Guys, Did Snoop Just Troll Us?

Nov 21, 2023 | Lifestyle, News

Few figures stand quite as an ‘earthly representative of marijuana’ than Snoop Dogg. Unc reportedly smokes around 80 blunts a day and has advocated its benefits for many, many decades. 

So, when Snoop posted a graphic to his socials saying, “After much consideration & conversation with my family, I’ve decided to give up smoke. Please respect my privacy at this time.” it seemed pretty obvious, and not cryptic at all, that Snoop had decided to entirely quit smoking weed. With an outpouring of support, confusion and humour by fans and industry-peers alike, we were suddenly faced with a reality in which Snoop Dogg is…sober? 

According to the platform Go Smoke Free as reported by News24, “the online searches for “quit weed” have skyrocketed more than ten times the normal average volume in one week and analysis of Google search data reveals that online searches for ‘quit weed’ exploded 1,152% worldwide after Snoop Dogg’s announcement.” With Snoop declaring an intention to ‘give up smoke’, it seemed many people who may have been entertaining the idea or have been wanting to change their lifestyle, were suddenly given a kind of  nod-of-approval that most stoners would never expect; from Snoop himself. Even fellow rappers declared this new wave led by the Doggfather, with Meek Mill writing on his socials, “Ima go to Dubai and completely stop smoking. Ima follow snoop, my doctor said I got a lil bit emphysema in a chest if I don’t stop smoking it cuts my lifeline in half, I was addicted to the nicotine and this new weed got too many chemicals and too risky to play with my mental!”

‘SNOOP SILO DISTRICT’ by @vtsek_studios

Snoop’s ‘Give up Smoke’ Announcement, courtesy of @snoopdogg IG

Then, in a marketing spin on this entire saga, Snoop released a video on his socials in what seemed to be his first appearance publicly speaking about this lifestyle change: until it was  quickly revealed to be an ad with Solo Stove, using the phrase ‘give up the smoke’ to refer to their line of smokeless fire pits. With an upwards of 2.5million ‘likes’ on the clip via IG, one user commented, ‘Snoop never misses a paycheck!’. Now, media outlets are reporting various things: that this was all just a slow, ingenious marketing stunt to bring attention to Snoop, Solo Stove and the brand deal, while others are saying that Snoop is merely using his business acumen to tie together a big lifestyle shift with securing a deal. Additionally, it could be the marketing finesse of Solo Stove jumping on the bandwagon within the week that Snoop made his announcement; quicker turnarounds have happened. 

Snoop Dogg is notorious for taking on a myriad of jobs and appearances, all across the world. In this compilation by HipHopDx, the video showcases Snoop in a variety of endless product deals – and this is notwithstanding his appearance on seemingly random songs like Thai rap group, Thaitanium’s ‘Wake Up City’. Snoop has reportedly said that “if you can pay, then I’ll do it.” In a world where celebrities are often trying to conceal their drive to make money or convey their ‘selective’ artistic approach to the work they do, Snoop is always refreshingly real in demonstrating that money is truly his goal – and that being Snoop, he’s worth every cent. 

We don’t know anything more about Snoop’s supposed decision to ‘give up smoke’ – whether this is merely a cryptic marketing ploy for Solo Stove, or where he truly has decided it’s time to live life without ganja. All we know is that many people in Snoop’s comment section were considering joining him. If this shows us anything, it’s that Snoop Doggy Dogg is as relevant and powerful a cultural, hip hop legend than ever.

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

Gaston Blurry – the new multimedia project ‘Sampling for a Cause’

Nov 21, 2023 | Interviews, Music

The creative process requires continual attempts at renewing enthusiasm; it is that intangible, abstract energy of creativity that makes it very difficult to tame – and demands of people, constant reshaping when harnessing its force. An initial concept or feeling can take three years to emerge (as we will learn is the case with Gaston Blurry) and still, it remains quite hard to define what it really is. This, I suppose, is the point of the art of multimedia projects specifically, as a creative pursuit: nuance and layers encase its purpose with subtlety, while offering its viewers a multi-layered, sensory experience. The best projects often make us first ask, “what actually is this?”. 

Gaston Blurry (a brilliant play on ‘Glastonbury’, of the iconic British festival started in the 1970s) is the alter-ego and multimedia project by Parisian-born producer, DJ and engineer Boogie Vice – another alter-ego, of Valentin Barbier. Living in South Africa now, Valentin is known locally for his work with the likes of Pierre Johnson, Deep Aztec and Mx Blouse. Though, this path to music wasn’t always Valentin’s plan, even if it is proving to be precisely what he was always meant to do, “My entry into music isn’t so sexy. I’m originally an environmental science engineer – and I just didn’t want to work in an office or work in corporate. I was making a bit of music before, but nothing really serious or professional. I decided to use music as a tool to see if I could escape the corporate world and to have a lifestyle of travelling and freedom…all those hippy ideas – and it worked. Obviously I am very passionate about making music, but I wasn’t a talented ‘born artist’, it was just that music might lead to freedom.”

