HUB Magazine took over the second floor of Fairground Mall this past Saturday as they hosted the auditions for the HUB music series, a competition that gives talented and versatile local emcees an opportunity to win P10, 000 to further their music career. All afternoon, the air was flooded with sounds of hardcore rap beats and even harder rhymes as 37 emcees turned up to take a shot at the grand prize.
The rules were simple ÔÇô each emcee is afforded a minute to perform for the judges on their choice of either acappella or a beat chosen randomly by the DJ, with no explicit content allowed.
The judges on hand for the occasion were Leungo ‘Chopp$’ Tumedi, The HUB Magazine editor and creative director, Eddy Mihigo, Head of the HUB Magazine street team and Tshepang ‘T Izzy’ Motsisi, the radio personality and DJ.
The judging criteria gave equal weighting to the categories of song structure, stage presence, creativity and effort.
The first entry to step up to the mic was 13-year-old King B, by far the youngest emcee to show up for the tryouts, but he managed to hold his own, inspiring applause from rappers twice his age. At least three other contestants under the legal age took a turn on the mic, one even bringing his number one fan for support ÔÇô his mother.
The first emcee to truly impress the judges was M.O.I, atleast partly because he was the first to opt for a beat rather than reciting his rhymes acappella. Simba, better known for being Konkrete’s long time producer, outclassed those that came before him with a high-energy flow on a club beat. Aether came directly afterwards and seemed to deliver everything that was hoped for ÔÇô clear delivery, good creativity and great stage presence, inspiring T Izzy to throw the remark, “You sound like 10, 000 bucks.” Simba and Aether were the standout performers of the day but they weren’t alone in earning the respect of the judges and their peers.
Other acts who shined on the day were Linxstar, Bone-C, Ray Anthony and Psychopath, who garnered the highest compliment of the day as Chopp$ remarked that his flow was reminiscent of a member of the US hip-hop group, Dead Prez.
It was a mixed bag for most of the entries; they usually excelled in one or two of the judges criteria but did poorly on the other aspects. Willz and Druma boi each blew the judges away with their motswako flow but were criticised for lack of stage presence. There were other emcees that had the ability but lacked enough image and clear delivery to be strong contenders.
There were also emcees that were well dressed for the part but produced nothing on the microphone. Baster stood out as the only entry who, rather than rap, chose to do his verse in a reggae flow and Chopp$ described it as a “breath of fresh air.”
Erectile enigma, one of the only two female entries, gave a solid performance but T Izzy felt she failed to live up to her own hype, being one of the few contestants with a single playing on television. However, the judges did mention her as one of the strong contenders.
In true hip-hop fashion, the day was closed with a cipher sparked by established artist, Konkrete, who was on hand to show his support for the industry.
The competition is being organised by HUB Magazine, in association with Yarona FM, Sound Matrix, The Booth Royale, Vividocious and Gear Master. The ten finalists, who will move on to the next round of the competition, are set to be announced on the 2nd of April at Bull & Bush. On that day, the chosen emcees will each perform a song in order to introduce themselves. The first phase of the competition showed that there truly is a wealth of undiscovered hip-hop talent in the country.
The HUB music series aims to help nurture its growth.
