Ba4za
So who is Ba4za (pronounced “bafoza”) you ask? Now for those unschooled in Mzansi ebonics, let’s break it down. The name comes from the zulu word “bafo” literally meaning brothers with the suffix “za” added as is the custom when fondly addressed by fellow urban linguists. C’mon I thought you knew!
“The name is from our common background and beliefs, the music just came later,” explains Ba4za members Hakeem (Lesolang from Madidi), AQ (Abdul Nkosi from Ekangala, east of Pretoria), Maliq (Mahlangu) and his younger brother Muhajir (Mahlangu) better known to you all as Killa M, both hailing from Mamelodi. These four like-minded yet diverse MC’s used to meet at a downtown mosque in central Pretoria after Friday prayers and discuss their frustrations with the current state of the music industry and agreed that there was a need to return to it’s original essence. This was also an opportunity for them to challenge the stereotypes about young Muslims in the media. So instead of heading to Tora Bora to learn how to blow up buildings, they hooked up with ‘this guy who was rumoured to have the illest beats in town’. A somewhat introvert and mysterious character by the name of Nyambz. Armed with a CD of beats from this internationally renowned producer, they set out to gradually lay the foundations for what has become the golden standard in S.A. Hip Hop. But hailing from a relatively quiet and conservative city better known for rifle slinging, khakhi shorts-wearing Afrikaner right wings, the world’s hijack capital, Pretoria, Ba4za’s music let’s the world into the other side of a world where Hip Hop, spirituality and urban folklore mix harmoniously and almost effortlessly to deliver their signature sound.
Also check out:
myspace
http://www.myspace.com/ba4za