Gaston Blurry by Keegan Foreman

Valentin was initially most comfortable behind the scenes as a producer – but was eventually led to create his own project or moniker, explaining that “Boogie Vice was a project that came after being in the industry for a few years. I had already been through three different monikers, and after I experienced some imposter syndrome – being that I wasn’t a natural born artist or had a strong message to share – Boogie was my way of expressing the fact that all I really wanted to do is make music that makes people happy and dance. It was no deeper than that.” Such was the success of Boogie’s entry onto the scene, with early tracks ‘Bel-Air’ (an incredibly crafted and punctuated adaption of the iconic ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song) and ‘Bad Girl’ at n°1 of the Nu Disco Beatport chart for several months.

Valentin had never planned to work for other people. It happened naturally and as a consequence of his focus on the technical part of making a song; being a trained engineer, Valentin is inclined to apply this analytical, detail-oriented style of thinking to his work. Engineers are scientists, their thinking shaped to be able to problem-solve and constantly evolve in order to optimise whatever is in front of them – hence, Valentin’s music is precise – a kind of dream come true for artists who are perhaps needing the meticulous influence that Valentin can bring to a track or project. Valentin has worked with French legends like hip hop giant DJ Pone and master-of-house music, Étienne de Crécy – “Etienne was a big idol to me, so to have him reach out to me was crazy.” and this scientific style or approach is perhaps why Valentin is also a master sampler. To take snippets of existing sound recordings and recontextualize them to create entirely new compositions is an artform – and one that Valentin seeks to do, as a means to pay homage to music history and a vision for new sounds. 

With Boogie Vice as a growing extension of himself, I ask Valentin what the impetus was to create Gaston Blurry: an alter-ego that uses visual and auditory samples, spliced through both digital and analog methods, “Two years ago, I was a bit bored of Boogie Vice because I didn’t actually know where to go. I’ve always released more house music, but people here in South Africa were inviting me to play disco. I needed to find something with more of a consistent concept around it. I dreamt about the name, actually. It was so weird, I woke up and was like ‘Yo this is cool! I hope I remember it in the morning’ and thankfully, I did remember it.” 

Gaston Blurry Stills

When Valentin came across the generative ability of analog video synthesisers, he knew Gaston Blurry would become more than just a sonic project. Instead, Gaston Blurry is emerging as a collage of sampling techniques. As he explains, “I have always wanted to try and escape my computer. I wanted to work more analog and it took me about a year to figure out how to make it work. I don’t do editing on my laptop.” The visuals for Gaston Blurry are constructed out of abstract visual patterns, shapes, and textures, made by manipulating various parameters such as colour, shape, and modulation. This hands-on, tactile nature of analog video synthesisers adds a creative and improvisational aspect to the artistic process – and Valentin then overlays this onto visual samples, while the sound is from his immense archive of samples, with a focus on disco records (Valentin currently has an immense archive, waiting to be worked with.)

The visual samples for Gaston Blurry are pulled from French archives – old-school footage, the first track is titled ‘It’s Up to You’ has just dropped through Circa 99 (with an Étienne de Crécy remix dropping on 24th November), and features specifically French protests and freedom marches from the 20th century. For an artist who initially thought he didn’t have anything to say, this project is a kind of full-circle moment; maybe a new existential era for Valentin / Boogie? Though, music and freedom have always been indistinguishable for Valentin – so Gaston Blurry feels like an organic progression – even if he describes his role as more of an orchestrator than anything else. Valentin remarks, “it’s not my message, it’s the message of the sample. It is definitely linked to what I think, but I want to let the project speak for itself. The new track I’ll be releasing is ‘California Sunshine’ which as you know is a really great kind of acid – so I’ll be using footage related to drug legalisation. So, yes it resonates with my thoughts, but it’s more about how collectives and people respond to these big questions in our society.”

It’s up to you – Circa 99

IUTY 19063 by GASTON BLURRY

Gaston Blurry is obsessed with the sample as a transformative tool. Maybe it’s the nostalgic or emotional resonance, or the texture it adds to compositions – or the way a sample can constantly travel through time and be rebirthed over and over again, through different hands and minds. This style of repurposing by Valentin makes me wonder if it’s the environmental scientist in him that is also driving this concept forward: a kind of recycling that is regenerative, making what has already existed notable and exciting for a new audience, in a new context, in a new century. Though in its infancy, you heard it here first; Gaston Blurry is a creation for the ages, harnessing the very coolest of creative and technological pursuits. 

