Local music group Blah Ze Blah claim to have found a gap in the South African music market. The beat-box, hip-hop, rapping label came to life when its four members found each other at the Hansa Pilsener nationwide talent search competition.
Local music group Blah Ze Blah claim to have found a gap in the South African music market. The beat-box, hip-hop, rapping label came to life when its four members found each other at the Hansa Pilsener nationwide talent search competition. Since then the group has exploded and dreams of being the banner for Eastern Cape talent.
“There is the expectation that talented artists have to go to Johannesburg in order to make it,” explained co-founder, Sinethemba Mzwali, who goes as ‘Oz’. “We want to change that.”
Oz writes and beatboxes. Then there are rapper and emcee, Epic (Nangamso Mtyingizane), comedian Mbu (Mbulelo Msongelwa) and their most recent addition, vocalist Lady Zee (Zikhona Gqamane). They occasionally perform together, but place their solo acts under the Blah Ze Blah label.
Among their accolades are sharing a stage with Die Antwoord, performing at Splash Festival in PE and producing marketing content for Bay TV in PE.
However, it was only after a successful gig at the National Arts Festival that interest in the label exploded. After missing the Festival application date, the group managed to organise a show at Champs Bar, where they even secured international hip-hop artist, Ian Kammau, and the Muffins, from Johannesburg, to play the show.
Blah Ze Blah believe they are on to something. “We just started to grow because people wanted to know about us and perform with us,” said Oz. “Guys from Jozi were saying to us that they heard about through people talking about us on Twitter.”
Currently the label is funded by the members’ day jobs, but they are hoping the post-Festival buzz will last long enough to bring in investors.
Next up for the group is an event at Prime in Grahamstown on 21 September for which, Oz says, they are bringing a huge act. Look out on Facebook for an announcement next week.
