| CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE |

HOODLUM

KWUN

‘Straight slam you on your face on some mentoring tip about the real game' says the Coach Ken Carter of the lyrical court. This time around, Hoodlum, comes at the hip-hop masses armed and prepared for war – that is of course, while the haters are still around. Although, we doubt they'll have anything to babble about – besides of course, their fear of the amazing talent found in one human being. ‘The solo path is one I've always wanted to pursue. It was just a matter of time, while I learnt a lot from producing for various cats and analyzing the industry for years – that's that priceless s$%t that one needs to master before dropping a joint' emphasizes the man of the moment.

KWUN is the baby in production….hey, this is in no means an alcoholic blend. In fact the correct title is KWUN – goes to show what one needs to do to gain total attention. Back to the crux of the story, KWUN , an acronym for Knowledge,Wisdom,Understandin' boasts 15 of the illest, mentally stimulating, club banging, off the hook, craziest, totally wicked…hey, help us out - we're running out of terms here, but snap, at least you get the picture. Taking his lyrical bio straight back to the days of ‘Le Club' – remembers that club, which had everybody in JHB kicking off their kicks on the dance floor? Hoodie was of course the human unicorn at this event, poking and paving his way through South African hip-hop. And then there's of course his contribution to the HARAMBE DOPE SESSIONS CD during year 2004, which also saw the pretty-boy emcee claim a prize or two. As you can imagine, Hoody's timeless classic track entitled " THE MIND" signed its notable signature on Mzanzi's illest emcees, let alone the gift of a prize attached to it which was a music video worth R34, 000,00 . Think that was the end of his reign – hell no! This dude went on to defend his title as THE YFM MCEE OF THE MONTH during the days of Rap Activity Jam. Needless to say that THE MIND set a prosperous and highly successful path – one which Hoodlum himself muses about.

Over the years, Hoodie has literally geared the success of many local artists and his production skills can be heard in joints by Skwatta Kamp, Ramesh, Mr. Selwyn, H2O, Pro-Kid, Zubz, Hidden Force and many more. On this particular baby, the collaboration list is endless – Pro-Kid, Zubz, Sliqour , Kruna and of course MXO . On the production side of things, Hoodie didn't waste any time turning to the genius of all for help – his damn self! Himself produced 70% of this album and the rest features master work from Kruna's match&dice, Chris and undiscovered cats. Various A realities, which is bound to change after the release of Hoodlum's debut offering. So, where do all of these leave fellow Hidden Force group members? ‘My crew all have their own projects on their plates and lucky any other fam, we're open minded to both positive and negative criticism – at the end of the day, this is my s$%t' says the man himself.

In one sentence consisting of minimum words, how does one begin to explain this highly expected album? In a case like this, normally the artist's words say it all – ‘this album is strictly about liberating the minds of black people. And of course, take. 4evashine Records to the top' he says. A company, which he successfully heads with one of his boys – Mpho Mashile.

Something for the mind or rather, a little sumthing sumthing about Hoodie, which I'm sure many of you weren't aware of. Word is this dude was well-known for mimicking cats like Snoop Dogg during his school days. The beginning of a journey, which joined forces with fellow local producers and emcees such as Blaze and a good friend, DJ Bionic – friendships, which taught Hoodie a s*%t load not just about the local industry but also the term and life we call HIP-HOP. Points to leave you with about this album – Hoodie promises that the first single will be a definite club banger better known as Hoodlum's party , which speaks about the journey to the party, the party itself and returning from the party. How innovative can one really get?

The answer to this question lies somewhere if not everywhere on this KWUN joint. A must for any head's collection.

God bless!!!

|BACK TO AMUSEAFRICA|