11 months ago
(E)
HHP MAFTOWN'S BRAGGING RIGHTS
Jabulani Tsambo has come a long way and he's not harbouring any thoughts of stopping now. He admits that his first two albums were influenced greatly by the labels. I wouldn't say that the albums weren't me but yes I was required to do specific types tracks, you know? With that said I always try to build my album around current activity. MCs are seen as social commentators so I just try keep up with the times. O Mang was a build- ing process and I'm still building,' says Jabba.
Jabba-man certainly knows how to represent himself. When one has a look at his videos or listens to his music, it's evident that he enjoys what he does. When speaking about his music, he refrains from heaping unnecessary pressure on himself. "I remember back in the day when I was in high school ko lin] St. Albans [boys school in Pretorial, some dudes were telling me about another MC in the city who could take me out. Everyone was like Phatbuoy (Tumis previous namel is dope and he could run rings around you. I was in a different ***** e though - I mean I've never really considered myself an MC. When I was growing up I saw myself as more an RnB artist than a rapper, he explains.
The Maftown rapper still wasn't out of the mire for that Big Poppa verse he flipped on his second album Maftown. You know how it goes, if you rap more than four lines that belong to someone else, you're a biter. To me that was a form of expression man. I wanted to show that it's possible to flip an English verse in Setswana. I come from a drama background so it was a case of taking what I've learnt and applying it. I see it as lyrical sports, even K'naan did something similar on his album', says Jabba.
The thought of a dancing rapper sounded far-fetched until Big J scooped first place on the Strictly Come Dancing show. If anyone had predicted that Jabba would win, that person would've been given direc- tions to the nearest mad-house. HHP himself didn't take the whole thing seriously in the beginning. was performing at the FIFA World Cup handover and was approached to enter the competition but wasn't interested. When they approached again I thought, why not, l'm a fat dude and will probably get knocked out early on in the competition. To my surprise we came first in the opening show and I became worried about my hip hop image. I still didn't think I'd win but I wanted to get out of there because I thought it would mess with my rep if I stayed longer', he says.
The rapper's ability to entertain went into full swing as soon as the cameras started rolling. While the other dancers seemed to be slightly intimidated by the lens, Big J loved it. 'I thought I'd get knocked out with each show because all the other cats were hot dancers. They were hot in rehearsals and I wasn't. When we were in front of the cameras, it was a different story - it's like I just came alive. I think I only started believing that we could win it after the semifinals. That's when it dawned on me that we'd be competing for the ultimate prize, explains HHP. Artists are more than happy to receive awards or any type of recognition for the work they put in. Jabba doesn't mind it but he's certainly not going to wait for the day he wins a SAMA to thank his fans. 'My latest Album, Acceptance Speech is my way of thanking my fans and everyone who's ever shown me love In Maftown we grew up watching music award cer- emonies on TV so of course I wanted to win them as I held them in high esteem. However, I had never really won them and that's how Acceptance Speech came about. Awards are a landmark and it's never really a bad thing to win them but I appreciate the love and support from fans more', he explains.
YBA2 NW went gold but Jabba isn't happy with the numbers it did. He maintains that with the buzz he had, the album should've sold even better. To be honest with you I think YBA2NW should've done better than it did. I had just won the Strictly Come Dancing competition and was sure that the label would take advantage of the hype but that didn't happen. People were checking for me and I really think we should've benefited from that. The album ended up selling around 24 000 copies which to me was disappointing. The thing with labels is that when they've made their money they rest on their laurels instead of going for broke and ensuring that the artist benefits as much as he should', he argues.
Most of you might've seen a hot dime piece tha looks like Amerie in Jabba's music video Music And Lights. Was that a hot look-alike that Jabba hac in the video? Let's suspend the player-hatin' for minute and salute. On the real though, that dime you saw on the video is the real deal - Amerie. The people voted that they'd most like to see me with an international artist in a video. I remember the day I was introduced to Amerie. She used the name Jabba' to address me and I was shocked. I turne around and was like, did you just call me Jabba? She panicked thinking she ha
Jabulani Tsambo has come a long way and he's not harbouring any thoughts of stopping now. He admits that his first two albums were influenced greatly by the labels. I wouldn't say that the albums weren't me but yes I was required to do specific types tracks, you know? With that said I always try to build my album around current activity. MCs are seen as social commentators so I just try keep up with the times. O Mang was a build- ing process and I'm still building,' says Jabba.
Jabba-man certainly knows how to represent himself. When one has a look at his videos or listens to his music, it's evident that he enjoys what he does. When speaking about his music, he refrains from heaping unnecessary pressure on himself. "I remember back in the day when I was in high school ko lin] St. Albans [boys school in Pretorial, some dudes were telling me about another MC in the city who could take me out. Everyone was like Phatbuoy (Tumis previous namel is dope and he could run rings around you. I was in a different ***** e though - I mean I've never really considered myself an MC. When I was growing up I saw myself as more an RnB artist than a rapper, he explains.
