B. Sharpa - Ben Sharpa
Download the B Sharpa Press Kit (510k)
It’s time to B. Sharpa!!
Once in a while an artist comes along with the vision and ability to turn a genre on its head whilst taking it back to its roots. Ben Sharpa has achieved this with his debut solo offering, B. Sharpa, an iconic album that pays homage to the best socially conscious lyrical traditions of hip hop whilst innovating a completely fresh sound that Sharpa himself calls robot army music.
Described by BBC Radio 1 DJ and experimental music maven, Mary-Anne Hobbs as “one of the most inspired and agile lyricists in the world today”, Ben Sharpa has created an epic work that takes the listener on a journey into the tortured mind of an artist who has remained fiercely dedicated to his art despite the hardships he has had to endure as a result.
On B. Sharpa, Ben addresses corporate greed, the media, the music industry, politics, the struggle of the downtrodden in the African continent, the ecology and the art of emceeing. At times Sharpa reflects what he sees with the lucid clarity of a prophet, at other times this reflection is clouded by an opiate haze of conspiracy theory paranoia. Throughout the album, Ben rides the rhythms with the ease and fluency of an old skool hip hop veteran, effortlessly switching from playful, witty braggadocio to spaced-out asymmetrical streams of consciousness, to gritty heartfelt tales of street life.
B. Sharpa is at the forefront of a new wave of ‘soundsystem’ music, underpinned by heavy, hybrid hip hop beats with influences from electro, dub, Detroit techno, dancehall, electronica and glitch. On production is Dplanet, Sibot, Kaptin (a Sharpa alter-ego), HueMan (RIP), X-24th Letter and UK Bass Music super-producer Milanese. There are guest features by label-mate KONFAB, Archetypes, Teboho Semela (Sharpa’s sister, a virtuoso violinist) and Brooklyn-based, Lyricist Lounge all-star, Wordsworth.
Ben’s razor-sharp lyrical skills effortlessly bring the various influences together as a coherent whole. Even with the eclectic nature of the production, the listener is left in no doubt that B. Sharpa is a bona fide hip hop album by a master craftsman.
“Soweto-born underground hero Ben Sharpa’s debut B. Sharpa manages to violate your brain and set your ass boiling. His raps are a whip of agitprop street academia, internet references, science fiction and pop culture, while production combines everything from Sega sound effects to electro-industrialism - a managerie of gritty cop-show out-takes and synth swoops that will evoke the nightmares of b-boys of old.”
- Miles Keylock, GC Magazine (Oct 2008).
“Yes Ben… you are pure unadulterated inspiration… how come it took me so long to find you?”
- Mary Anne Hobbs, BBC Radio 1
Track List
- Epoch (Ft. Tebs) (1‘47)
- Callin’ It Quits (We’re Here) (3‘34)
- The Eye Seen (3‘52)
- Ken Illworth (Interlude) (0‘35)
- Hegemony (4‘10)
- Check The Evidence ‘08 (3‘47)
- B to the E (4‘54)
- Into the Black (Refix) (4‘42)
- Sharpa Dub (Dubwise Special) (1‘37)
- Edwin The Hardboiled (5‘23)
- 5ive Fingers (3‘00)
- Sick ‘N Tired (Ft. Archetypes) (4‘56)
- Critical Mass (4‘35)
- Genocide Awards (1‘07)
- Off the Rails (4‘04)
- Avant Garde (Front Line) (3‘42)
- B. Sharpa (3‘04)
- Ason of Old (Ft. Tebs) (4‘04)
- Statement (Ft. KONFAB) (4‘34)
- The Disclosure (4‘52)
- Why (Ft. Wordsworth) (3‘28)
Hegemony
5ive Fingers
Where to buy:
Look & Listen (across SA)
Reliable Music Warehouse (across SA)
Musica (across SA)
Ozmic’s Ritual Store, Nr. Carfax, Newtown, Johannesburg
Munks Concept Store, 10 7th Street, Melville, Johannesburg
Mabu Vinyl, Rheede St., Cape Town. (021) 423 7635
Shelflife, 119 Loop St., Cape Town. (021) 422 3931
Hi-Five, 34 Kloof St., 5 Mooikloof Centre, Cape Town. (021) 422 5455/6
African Music Store, 134 Long St., Cape Town. (021) 426 0857
Bookings:
To book Ben Sharpa contact us now!
To book Ben Sharpa + Milanese contact paul (at) k7 (dot) com
Links:
Ben Sharpa Bio
Download the B Sharpa Press Kit (510k)
Ben Sharpa on Myspace
Ben Sharpa on Last FM
Ben Sharpa on Facebook
Ben Sharpa on Wikipedia
Videos:
Hegemony
5ive Fingers
The Government - Rattex Ft. Ben Sharpa
Afrolution.com Interview