Listen to Gaston Blurry’s ‘Its Up To You’ HERE

Follow Gaston Blurry HERE
Follow Boogie Vice HERE

Written by: Holly Beaton

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

The creative triumph of Artclub and Friends and Brand-Building as an Endurance Test

Nov 20, 2023 | Interviews, Fashion

Running a brand is an endurance test. For Artclub and Friends founder, Robyn Keyser, this has meant being measured against all manners of experience, learning, adaptation – systems and operations – quality control, design-think and refining a point of view, through the lens of the label’s signature array of products and offerings. For the last seven years, Artclub and Friends has been unrelenting in its rise as one of South Africa’s most important fashion brands – in addition to this, is its role as a community network. Artclub has a cult-like following of fans, customers and artists for whom the brand stands as a symbol of creative triumph – and the hopes and potential of a local fashion scene to be proud of. Robyn is a mentor to many and a titan of industry and in the most pared back, behind-the-scenes way.

The late, great Riky Rick was an ardent supporter of Robyn’s work – putting her on, back in 2019, when the label as Robyn describes ‘was a small, passionate idea and a stand at the Biscuit Mill’ – Riky would go onto be a close friend of the label and inspire a culture of local, fashion-centric energy within South Africa. When Tanya Slater,  Artclub’s ‘conductor’ (whose strength is orchestration and minute details that have seen the label go from strength – Tanya ‘keeps the ship sailing’, Robyn notes in our conversation) joined the label in 2019, everything changed. For a founder and creative director, going it alone is incredibly challenging  And Robyn will be the first to tell you that Artclub’s endurance and its success is precisely because of the team behind it, who along with Robyn and Tanya, is comprised by Galima Alexander (Garment Technologist and Quality Controller), Jess Speller (Studio and Stock Manager), Abigal Chamaita (Watershed Store Manager) and Chelsea Mutizira (Watershed Store Sales Assistant).

The team behind Artclub and Friends, captured by Anke Loots

On Artclub’s earliest lore, Robyn says; “Technically, Artclub was launched in November, 2016. It survived for about three months before I ran out of money and had to go back to the film industry. I laugh about it now, but that was a big heartbreak – it was funded from bartending and styling money. I totally underestimated how expensive it was to produce or how long it took to actually design things.” The vision was to create local clothing that was ‘made by artists, for artists’. Taking her cue from the unity inherent to ‘uniforms’ as a dress code, Robyn hadn’t foreseen the difficulty in building a small-business from the ground up, at 22 years old. The boldness of youth has gone onto be one of Robyn’s key assets as a designer – nobody can dress youth, like young people can. This remains true for the brand whose design DNA is immediately recognisable – clean, deliberate and incredibly well-made. Robyn reflects on the early days, “in July 2018 – after working on it part time – I got my first studio space. A year later, Tee (Tanya) joined. Artclub exclusively existed as a Biscuit Mill stand and an online store – it was very slow. At the time, people loved the idea of local brands but they weren’t really buying local. We had more ‘fan’ style engagement online then, than actual customers. I personally believe our conversion from an admirer of the brand to customers, kicked off during the pandemic.” 

Initially, one might think of Tanya’s role as being Robyn’s right-hand in the brand, but in our conversation, it is quickly clear to me that the two of them are more akin to a Yin-Yang, two-halves of a whole than anything else. In fact, the structure of Artclub’s team of women is far less top-down than it is a circle of people with incisive skills, each with a profound role to contribute. Robyn describes her and Tanya’s relationship, “Artclub totally changed when Tee joined, for many reasons. Firstly, we doubled our work-power! Also, I was able to have a soundboard and someone that knew me – and had a fresher view of the brand, from the outside looking in.  Artclub wouldn’t be where it is today if Tee hadn’t taken a huge leap of faith to join. When it’s been hard, to have one another is invaluable. People say ‘don’t work with your friends’ – but when it works, it’s unmatched.” 

One of the greatest fashion fallacies is that it’s easy to make clothing. You just design, choose fabrics and have your pieces made: right? With the dwindling of South Africa’s textile and garment industry in the last two decades; though this a story for another day, Claire Bisseker’s report from 2009, ‘Hanging By a Thread’, provides a clearer picture as to the intersection between globalisation, job-loss and lack of investment. As Tanya says, “I didn’t study fashion at all so when I came in, I was like – ‘oh, t-shirts, easy!’. It’s absolutely not. With every single production run that we do, we learn something. It teaches us a lot of patience and a lot of resilience.”

It is precisely this greater environmental context rife with challenge that makes Artclub’s success a triumph beyond simply their own endurance. The brand represents an early, ableith small, wave of young designers and entrepreneurs determined to redirect the course of local fashion – to this degree, Robyn is Mother. Young brand owners who know Artclub will tell you that Robyn has hacked many of the cheat codes to make what is happening now in South African fashion possible. Regarding the context in which Artclub was built, Robyn explains, “I’ve spoken to a few brands of our size and positioning in other parts of the world and we have compared notes. There are things that we just don’t have here – like textile hubs or incubators. I spoke to a designer from Italy and they were telling me about the funding options, the mentors – the sharing of manufacturing leads. The ability to go from an idea to being in-store, and it being quality and affordable, is nearly impossible in South Africa. Usually, something has to give. I think we are seeing a shift, though, from so many brands. We are totally in our infancy – Artclub as a brand – but more than that, as a local design industry.” In a truly South African way, this mood of hope laden with challenge often proves to be a kind of fuel for the country’s creatives.

