Red Bull Music Academy 2005 participant Mista MaliQ sent us a great dose of real hip-hop in the mail the other day along with an elequantly written bio (which is unsurprising considering it was written by a conscious emcee). We present both to you:
Born MMM Mahlangu to an anti-apartheid activist slash bank robber slash playwright father and an entrepreneurial mother, MaliQ had the training of keeping the illusive balance between business and the arts at an early age. A global villager who once described his style of rap as simply smArt rap- a melting pot of his film, fashion, and design influences delivered in rhyme and beat. A loving family man, dedicated activist to the cause of "freedom again" and entrepreneur, he insists that his music is just an extension of these roles.
Having burst onto the scene as one quarter of the group Ba4za, now recognised as "the original godfathers of Cap City rap", there is also much to say about MaliQ the serial trendsetter, not least of which is his blog streetsheet.co.za, voted the no.1 hip hop blog by Hype magazine in 2009. MaliQ has released several street albums debuting with Official Bootlegs Volume One which he first tried to modestly dismiss as "a bunch of tracks I put together for the Red Bull Music Academy which I was invited to in Seattle, USA in the summer of 2005". But it was clear to all after receiving raving reviews from critics at home and abroad that this was no ordinary bunch of songs; with the bulk of production done by fellow Cap City beat aficionado, Nyambz. Then came the unusually titled follow up in 2009, Sleepless in Seattle/ Cap City On My Mind. 2010 saw the final coming together of MaliQ's greatest passions, music and style, with the opening of the HHH-ShoP concept store and the recording process of what he promised would be his then greatest musical work to date, the magnum opus A Mic & A Dream. But before that, there was the taster prequel mixtape released online in the form I Have A Dream. Both received great reviews from Hype magazine, calling him "one of the greatest MCs in South Africa".
And to think it all began in the the dusty township streets of Mamelodi, the New Orleans of South Africa, miming Nas rhymes to cousins and anyone who would care to listen. Growing up between exile, Mamelodi and in the former apartheid homeland of his native tribe the colourful Ndebeles, his diverse musical style remains a balance between these places- global in influence yet local in relevance. Or is it vis a vis. He's not sure yet, and that doesn't seem to bother him much.
In the end, only time will tell if this self-confessed dreamer's dream was just that or a much needed boost to the gospel of street preacher members of an emerging band of young rapper entrepreneurs of all colours and hues determined to put South Africa in its rightful place as a contender in world music and style trends.
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