"One can only hope that if intelligent cockroaches do become the lords and masters of some misty future, that they will have enough sense to better manage the synthetic chemicals that they create…unlike that former species that once dominated the world and steered itself into oblivion through thoughtless folly." - Terrence Aym
Skyf is a witty tale that interweaves the journeys of seven strangers, all connected by their common addiction.
Themba is a family man badly feeling the credit crunch. While trying to somehow conjure up his daughter's school fees and her birthday gift in one day, he wrestles with his biggest problem- trying to stay off cigarettes. His life falls out of his hands the second he surrenders to his craving.
Meanwhile, a group of hype-hungry, horny teenagers experimenting with smoking have their lives turned around in one day as they puff the magic dragon. The young and unwise S'busiso falls prey to the old scavenger that is peer pressure, opening up his world to more action than he ever encountered before.
And central to all this is the cigarette store that satisfies everyone's craving. The owner -an old man facing his own end- experiences an unexpected fatality in a single cloud of smoke.
Spoek Mathambo was introduced to many of us courtesy of Watkin Tudor Jones, lead instigator in groups such as Max Normal, The Consrtuctus Corp and recently Die Antwoord. Ever since then, homeboy's been flexing and making moves of his own, even getting himself a spot on the cover of FADER Magazine. Over the past couple of years Spoek has teamed up with well known producers, DJs and music pioneers, Sibot and Markus Wormstorm (Real Estate Agents) to form the bands Playdoe and SWEAT.X respectively, that have been hugely successfull abroad. In 2010, Spoek Mathambo introduced his solo album collaborating with Richard the 3rd and Jacobsnake to create Spoek Mathambo + MSHINI WAM. 'Don't mean to be rude' is the 3rd single from the album. Check it out, Fresh!
I seem to be writing a lot about Kanye West. I think anyone who has followed Kanye's musical career cannot dispute his musical gift and his nack for exploiting his creative abilities. Wherever Kanye goes, controversy seems to follow and the same could be said about his next music video 'MONSTER' from his new record. There have been rumours claiming that there are a number high profile individuals from all sectors of our society that have been initiated into a secret group called 'illuminati', which roughly translated means 'enlightened'. It is said that these enlightened group of people are the keepers of secret esoteric knowledge that has been passed on for centuries and some of the activities this group is involved in is suspect and can also be termed 'dark'. Kanye, amongst other artists like his fellow label mate Jay Z are said to have been initiated into this group. Now back to the video. From an artistic and production point of view, I think the video is well executed, I'm just not sure about the imagery though. It left me feeling quite sad actually. It left me asking the question, where do we draw the line between artand debauch? Is this the next frontier for art, for music? Where do we draw the line?
A large majority of us know the importance of eating healthy foods and watching what goes into our bodies. Something that I have always felt strongly about is GM (Genetically Modified) foods. I'm not for them. I've noticed that in countries across our shores, people take a more aggressive stance against the manufacture and proliferation of genetically modified foods. It's not an easy thing to tackle considering the information we access through the media as well as the circumstance the continent (Africa) finds itself in. I think the least we can do is get informed. I found a group of people a while ago called SAFEAGE who monitor the production of GM foods in South Africa. If you are interested in finding out more about GM foods please call SAFEAGE on Tel No. +27 21 801 1816, + 27 21 447 8445 or mail them on safeage@mweb.co.za and you can also get on their mailing list for regular updates.