The team behind Artclub and Friends, captured by Anke Loots

As Robyn explains, there is a shared spirit among brand-owners in South Africa, “Ayo Ojo – the fashion journalist AKA Fashion Roadman– was in Cape Town and he said that he was so taken by how everyone put everyone else on – he was going to brands to find out about what they do and all they wanted to do was tell him about other brands! There is this awareness now that if I win, you win – that if someone is buying locally from us, then they’re opening to buying locally from other brands. There is this co-operative flow with the fashion space now.”

The perennial thread throughout Artclub’s growth lies in its central philosophy. Like a kind of living, breathing manifesto (one that is always changing too, according to Robyn) – is this notion of ‘by artists, for artists’. I ask Robyn of the hindsight around her initial product offering: creating the perfect, locally made T-shirts with prints by collaborating artists – now, Artclub is fully-fledged clothing brands; as Robyn says, “when you start a business when you’re 22 or 23 – you don’t really have a business plan. I had a gut feeling and the name came to me, along with this very blurry idea of what it might look like. I knew I was going to bomb working in a corporate job. All I knew was that I wanted to work with artists. This year, we’ve come to realise what Artclub is : a vessel to amplify artists. We learn these things as we go.” Artclub has never done any influencer-marketing or paid people to wear their pieces; for Robyn and Tanya, their belief is that organic growth through relationships is the Artclub pathway to community-building. 

Now, the ‘term’ artist has become more enriched as Artclub and Friends has grown; “The people that are “making” our clothes are artists. I’m actually more of a product developer than a designer. I am so happy to let go of any need to be a designer; I’m so into product and tactile things and working with the artisans around us. Galima, our garment technologist, has taught us so much about how to make good clothes. Our first sweaters? She said, ‘are these in store? You need to bring them all back!’ ” muses Robyn. I ask how she would now describe what they do; “I used to use the word streetwear to describe what we do –  mostly because it was how other people described us. The more I’ve come to understand the term ‘streetwear’ and it’s quite specific history, the more I would liken what we do to a mix of contemporary apparel and ready-to-wear – with definite elements of streetwear.”

This conversation would be amiss if we didn’t broach the subject of being a woman and a brand-owner. I ask Robyn and Tanya what their experience has been so far, to which Robyn explains that “A lot of the artists we are working with are women and I have only hired women so far, which is not a hard-rule that I might always stick to – it’s just worked out that way and so far, it’s been amazing. I think we are getting to a point where women aren’t waiting to be offered things, we are taking up space. Imposter syndrome is a thing and I think it’s very prevalent among women. I don’t have a single woman in my family who has ever attempted anything close to something like this.” Among women, power is generally expressed through a circle – this goes back to Robyn and Tanya’s duo-ship and how the two of them lead the Artclub and Friends team.

The team behind Artclub and Friends, captured by Anke Loots

Robyn professes that if we looked in her wardrobe, we would never know that she worked in fashion. This is perhaps the reason that the sense of ‘uniformity’ within Artclub’s design philosophy feels so authentic; Robyn would rather people bought less overall and bought more locally – without compromising on quality. Robyn explains that “a lot of my designs are informed by my own feelings around clothing. I have realised that I am much more of a product developer than a designer; I love product and letting go of the need to prove myself as a designer has been really great. In a South African context, we have a huge focus on sentimentally – designing for our customers to have something special that will last for a long time, without it being hugely expensive.” Critical to Artclub’s presence is their muted palette – with pops of the iconic cobalt blue synonymous to the brand – although, Robyn mentions that we can expect more colour ahead. Alongside this, is a focus on construction that makes the silhouettes coming out of Artclub, a jewel in the crown of South African fashion. Robyn reminds me of something I noted sometime ago: local fashion brands in South Africa are inherently sustainable, for their small-scale and commitment to the social and artistic enhancement of customers, manufacturers and sellers. 

It is said that life occurs in seven year cycles. In astrology, every seven years, we undergo a profound shift in our reality and thinking. It is no wonder, then, that Robyn responds to my question for their vision ahead with the idea that they are entering a new phase; despite Artcluband Friends being in itself-described infancy, they have also paid many dues. Ahead, is the possibility of what more is in store. Robyn’s last words express a promise on the other side of the proverbial endurance test, “we are finally in a place where our head is above water – we have this amazing privilege looking forward, as we ask ourselves – who could we be? What do we want to focus on, what does our next phase of having a team look like? Where do we want to travel? I can’t believe we are finally getting to think in this way, but it’s happening.” 

Visit Artclub and Friends HERE 

All imagery by Anke Loots 

Written by: Holly Beaton

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

Brandon Markell Holmes releases new single ‘Fuller’

Nov 17, 2023 | New Release, Music

Brandon Markell Holmes, a “slow-burning vocal-house juggernaut” (Rolling Stone) has released his new single, ‘Fuller’ on toucan sounds in anticipation of his second full-length album, coming in the spring of 2024. 

