Kings Of Another Kingdom

This past weekend presented history-in-the-making for some of us rap lovers. Not since Optical Ill was a rap crew and not a distant memory have hip hop luminaries, Golden Shovel and X-Rate, rapped on the same track. If you've been a longtime blagger or blaggette then you know how we feel about Brotha X. If not, see theblagg's bio on the side strip of this site. Go.

Are you back? So now you understand that a meeting of these minds is a big deal to us and, I'd like to think, to hip hop. Anyway, the two hooked up with Mothipa at King Katta's studio in the V and recorded a joint called Kings Of Another Kingdom. The verses complement a Battlekat fire-beat and also feature the singing styles of Battlekat, Genocide, our favourite female producer, BK as well as Lindiwe.

Instro, who was the sessions engineer, was reluctant to explicitely express what the joint is about but one thing is for sure, the producer is ecstatic about the parallel universe concept and can't wait for you to hear it.

theblagg hit up X-Rate, who told us what the experience was like. And before you ask why his arm is bandaged in this photo, we've learnt that when it comes to injuries, it's better to not ask rappers questions like "how did you do that?" This is what the half of X and O had to say about recording Kings Of Another Kingdom, a song that will appear on Golden Shovel's (Shove to those who like things, ha!) upcoming album, The Lost Gospels:

"Well, the beat was sent a week before the recording and we were supposed to start writing then. However, Mothipa and I didn't do that - as if we ever do what we are told. So we got there and Shove was finishing off a song he was busy with. After that, it was on. That beat was played and we hit the pen and paper. There were a lot of loiterers at the studio though, which was a bit different for me. As we were writing, Shove laced his verse and I think 2 hours after that Mothipa got in and then I followed. It was fun but... different for me."

If you'd seen Instro's tweets (@instros), you'd know that touching the mic after Shovel was not easy to do. But we're keen to hear the final product and hope we'll get it first - hint, hint - so keep your eyes on theblagg for that.

"You Can't Make Art With Business In Mind"

We were the first to tell you about it. Don't believe us? Then what's this?

Now that we got that out of the way, what ever happened to Armadale vodka? And those gold bottles of that Ace of Spades? What happens to liquor brands once Jay-Z decides you taste like an irritated bowel movement tonic? We don't know, ask Cristal.

Ok, on to the next one: what you've been waiting for has finally arrived. Absolut Vodka (waddup X-Rate!) hooked up with Jiggaman for NY-Z, a 15-minute doccie on Jay's Blueprint 3 show at Madison Square Garden - now dubbed The House of Hova if you let the blogs tell it.


At the risk of us sounding like naysayers theblagg feels that the black and white treatment of the documentary obviously gives it that classic feel but for a man who has made timeless music for most of his career, that can't have been very hard to pull off.

All things considered, this mini-flick gets theblagg stamp of approval. Shoot, it made us think about venturing out to the concrete jungle where dreams are made of. That's nothing new though. Jay-Z + a screen + (un)warranted admiration = someone inspired. Or at the very least, this formula makes you consider that life can really work out for the better. Even if this life isn't your own. Oh and it's nice to see that Jay bites his wife (you must've known a B comment was coming!) too. Not like that! Ok, maybe like that, but who are we to judge how freaky MARRIED people get in their bedrooms.

Anyhow, what we mean is it's nice to see Jay-Z tried to impress his crowd by using the pop-up toaster thingy that Destiny's Child has been using for yonks. He just doesn't look as graceful as a yaki-wearing rump shaker would. But we digress, what is really irking about NY-Z is that John Mayer has so much screen time. Why?! We won't be surprised if Absolut collaborates with the guitarist with a penchant for making clowns of African-American folks. However, NY-John Mayer doesn't have a great ring to it. Oh well. [Updated to say: The director of NY-Z, Danny Clinch, also worked on a John Mayer doccie in 2008, That explains why there was so much of the Jay-Z special spent on John Mayer... uh-huh.]



The world doesn't need another Jay-Z sycophant. So theblagg can only tell you what we've picked apart from the images and feelings that have been orchestrated to flare up everytime Jay-Z is in front of us. The most important thing we learned from this film is "You can't make art with business in mind... You have to make music out of passion and figure out how to be a businessman after that."

PS: How cute is BK? And that coat. And that military jacket! Hoooweee. Love that girl!

Pictures found over at bahamabrands

[Insert Your Own Corny Girl Power Line Here]

Producer BK (not to be confused with Beats Against The Beast's Battlekat) dropped this all-girl joint into the inbox a while ago and while it has received some YFM airplay, some people have been sleeping on it. Called Pissin The Boiz Off and featuring Phoenix (you might have peeped the skill in the SA leg of Emcee Africa), Supa, theblagg la familia Nthabi and Qba, this BK-produced song is going to appear on the beatmaker's 100% female mixtape.



theblagg spoke to Miss Nthabi - whose album, Welcome To Me, is "Due: When Rage decides to drop it" about what it was like to be a part of this song:


No, theblagg doesn't know why MXO (who is featured on Welcome...) is posing. Like that.

Nthabi: It’s not everyday that I get to vibe with women in studio (especially women who rap), so it was interesting to be in that space and have everyone add their own flavor to the track. It was evident the minute you walked into the studio that everyone there was not only in that space as an artist, but as a real life woman pushing their hustle. I found it quite overwhelming, especially ‘coz there we are recording and on the other side of the glass there’s someone’s kids playing and watching their mom do her thing. It kind of shows how Hip Hop, and music in general, is a reflection of our life.