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Cape Town - Last week Thursday at Ster-Kinekor Rosebank, for the first time in my life I saw so many people gathered at a cinema that some had to stand and a few were sitting by the walkway, just to be able to watch a film.
And not a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster, but a short film by a local hip-hop artist with only one album in his catalogue.
Rapper Nasty C’s short documentary Veliswa opened with a tribute to his late mother (who he lost when he was 11 months old) and went on to premiere his three latest videos (Don’t Do It, Phases, Good Girls and Snapchat H**s) off his Bad Hair Extensions album. Don’t Do It shot to the top of local iTunes video charts shortly after its release.
The videos are directed by Kyle Lewis, a talent that we all know can never go wrong. While the work itself is brilliant, the preview lacked direction and a story to it; it was just a series of hit videos. It ended so quickly that we were all confused about whether we were going to get a closing statement from Mabala Noise (Nasty C’s label) or just go back to the press room. Word then had it that Nasty was holding a question-and-answer session, but we were only to find that it was for a select number of publications. Then off he went.
It felt like it was a publicity stunt that had gone wrong. I didn’t really understand what they were trying to achieve and what the highlight of the night was, besides starting an hour late. I had a great time; it just felt like I was watching a music channel where they were focusing on Nasty C. I salute Lewis for the vision, Nasty for the songs and myself for not regretting going even though I could have.
You can watch all three videos on iTunes (you will need an iTunes subscription).