Described by Billboard as a vocalist who goes from “a low simmer to boiling passion,” and appearing on the GRAMMY-nominated Gorillaz album ‘Humanz’, Brandon Markell Holmes has swiftly become a go-to collaborator for some of the hottest house producers in Brooklyn and beyond, since relocating from Chicago where he was born and raised. His latest self-titled vinyl pressing, out on toucan sounds, sold out and features mixes by Derrick Carter, Dee Diggs, musclecars, and more.

Fuller 

His latest single ‘Fuller’ features his deep soulful vocal and has an atmosphere that brings you through an emotional journey. The pack includes a b-side, ‘I Bet’ with producer Liam Berkeley, and an extended edit of ‘Fuller’ made by label boss, Robert PM, that acts as a deceptively simple DJ tool.

Stream ‘Fuller’ HERE

Press release courtesy of Only Good Stuff

The Plastics release single ‘Nobody Like You’, the final track off their new album ‘EVE’

Nov 17, 2023 | New Release, Music

Nobody Like You is a groove soaked retrospect of what was and what went wrong. The upbeat nature of the song marries beautifully with the melancholic yet hopeful undertones of the lyrics. Woozy, jazz and dream pop infused guitar licks, colourful synth arrangements and a funky, driving drum and bass line interlock to create the backdrop for the emotional rollercoaster to freefall.

The Plastics are a beloved Indie-Psych pop band from South Africa. The Plastics music is filled with evocative lyricism and pop sensible song writing with vibrant grooves, sparkling guitars and vocal hooks .The Plastics have a thirst for creating music and art and aim to captivate, inspire and push their limits with every release. A 3 x South African Award Nominated group with a dedicated following. The Plastics are a contemporary for lovers of MGMT, The Strokes, Still Woozy and Phoenix. They have played every major music festival and extensively toured South Africa, toured Europe And the UK twice and Australia once. The Plastics have a thirst for creating and sharing their music and art and aim to captivate, inspire,and push their limits with every release.

Say, “thuh plas-tiks”
Collective jams, sleazy sweet mumblings.
Put it in, turn it on, turn it up, turn it up, switch tracks.
Falsetto sounds from Cape Town, listen close with your clothes off.

The Plastics EVE Album
The Plastics Between Hours single 
The Plastics Crazy Love Single
EVE is also out on November 10th and contains previous singles: Crazy Love and Between Hours as well as two other brand-new songs titled Thrashing Inside the Net and Eve. The five-track offering is a glimpse into the bands more bedroom and dream pop leanings whilst still maintaining a healthy edge of indie rock and psychedelia in both the evocative lyricism and the expansive arrangements and tones that comprise the record. Nobody Like You is the third and final single from The Plastics new album EVE.

 Stream ‘Nobody Like You’ HERE 
Listen to ‘EVE’ HERE

Press release courtesy of The Clique

Scandinavian soul act Dina Ögon deliver latest track ‘Det Läcker’

Nov 17, 2023 | New Release, Music

Warm and harmonic, four-piece Scandinavian soul act Dina Ögon delivers nostalgia-steeped tracks with a timeless feel, ‘Det Läcker’. 

Described as the bastard lovechild of Fleetwood Mac, Khruangbin, obscure Motown singles, hip-hop duo Eric B & Rakim seasoned with a bit of Stevie Wonder, Selda Bagcan, Elis Regina and Ted Gärdestad: Dina Ögon borrow across decade, country, and genre, ultimately delivering cohesive and homely retro pop from a laidback Nordic horizon. With two critically acclaimed albums under their belt and backing from the likes of Tyler The Creator, many sold out tours and an organic growth and word of mouth build up on a global level in just two years, they are gearing up to release their third album ”Orion” in February 2024.

Dina Ögon 2023 – Det läcker

Dina Ögon 2023 – Glitter

The first taste, in the shape of ”Glitter” (out now) was described as a journey upward, forward and inward.

Stream ‘Det Läcker’ HERE

Press release courtesy of Only Good Stuff

Its Voting Registration Weekend

Nov 17, 2023 | News, Community

The Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) have reported that about 26.2 million people are registered to vote, representing only around 66% of the country’s voting-age population. With a new generation of voters that have aged up since the last general election in 2019, the statistics of youth that are not yet prepared to vote or participate in the political future is a concerning one. Interestingly, voter turnout has also been on a downward trajectory since our hard-won democratic election in 1994.

With a new online voting registration portal and around 23 000 registration stations across the country to be erected over this weekend, it has never been easier to register to put your ‘X’ down in 2024.

