YAHKEEM BEN ISRAEL
YAHKEEM Ben Israel was crowned the King of the East for the second time in a row at this year’s SA Hip-Hop Awards.
The awards, which took place on Wednesday night at The Lyric Theatre in Johannesburg, celebrate the country’s hip-hop music scene.
Nominees are put forward for the title of king of their respective provinces. Those nominated for the award must have contributed to the development of hip-hop.
Israel has been receiving nominations since 2012 and was crowned last year.
This year, he was nominated alongside Tru FM radio presenter Buck Matyila and rapper Tsviel The Prince.
Although Israel could not attend the awards ceremony, he said he was honoured to have won again this year.
Last year, Israel released an album titled Concrete Thought dedicated to struggle stalwart Livingstone Mqotsi.
Mqotsi also worked in education and wrote a number of books.
One of his books, House of Bondage, was published about 20 years ago and its sequel, The Mind in Chains, followed shortly afterwards.
Israel said it broke his heart that many did not know Mqotsi and that he was never acknowledged for his role in the struggle.
The Port Elizabeth rapper is the founder of the annual Grassroots Arts Festival, which takes place every year in December.
The festival celebrates and exhibits raw street arts.
Israel said for this year’s festival he had invited a representative from the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (Samro) to give participants a talk on the importance of registering their music, and other musical issues.
He said the festival was his way of grooming upcoming artists and helping them move forward.
“I am planning to go all over the province and ensure that we create a compelling product as creative people while we remain in the Eastern Cape.
“A lot of people are more receptive to things that come from outside – we need to change that mindset.
“Our creative people, whether they are in fashion, craft or rap, need to constantly keep up with and improve their offering,” he said.
The SA Hip-Hop Awards’ biggest winners were Cassper Nyovest and AKA.
Nyovest’s hit song, Doc Shebeleza, won song of the year, and his album, Tsholofelo, won for album of the year and best digital sales.
AKA was named best male and most valuable artist of the year while his song, Congratulate, won video of the year.
Israel said he hoped to win the title again next year.
“I want to become the first king to be crowned three times in a row,” he said. - Poliswa Plaatjie
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