Headed Home
Last day in South Africa. It's super hot here right now. Tonight I head back to rainy Van City. We were supposed to go to Kenya for a week, but it hasn't worked out. I'm in a web cafe, listening to a car on the street that's bumping R. Kelly. Yesterday a car outside our hotel was blasting Kanye's "Diamonds From Sierra Leone." The track takes on a whole new meaning here.
We are staying in downtown Joburg. Before I came here, people told me that it was the area to avoid. I was warned that all the car-jackings and robberies happen down here. But it's been fine. I don't really walk around after dark, and the one time that I did, I ran into a guy that was a hype man for a rapper I know from Cameroon (shout out to Randy P!), and he walked me back to the hotel. The streets are barren after dark, but in the day they are full of grandmothers and kids and workers going about their business. And since OS 12 has performed at the Hip-Hop Summit and in Soweto, people around here keep recognizing him and showing our group love.
At the risk of sounding corny, I have to report that there is so much love here. People have gone out of their way to welcome us. South Africa is a vibrant country full of the most creative young people. The artists we have met hustle hard. They use indie entrepreneurialism to fund their projects. They hawk t-shirts (shout out to 25 Hours clothing company!) and discs and pour the money back into community projects. The energy here is electric. Everyone is actively working to build something for themselves and their families. It's so inspiring. Plus the music is bananas. From Zulu Boy to Bhubesi to Prokid to Proverb to Young Nation to Tumi & The Volume, the music is off the hook!!!!
We are staying in downtown Joburg. Before I came here, people told me that it was the area to avoid. I was warned that all the car-jackings and robberies happen down here. But it's been fine. I don't really walk around after dark, and the one time that I did, I ran into a guy that was a hype man for a rapper I know from Cameroon (shout out to Randy P!), and he walked me back to the hotel. The streets are barren after dark, but in the day they are full of grandmothers and kids and workers going about their business. And since OS 12 has performed at the Hip-Hop Summit and in Soweto, people around here keep recognizing him and showing our group love.
At the risk of sounding corny, I have to report that there is so much love here. People have gone out of their way to welcome us. South Africa is a vibrant country full of the most creative young people. The artists we have met hustle hard. They use indie entrepreneurialism to fund their projects. They hawk t-shirts (shout out to 25 Hours clothing company!) and discs and pour the money back into community projects. The energy here is electric. Everyone is actively working to build something for themselves and their families. It's so inspiring. Plus the music is bananas. From Zulu Boy to Bhubesi to Prokid to Proverb to Young Nation to Tumi & The Volume, the music is off the hook!!!!
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