Maliq
In the art of relaying their own stories through the American sub-culture of hip hop, many rappers of South African extract have a problem. And we all know about it. Either theyre putting up the now almost mandatory fake gangster image or theyre just plain indifferent to their surroundings. Not MaliQ “with a q not a k, ok”. Born M.M.M Mahlangu to a 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. And not without a touch of healthy street cred. After matriculating in 2000 he unwittingly got involved with street hustle types dabbling in fast money but soon pulled out visited the Sudan for some time and in his own words “came back home/ splitting domes with these ghetto poems”. MaliQ describes his style of rap as simply humanist- a snub to the so-called conscious crowd. A loving family man and dedicated activist and entrepreneur, he insists that his music is just an extension of this some combination of roles.
Having burst onto the scene as one quarter of the group Ba4za, now recognised as “the original godfathers of 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. To date MaliQ has released two street albums, 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 extrodinaire Nyambz. Then came the unusually titled follow up in 2009, Sleepless in Seattle/ Cap City On My Mind (nominated for Best Mixtape in the Hype Awards 2009), a tribute he says to his love for arts, film and fashion. It features two of the most talented and equally slept-on beatmakers on either side of the Atlantic, Jake One (of 50 Cent and G-Unit production fame) whom he met in Seattle, USA and Atteridgeville-native rising star Trompie. Yet the best is still to come. 2010 will see the final coming together of MaliQ’s greatests passions, music and fashion, with the opening of the HHH-ShoP concept store and the release of what he promises will be his greatest musical work to date, the magnum opus A Mic & A Dream.
But if your cousins eMpangeni to Seshego never hear of MaliQ even then, congratulations. The Man would have yet again succeeded in keeping the much needed messages of another one of Africa’s young urban village poet-messengers from reaching the world masses. For it is not for lack of trying on his part but rather the forces, that he believes have systematically been put in place to prevent any music of substance from being heard, that he has now vowed to conquer “by any means necessary”. One day far away the full story of MaliQ will be told in full but for now he continues to try and fill the void left by our musical predecessors who recognised the struggle of their generation and became its spokespersons.
And to think it all began in the the dusty township streets of Mamelodi, the New Orleans of South Africa, miming Nas rhymes just trying to pick up girls in junior high school in his teens. Growing up between exile, Mamelodi and in the former apartheid homeland of his native tribe the colourful Ndebeles, his diverse musical and general artistic influence 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 doesnt seem to bother him much being one who shuns labels and typecasting. 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 entrepreneurs of all colours and hues determined to put South Africa in its rightful place as a contender in world music and style trends.
Also check out:
myspace
http://www.myspace.com/mistamaliq
twitter
http://twitter.com/mistamaliq
facebook
Profile Name: Maliq Bin-Sulaiman
