BACK TO THE CITY 2023
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The South African Hip Hop Awards founder, Osmic Menoe, joined forces with his capable team to organise and present the seventeenth annual Back To The City Festival on Saturday, the seventh of October. The festival was first held on the 27th of April in 2007 on an enclosed driveway under the bridge of the M1 Highway in Newtown, Johannesburg. However, that was at its fledgling stages, and as the event grew it was organised and held at a much bigger Mary Fitzgerald Square, Newtown Precinct, and was attended by a far larger crowd; thereby underlining how the annual festival is growing in leaps and bounds.
In some quarters, many believe that not only is the Back To The City Festival quickly becoming the biggest hip-hop event in Africa, but that it has also mainstay for a family gathering of some sort for the followers of the culture and it's astute torch bearers and artists. The visible exponential growth in interest and attendance — both by the crowds and artists — is testimony to two aspects: Menoe and his crew are getting mature like fine wine in terms of organizing such an event, and that there's hunger and thirst for hip-hop events in these shores. It is this demand for hip-hop content, both locally and domestically, that Menoe and his crew are seeking to address. This year's event suggests that this veteran hip-hop voice representative has accomplished his quest to quench people's thirst for a hip-hop extravaganza. At a personal level, I had the privilege to tour around the event's site three days prior to the festivities, and, what immediately screamed for attention was the sight of hundreds of workers scattered everywhere. From forklift drivers to drone operators to general labourers, everyone was earnestly plying their various trades in preparing the venue for the festival. The physical labour aspects which I witnessed included assembling of the stage, erection of various marquees tents, and the setting up of user-friendly mobile toilets at various strategic points throughout the venue. Come time of the event, it was astonishing how those hundreds of workers had birthed top shelf organization out of chaos I witnessed just three days earlier. In order to appreciate the kind of energy, planning, resources and manpower required to organise and successfully stage an event of this magnitude, one must necessarily be a part of the planning stages to the actual physical labour part - right up to the end of the process. By way of reiteration, this highlights how adept Menoe and his crew had become in terms of their understanding of the logistics and event-organization involved in terms of an event of this magnitude. A few hours before the kick-off of the show, I took another tour around the site and witnessed a hive of activity in the form of young people dressed in vibrant colours in line with the hot summer afternoon and the event. The youths were browsing through different stalls for merchandise on offer, while others engaged in various activities like brand promotions that took place at the venue With regard to another artform inherent to hip-hop, the pillars of the M1 Highway Bridge were spray-painted with stunning graffiti murals, the ones which stood out being the portraits of two recently deceased South African rappers, Ricky Rick and AKA. In the spirit of celebrating fifty years of hip-hop globally speaking, and fourty years of the culture and rap music domestically, this year's festival boasted performances from an eclectic array of new age and seasoned rap artists and deejays. Big Zulu, in his inimitable Zulu rhymes and singular delivery, tore the roof off with an incredible set which featured rapper and singer, Sjava. The latter's feature was a surprise package and elicited a frenzy of seismic proportions from the jubilant crowd. Towards the end of the performance, the self-same Sjava, who has become a household name in recent years, showcased his impromptu solo set from his repertoire. . Then along came iFani, the Eastern Cape born rapper and songwriter, who demonstrated the longevity behind his career with a spirited performance. The veteran MC brought nothing but pure energy to the stage with his theatrical and lively performance. This injected a heavy dose of adrenalin into the crowd whose energy had somewhat declined thanks to exposure to the scorching summer heat of the southern hemisphere. However, iFani's lively presence on the stage rejuvenated the masses. Touchline, Hymphatic Thabs and Gigi Lamayne and legendary Kwaito singer and producer, Mandla Spikiri were the next acts to reinvigorate the crowd. These artists catered for all age groups in their crisp, well-rehearsed and supremely entertaining performances. This underlined the troubles Menoe had went to in an attempt to be as diverse as possible in terms of range, talent, style and relevance. Grandmaster Ready D's goose bump inducing set was one of my personal highlights of the evening's performances. Then there was New York based rap collective Beatnuts, whose performance started as somewhat lukewarm at the beginning. However, they must have been building momentum as their performance switched to top gear, especially when they performed their famous hits, 'Do You Believe', 'Off The Books' and 'No Escapin' This'. Circa 22:30, the event host announced the internationally renowned Mobb Deep as the next act, much to the crowd's euphoria, which was quiet understandable given Havoc and Prodigy's lofty rep. On this note, in place of the deceased Prodigy's place, Big Noyd ably filled the void. Big Noyd, who is the Queensbridge native, has been with Mobb Deep since their first album, Juvenile Hell, dropped. Apart from being a veteran solo rapper in his own right, he is also reputed to have contributed many a verse in Mobb Deep's music prior to Prodigy's passing. At the announcement of their performance, I witnessed some over-enthusiastic revelers forcefully squeezing themselves through bodies of the packed crowd in a desperate need to make their way to the front of the stage. For Havoc and Big Noyd's part, they serenaded the electrified crowd with some of Mobb Deep's iconic body of work that spans over two decades. They closed off the historical performance with Shook Ones Part Two, a song that I and the rest of the crowd was looking forward to the entire evening; a song which has easily become synonymous with Mobb Deep and East Coast hip-hop scene. |
Article by Gugulethu Khoza
HENNESSY APPRECIATION
HENNESSY BACK TO THE CITY RETURNS IN OCTOBER
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Hennessy Back to the City International Festival is the leading Hip Hop event all over africa which has hosted Local & international artists. Ritual Media Group serves professionals, including qualified event organisers, designers and marketers, and boasts new artists Launched every year.
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