Pioneer Unit Records

Friday

05Mar2010

Driemanskap Featuring in Hip Hop Kaslam at The Baxter Theatre, Cape Town

Friday, March 5, 2010 at 11:50AM

Cape Town's Baxter Theatre will host an explosion of Xhosa street slang and Spaza hip hop on Saturday 6th March 2010 at 6pm. This musical celebration of homegrown hip hop from the kasi features a jam-packed line-up lead by local legends of the genre with an exciting crew of emcees, singers, dancers and musicians. Expect performances by Driemanskap, Delft South Origins (D.S.O), Maxhoseni. The show is directed by, and stars, DAT.

There will be a FREE after party at Dumalisile Arts and Culture Centre (KwaMlamli), Guguletu. Taxis will be available to transport people from the Baxter (usual rates apply).

Event Info

Call Phila Nkuzo on: 021 680 3963 (office hours), Cell 083 239 7850.
Email: pnkuzo@gmail.com
Hip Hop Kaslam Facebook event page
Hip Hop Kaslam on the Baxter website
Buy tickets at Computicket or any Shoprite Checkers. R20 only.

That's how we rrrrrrroll!!

Pioneer Unit Records |

Nguwe Remix - Rattex Ft. Siya

Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 1:53PM

Check out this remix of Nguwe by Rattex from his debut solo album, Bread and Butter. Produced by Hipe. Featuring Siya on vocals. Dedicated to all the Grannies out there! Yours to download for FREE (click the little black downwards-pointing arrow on the right of the widget below)...

Nguwe Remix - Rattex Ft. Siya by PioneerUnit

That's how we rrrrrrrrroll!!

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Monday

01Mar2010

New Video: Sweet by Jaak

Monday, March 1, 2010 at 9:07AM

Check out the brand new video for Sweet by Jaak. 'Sweet' ('sweat' in Afrikaans) is the first single from Jaak's debut solo album, Fletse Maniere. With Hipe on production, the video was directed, shot and edited by Christian Denslow & Garth von Glehn for Greenhaus Productions.

Sweet is a track about the everyday struggles of the people of the Fletse (the ghetto housing projects of the Cape Flats) - from the mundane, like remembering to buy safety pins for the baby's nappy, to the the more substantial, like poor service delivery and crime. All these struggles make the people sweat to make ends meet whilst striving to make their dreams come true.

Links

Listen to, and download, Fletse Maniere for FREE at Bandcamp
Jaak on Myspace
Follow Jaak on Twitter

In related news, Jaak also appears as Jaak Paarl on Die Antwoord's new album, $0$. If you have managed to miss the massive international buzz this album has generated, just Google 'Die Antwoord'. Jaak features on the track, Wie Maak Die Jol Vol, alongside Isaac Mutant, Knoffel Bruin and Scallywag. Listen to $0$ by Die Antwoord here.

That's how we rrrrrrrrrroll!!

Pioneer Unit Records |

Ben Sharpa in Studio with John Robinson and Tumi

Friday, February 26, 2010 at 3:02PM

Ben Sharpa in the Booth, John Robinson on the Boards

Ben in the booth, JR on the boards (click for larger image).

While we were rehearsing for the 4DLS project at the Red Bull Studio, DJ Raiko turned up with John Robinson who is in South Africa for the Kool Out Live gigs in Cape Town and Joburg.

For those that don't know, native New Yorker John Robinson, AKA Lil Sci, was part of the legendary east coast group ScienZ of Life. He has worked with the likes of The Roots, Common, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Dead Prez, Run DMC and MF DOOM. In other words, he is a bona fide heavyweight in the game.

JR sat in on our rehearsal for a while, then him and Ben Sharpa started a little freestyle cipher. Hipe was sitting in on the session and just happened to have a selection of his sickest beats with him (as any good producer should). One thing lead to another and before I knew what was happening, Ben and JR were in the other studio laying verses down on one of Hipe's beats. The result is a classic.

As I write this, Ben Sharpa, Tumi (of Tumi and the Volume fame) and John Robinson are in Johannesburg in the studio collaborating on another track. With 3 lyrical heavyweights, that promises to be one of the illest collaborations ever made in South Africa. Can't wait to hear it!

Check out John Robinson at Kool Out Live in Johannesburg tonight at OSC (Cnr Henry Nxumalo and Bree Street, Newtown) and in Cape Town on Saturday at Zula Bar on Long Street.

John Robinson on Myspace

That's how we rrrrrrrrrroll!!

Pioneer Unit Records |

4D Light Show Rehearsals at Red Bull Studios, Cape Town

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at 10:58AM

Every night this week I've been at the Red Bull Studios in Cape Town with Ben Sharpa, DJ Raiko and spo0ky, rehearsing our new collaborative project, Fourth Density Light Show (4DLS). 4DLS is a collision of freestyle underground lyrical hip hop, improvised electro-dub Robot Army Music (RAM) and analogue impulse triggered visual stimulus. Our 'band' consists of Ben Sharpa on vocals and Korg Kaoss Pad, me on Ableton Live and Akai APC40, DJ Raiko on Serrato and SL1200s and spo0ky on VDMX (VJing software).

These sessions are our first rehearsals together after months of planning. We first discussed the project with Ben while we were on tour in Réunion Island in June 2009. Having thought about this for so long now, it's exciting seeing and hearing it come to life. Our first sessions are all about seeing what we can do together, so it's a bit chaotic - but that's just how it goes - we'll work on polishing and tightening up once we've seen where we can take this.

It's really important for us to maintain a feeling of improvisation throughout the show. So many so-called 'live' electronic music sets are a disappointment because there really isn't that much improvisation - producers often just run their tracks and add a few effects. Obviously tracks need some sense of structure but there is no point going to a live show to hear music exactly the same way it was recorded. Reading the crowd and feeding from, and into, that energy is more important than getting through every track in our set list.

We don't have plans to release this project as a recording at the moment - it's just a live show concept. It's possible we might release a DVD of a live show at some point, but we'll think about that after we've done a few shows.

Ben and Raiko are flying out to France for the start of their latest European tour on March 1st. We'll resume rehearsals when they come back in May. We hope to start touring 4DLS in the last quarter of 2010. To book 4DLS contact us.

Big ups to Richard and Ivan at Red Bull Studios for making us welcome and taking care of our technical needs. Check out the Red Bull Studios Cape Town blog.

Check out some lo-fi videos of our first rehearsal session...