Read more about Registration HERE 
Please check out the Voting Information Portal HERE 
Find your area’s Voting Station this weekend HERE 

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

Southern Guild end the year with solo exhibitions by artists Manyaku Mashilo and Oluseye

Nov 16, 2023 | News, Art

Southern Guild presents An Order of Being by South African artist Manyaku Mashilo and Black Exodus by Nigerian-Canadian artist Oluseye, opening on 23 November 2023 (until 25 January 2024). These are the artists’ first solo exhibitions with the gallery.

 

An Order of Being | Manyaku Mashilo 

In An Order of Being, Manyaku Mashilo constructs an imaginative future realm – expansive in its capacity to heal, liberate and reinvent – occupied by a collective of fluid, dreamlike figures. The series of figurative paintings includes a new multi-panelled triptych, comprising three large-scale arched canvases. Mashilo’s artworks stand as liminal spaces for synthesising elements of her religious upbringing, ancestral heritage, both real and invented myth, folklore, science fiction, music and sourced archival photographic images. An Order of Being is a gentle confrontation with the multiplicity of the artist’s past, present and future facets of selfhood. 

Though her work is rooted in the historically charged mode of portraiture, Mashilo regards her paintings as abstractions. Ethnographic photography from the 19th and early 20th centuries disseminated distorted representations of the depicted bodies, with each subject diminished through the colonial eye of Eurocentrism. Mashilo’s figures have been crafted anew, free of projection or historical reduction. “I invent characters,” she states, “I have had to create these subjects from scratch – make skin tones, plan similarities, consider race, exaggerate features – blank my slate while contending with the reality that I cannot unsee or un-know.” 

The recurring use of red ochre in this body of work connotes clay, blood and the traditional ointment of “imbola”, a thick paste of burnt earth pigment applied to the faces of Xhosa women and newly initiated youth. Akin to the Astro-Black mythology of American composer Sun Ra’s musical language, Mashilo’s paintings traverse a peripheral alternate space, blending the real and unreal, correcting the burdensome weight of historical injustices with the lightness and hope of what may still be yet to come.

Manyaku Mashilo, Being Black, 2023. Cr. Hayden Phipps.

Manyaku Mashilo, How about a New way to Pray, 2023. Cr. Hayden Phipps.

Manyaku Mashilo, somewhere in-between, 2023. Cr. Hayden Phipps.

Manyaku Mashilo, You and your Soul are never not One, 2023. Cr. Hayden Phipps.

Black Exodus | Oluseye 

Black Exodus by Oluseye spans sculpture, installation and photography created over the past five years that weaves the artist’s personal narrative, trans-Atlantic journeys and artistic evolution into a broader exploration of historical and contemporary Black life. 

Over the past year, Oluseye’s artistic practice has seen him moving between New York, Toronto, Lagos and Cape Town, where he spent a two-month stay at the GUILD Residency earlier this year. He re-animates found objects and detritus collected from his travels – which he terms “diasporic debris” – to trace Blackness through its multifaceted migrations and manifestations. 

Taking inspiration from the role of the “nganga” (spiritual worker in traditional Kongo religion), he imbues his everyday relics – car parts, rubber debris, electrical scrap, domestic items, synthetic hair – with the mystical, transforming his finds into “eminado” (the Yoruba word for good luck charm). One of two key installations in the show, the Eminado Series encompasses over 100 of these palm-sized talismans while another installation, Patra (Mothership), contemplates the symbolism of a ship as a woman.  

Through the creation of Black Exodus, the artist sought to explore and honour everyday African ingenuity as a means of livelihood and survival. His chosen materials – hair, rubber, cotton, cowrie shells and mirrors – are often a medium through which to reimagine the diasporic debris he gathers. Oluseye notes: “These are loaded materials that carry with them brutal histories of enslavement and colonial conquest, oppression and pillaging but are reclaimed anew as symbols of power, resilience and good omen.”

Oluseye, Eminado Reunion 14, 2018-Ongoing. Cr. Hayden Phipps.

Oluseye, Eminado Reunion 12, 2018-Ongoing. Cr. Hayden Phipps.

Oluseye, Eminado Reunion 11, 2018-Ongoing. Cr. Hayden Phipps.

Oluseye, Eminado Reunion 279, 2018-Ongoing. Cr. Hayden Phipps.

‘An Order of Being’ and ‘Black Exodus will run from 23 November 2023 until 25 January 2024, at Southern Guild Gallery, Cape Town 

About Southern Guild

Established in 2008 by Trevyn and Julian McGowan, Southern Guild represents contemporary artists from Africa and its diaspora. With a focus on Africa’s rich tradition of utilitarian and ritualistic art, the gallery’s programme furthers the continent’s contribution to global art movements. Southern Guild’s artists explore the preservation of culture, spirituality, identity, ancestral knowledge, and ecology within our current landscape. Their work has been acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, LACMA, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pérez Art Museum, Mint Museum, Harn Museum, Denver Art Museum, Vitra Museum, Design Museum Gent and National Gallery of Victoria. Since 2018, the gallery has collaborated with BMW South Africa on a year-round programme of meaningful activations that promote artist development and propel their careers. Located in Cape Town, Southern Guild will expand internationally with a 5,000 sqft space opening in Melrose Hill, Los Angeles in February 2024. 

