everyone can be K'Naan you know. So he decided to be the change he wants to see. Enter Black Star Line: Close To My Roots. Insert Hallelujah here. This has nothing to do with the Mos and Kweli classic. Lemme let African Hip Hop (where we jacked the above pic from) tell it:
‘Black Star Line: Close to my roots’ is an effort to unite American and African emcees on one album over Coptic’s beats. Opting to work with only seasoned and respected names in American hip hop, such as M1 (Dead Prez), Smif n Wessun, Black Rob, Havoc (Mobb Deep), Sheek Louch (The Lox), Buckshot and Memphis Bleek, the project seems assured of the deserved attention when it drops. African artists on the album include Zimbabwe Legit, Abbas Abbas, Gibril da African and jazz legend Hugh Masekela.
Smif-n-Wessun
Prince Eddie Atlas
And here, ladies and gentlemen is the second single off the album. Brought to you exclusively by theblagg. Huge shout out to Nabunya! The joint is called Live By Da Gun and it features Brooklynites Smif-n-Wessun as well as Prince Eddie Atlas from Uganda. Atlas spits on how his dad lost his life at the hands of Idi Amin. Music video soon come. Play this loud!
Yeah, this is what Dude looked like when he found out adidas was trying to charge R6500 for a varsity jacket. Hehehe, but this is about bigger things. This is about the man who collaborated with Kidrobot and brought us this 8" Dunny Tree Hugger Snowflake from the 2009 Munnyworld Toy Exhibition. This is about Kronk.
Unlike what you might have thought, Kronk is not an Eastern European energy drink. Kronk, known to those close to him as Kris Hewitt, is actually a illustrator/designer from Cape Town - where else? But why is he so important right now you ask? Well because Nike finally did it and collaborated with a South African artist! That's right, South Africa's Kronk is the first AFRICAN artist to collaborate with Nike.
Here is Itumeleng Khune in a tee from the collab.
Kronk x Nike Sportswear's collection is called Bleed Your Colours and will be officially launched in Melville on Friday May 7. SAVE THE DATE. As seen in this mini-ad below, the cool kids of our country ride bikes, run on the side walks and we see the face of the pint-sized character that rushes by everyone nje nge svung-vung that leaves behind a trail of colour. The green, black and yellow of our flag bleeds down a public telephone and drips down walls.
So what is this collaboration all about? We pinched this info from Hypbeast: "This year, Nike worked with established and emerging artists from six countries to create alternative National Team Kits that flip the script on the classic football kit. The Nike team asked artists to contribute a badge, mascot, print and an alphabet in their handwriting style. Each collaboration includes N98 Track Jacket, AW 77 hoodie, kit tee, polo shirt and short for both men and women; then tee for men and tank for women."
The good folks at Nike tell theblagg that Nunca from Brasil, James Jarvis from England, So-Me from France, Delta from Netherlands, Mister Cartoon from the USA, and Kronk representing South Africa were the lucky six. On why he chose to design his collection this way, Kronk said, "For the crest, I looked at all the PSL teams logos, and decided that if our national side is made up from these teams, I would recreate and unify all these logos around uniquely South African influenced elements.”
You've seen what kind of damage Kronk can do when it comes to toys so a mascot was no-thing (say it like Morale) to him. This running-man-demon-looking mascot seems like a bit of a balloon-boy busy body blowing a vuvuzela. But why does he have elastoplast on his head? Our kind of football hooligan. theblagg likes! And with us hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup, it's only fitting that Bleed Your Colours make such a huge statement in the world of design.
As a part of the Cape Town-based creative house Amicollective, Kronk has worked with brands like Red Bull, Coke, Microsoft, Kid Robot and Superga so it comes as no surprise that Nike Sportswear would wanna give him the business. No Yung Berg. This collection can be found at the Gallery on 4th in Melville, Johannesburg as well as Nike Sportswear inside the V&A Waterfront in Cape Front from this Friday. Kronk's Team South Africa kit is better looking than the real thing. What say you jury?
PS: Yes, that it Siyabonga Ngwekazi rocking a Bleed Your Colours jacket. He has a collaboration - on television of course - with Nike coming to a small screen near you real soon. theblagg has the er, scoop and will serve you with the quickness. Just you wait.