The Maftown rapper still wasn't out of the mire for that Big Poppa verse he flipped on his second album Maftown. You know how it goes, if you rap more than four lines that belong to someone else, you're a biter. To me that was a form of expression man. I wanted to show that it's possible to flip an English verse in Setswana. I come from a drama background so it was a case of taking what I've learnt and applying it. I see it as lyrical sports, even K'naan did something similar on his album', says Jabba.
The thought of a dancing rapper sounded far-fetched until Big J scooped first place on the Strictly Come Dancing show. If anyone had predicted that Jabba would win, that person would've been given direc- tions to the nearest mad-house. HHP himself didn't take the whole thing seriously in the beginning. was performing at the FIFA World Cup handover and was approached to enter the competition but wasn't interested. When they approached again I thought, why not, l'm a fat dude and will probably get knocked out early on in the competition. To my surprise we came first in the opening show and I became worried about my hip hop image. I still didn't think I'd win but I wanted to get out of there because I thought it would mess with my rep if I stayed longer', he says.
The rapper's ability to entertain went into full swing as soon as the cameras started rolling. While the other dancers seemed to be slightly intimidated by the lens, Big J loved it. 'I thought I'd get knocked out with each show because all the other cats were hot dancers. They were hot in rehearsals and I wasn't. When we were in front of the cameras, it was a different story - it's like I just came alive. I think I only started believing that we could win it after the semifinals. That's when it dawned on me that we'd be competing for the ultimate prize, explains HHP. Artists are more than happy to receive awards or any type of recognition for the work they put in. Jabba doesn't mind it but he's certainly not going to wait for the day he wins a SAMA to thank his fans. 'My latest Album, Acceptance Speech is my way of thanking my fans and everyone who's ever shown me love In Maftown we grew up watching music award cer- emonies on TV so of course I wanted to win them as I held them in high esteem. However, I had never really won them and that's how Acceptance Speech came about. Awards are a landmark and it's never really a bad thing to win them but I appreciate the love and support from fans more', he explains.
YBA2 NW went gold but Jabba isn't happy with the numbers it did. He maintains that with the buzz he had, the album should've sold even better. To be honest with you I think YBA2NW should've done better than it did. I had just won the Strictly Come Dancing competition and was sure that the label would take advantage of the hype but that didn't happen. People were checking for me and I really think we should've benefited from that. The album ended up selling around 24 000 copies which to me was disappointing. The thing with labels is that when they've made their money they rest on their laurels instead of going for broke and ensuring that the artist benefits as much as he should', he argues.
Most of you might've seen a hot dime piece tha looks like Amerie in Jabba's music video Music And Lights. Was that a hot look-alike that Jabba hac in the video? Let's suspend the player-hatin' for minute and salute. On the real though, that dime you saw on the video is the real deal - Amerie. The people voted that they'd most like to see me with an international artist in a video. I remember the day I was introduced to Amerie. She used the name Jabba' to address me and I was shocked. I turne around and was like, did you just call me Jabba? She panicked thinking she ha
After YBA2NW, it was important for Jabba that Acceptance Speech maintained the momentum. It features cats like Mr. Mo, newcomer Straydawg and ProVerb among others. Apart from the usua anticipation that comes with a HHP album, people were waiting to see if Jabba would be incorporat ing his newfound dance skills in his music. People expected to see a dancing Jabba rather than a rap ping one but I did the opposite, In fact, the first song we did 'Music And Lights' was given the thumbs down by the label. I kept at it, shot a video for it and things turned out okay, he explains.
Most of you might've seen a hot dime piece tha looks like Amerie in Jabba's music video Music And Lights. Was that a hot look-alike that Jabba hac in the video? Let's suspend the player-hatin' for minute and salute. On the real though, that dime you saw on the video is the real deal - Amerie. The people voted that they'd most like to see me with an international artist in a video. I remember the day I was introduced to Amerie. She used the name Jabba' to address me and I was shocked. I turne around and was like, did you just call me Jabba? She panicked thinking she had offended me so I assured her it was cool and that I didn't think she knew that name. She had actually gone onto the net to google my name and found out that I preferred to be called Jabba. I also performed with her at Taboo and we killed it', he explains.
Most of you might've seen a hot dime piece tha looks like Amerie in Jabba's music video Music And Lights. Was that a hot look-alike that Jabba hac in the video? Let's suspend the player-hatin' for minute and salute. On the real though, that dime you saw on the video is the real deal - Amerie. The people voted that they'd most like to see me with an international artist in a video. I remember the day I was introduced to Amerie. She used the name Jabba' to address me and I was shocked. I turne around and was like, did you just call me Jabba? She panicked thinking she had offended me so I assured her it was cool and that I didn't think she knew that name. She had actually gone onto the net to google my name and found out that I preferred to be called Jabba. I also performed with her at Taboo and we killed it', he explains.
11 months ago
(E)
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