Press release courtesy of Southern Guild

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

Karlie Kloss has just acquired i-D Magazine from Vice Media

Nov 15, 2023 | News, Fashion

Little has been known about the fate of beloved cultural, fashion and youth publication i-D Magazine since its parent company, Vice Media, filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. Vice bought i-D in 2012 from the publication’s founders, Terry and Tricia Jones – with i-D remaining a cultural stalwart, able to integrate digital offerings alongside its iconic, hardcopy print editions.  

Now, Karlie Kloss has swooped in to take ownership of i-D magazine, as reported by WWD; Kloss is set to assume the role of CEO, with the current editor-in-chief, Alastair McKimm, retaining his position as chief creative officer and global editor-in-chief.

As they say – models should always have a career back-up plan. Kloss has come well-acquainted with media acquisitions – In 2020, she spearheaded an investment group comprising fellow model Kaia Gerber, F1 racing star Lewis Hamilton, and producer Jason Blum, which successfully acquired W Magazine. 

Karlie Kloss, iD Cover, courtesy of @karliekloss IG.
The Adult Issue, No. 179, September 98 – courtesy of iD online.
The Bedroom Issue, No. 213, September 01 – courtesy of i-D Online.

The Survival Issue, No. 149, February 1996 – courtesy of i-D Online.
The Livin’ Loud Issue, No. 311, Pre-Spring 11 – courtesy of i-D Online.

The New Wave Issue, No. 373, Fall/Winter 2023 – courtesy of @i_D.
The Wise Up Issue, No. 322, Winter 12 -courtesy of i-D Online.

Kloss has been strategically expanding her diverse portfolio. Notably, she founded Kode With Klossy, an initiative offering free coding camps for girls, as well as Klosette, a fashion-centric realm within the Roblox metaverse, enabling players to fashion themselves and ascend through the ranks to attain the role of editor-in-chief. Furthermore, reports indicate her involvement in various digital startups, including one focused on integrating digital authentication IDs into clothing.

i-D was launched in the 1980s by Terry and Trica Jones as a means to document the post-punk era of the UK: inspiring the likes of Dazed that came after it. Since then, it has become an essential fashion and culture bible known for its cutting edge editorial content. With the news that editorial legend, Alastair McKimm, will stay on to facilitate this transition  – we are hopeful i-D will be able to weather the storm that has hit publishing in the last few years.

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

Namakau Star on Music as Her Greatest Companion and Education as Her Greatest Weapon

Nov 15, 2023 | Interviews, Music

There are certain artists for whom their creative calling or skill has always been present. For Rhema Stephanie Namakau Socika AKA Namakau Star, music has always been her greatest companion – this acute sense for the sonic has been the singular most present force in her life, and it is a rare and precious thing for an artist to be almost inseparable or indistinguishable from their craft. I am amazed to learn that Namakau Star’s foray into music as an artist has only been for the last few years. In that that time, since her breakthrough EP ‘Landing’ hit the scene in early 2022, Namakau Star has toured in Europe, reached milestones on streaming platforms (200,000+ on Apple Music and more), interned in Germany – all the while, refining her afro-futuristic, cosmically aligned artistic vision. While these are sure signs of deep success in the making, Namakau has also begun to weave an incredibly beautiful adjunct to her career – that of a public speaker and music educator, as part of panels and discussions around the world on what a developing music industry with all its changes and advancements, could be in the future. Sometimes, someone’s life is truly fated – and the world is so much better for it. Namakau Star isn’t the ‘Vibe Goddess’ for nothing. 

On how music has always been part of her life, Namakau explains that “the gravitational pull to music began when I was about 5 years old. I always had an inclination towards music but I wasn’t old enough to be vocal about it to my family. My little sister and I were always putting on fake concerts. There was this ringtone on old Nokias, and I would sing and harmonise to it – I didn’t even know that was harmonising at the time!” This childlike innocence of her first encounters with music and its closeness to her, Namakau reminisces, “I remember this one, specific moment: I was watching Sister Act with my brother. In the scene where they sing ‘Oh Happy Day’, I was singing along and my brother suddenly turned to me and said, ‘wow, you can actually sing?’. That was my spark of confidence. I went on to be the youngest member of my school choir. I always had this pull to music. I didn’t have a lot of friends when I was younger, so I had a lot of time to immerse myself in music, poetry, reading and writing. I’ve always been comfortable in my quirkiness and craziness.”

Namakau Star is not only a rising musician, she has become a mentor – along with her label Paradise Sound System, she has hosted workshops, given public talks and is intrinsically focused on the notions of artist development. It’s not surprising that Namakau owes her understanding of the power of a profound teacher, saying that “I had a teacher, Ms. Oswald, who encouraged me to step forward and sing louder. I think her role in my creative career is really fundamental, and she helped me develop the confidence as a shy, quirky person into someone who could share openly through music.” Music was not something Namakau set out to do until her university years; it always just was – part of her life and story, “back then, music was this really fun and beautiful thing – it was friends downloading beats for me to sing on, or me figuring out harmonies and remixes across a wide range of genres and styles. I think those years laid the foundation for me to pursue music as a career, knowing that I always return to the pure love for it. Back then, I was studying artists like Frank Ocean and trying to figure his mind and thinking, how he wrote the way he did – I think my curiosity for learning is also why music education is so important to me alongside my career.”

Although nudged towards a career involving practicality and security by her parents (as so many creative people are), Namakau staved them off with plans to at least do something centred in the humanities – whether it be psychology or advertising, and so on. During her gap year, Namakau met up with an old friend who encouraged her to release two songs she had recorded onto SoundCloud – as she says, “I couldn’t believe it when 400 people listened to one of the songs, I was like – woah, that many people listened to my songs?” As Namakau explains, losing her mom during her university years – all the while the decolonial Rhodes Must Fall movement was taking place – she found herself with her back against the wall, unsupported in how to make a difference to her own life or the lives of others around her. This pain is part of Namakau’s alchemy into who she is today; as a musician and a mentor, someone who has committed her life’s work through music to bringing about change and opportunity for South Africa’s youth, aspiring to bring music as a pathway that is sustaining, secure and magical. As Namakau says, “I was really helpless during that time. I didn’t have the energy or motivation, so I dropped out of university. I realised that music was the one thing that had remained a constant in my life and I told myself, I had to pursue my music career – since then I haven’t looked back.”

Namakau Star as an artistic character or expression is constantly evolving. Weaving together cosmic musings, Afro-futurism and neo-soul, Namakau stands in the realm of Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and Jhené Aiko as Black women whose sonic ability holds a kind of medical quality. Namakau says, “being a Black, queer woman in this world has always shaped my writing whether I knew it or not. I’ve always found myself representing something because my music documents my lived experience. I have always been a very reflective person and that depth has been something that has always been part of the way I’ve expressed myself. Spirituality informs a lot of my writing because I believe we are spiritual beings experiencing a physical world. I let my voice be my compass in how I need to be present and honest in letting music pass through my body.”

Collaboration is key to Namakau’s pathway. The Planetoids, an indie-pop band from Hanover, have become part of Namakau’s story and demonstrated the power of collaboration to her; “The Planetoids have become great friends and like brothers to me. You never know how far a shared link goes – I think people often undermine the power of sharing their favourite artists link and the ripple effects this can have. The Planetoids caught wind of me from my first projecting ‘Landing’. They sent me a DM and asked me to be on their album ‘The Aerodynamics of a Cow’. We ended up connecting, having a lot of Zoom calls and making music together continents apart. We always said that I should come to Germany – not knowing that would actually happen!” Namakau would go on to have an internship opportunity in Germany, which she took full advantage of in creating bridges with the music scene there. Namakau comments on the power of collaboration to get one out of their comfort zone, “they really brought me into their world. I had never done pop music before – I love pop music, but it just wasn’t a genre I had explored. So they really held space for me and pushed me as vocalist, and I pushed them to add range to their compositions. I am so grateful for the internet – that was the first time I’ve crossed over in my career and our song ‘Make Up Your Mind’ was my first international playlist. You don’t realise how each little moment or opportunity has the power to open up the world and future to you.”

Namakau Star is not only focused on her artistic career and expression – but how education and infrastructure can foster the possibilities for many more artists present and to come, in South Africa. As she says, “it’s important to be in a position where you are able to think of your music career as a community-building project. It takes so many hands and streams to sustain it. As an artist, I always want to lean into the strengths of the many people that I am lucky to meet and the collaborations that I get to do. Yes, we can bypass labels in order to have a career and rely on streaming platforms – but that doesn’t matter if you don’t have people supporting you. It’s not sustainable for an artist to double as a label, as a creative director, as an A&R to find collaborations. I think there is so much exhaustion that arises from the stats we see from Spotify, for example – 5 millions songs are released every week. Those songs still have to filter through an algorithm. I think focusing on artist development, speaking and educating in the ways that I am – is because I know firsthand the value of a community, of having a label or network that can share your vision with you.” 

Next up, Namakau Star is heading to speak in Italy and Saudi Arabia to share her insights, alongside some other incredible projects to come – one of which is a culmination of another collaboration in Germany. Namakau has just gotten started and the road is so, so bright – to end off our conversation, I ask what keeps her going, to which Namakau says, “the road has been quite treacherous, but I’m willing. I think that’s what separates most artists: that willingness to push on and to be resilient. I can only hope and pray that I can continue to be an artist that can lead by example, to inspire people to keep going for their own dreams within music. Music passes through me, I tell stories – I paint pictures and build worlds. If I think about the little girl whose whole world was music, I just know that I have this fire in me that can’t be put out.”

Written by: Holly Beaton

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za