Prophets of Da City
| Prophets of Da City | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | P.O.C. |
| Origin | Cape Town, South Africa |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Years active | 1988–2001 |
| Labels | Ku Shu Shu Records, Tusk Music, Ghetto Ruff, Nation Records |
| Associated acts | Brasse Vannie Kaap, Mr. Devious, Amu, Teba |
| Members |
Shaheen Ishmael DJ Ready D Ramone Mark Heuvel |
Prophets of Da City (POC) is a hip hop crew from Cape Town, South Africa. They are composed of about eight members, though the exact membership fluctuates frequently; these include Ishmael Morabe (vocals), Mark Heuvel (dance), Shaheen Ariefdien, Ramone and DJ Ready D. Their style uses elements of hip hop music, reggae and traditional African rhythms. Their albums include Our World (1990), Boom Style (1992), Age of Truth (1993), Phunk Phlow (1994), Universal Souljaz (1995), and Ghetto Code (1997). They are currently signed under the independent record label Ghetto Ruff.
The group began in late 1988 when Shaheen and Ready D experimented in a small 8-track studio (owned by Shaheen's father, Issy Ariefdien and Lance Stehr the current Ghetoruff CEO) and produced a demo that ultimately became "Our World" (1990), the first South African hip hop release. Although the production value was not exactly stellar it did attempt to interpret hiphop through their unique Cape Town influences and experiences (both musically and lyrically). The album had the first recorded Cape slang (local Afrikaans dialect) hip-hop song called 'Dala Flat' (do it thoroughly). It also consisted of an uptempo goema inspired 'Stop the Violence' and the hip house meets mbaqanga title track. It also featured the Abdullah Ibrahim inspired "Roots" that featured DJ A-ski on the turntables. Although POC was quite a novelty to the South African music scene, record labels were turned off by their social commentary and favoured a more party music approach. Lance, POC manager, set up Ku-shu shu Records and signed a distribution and marketing deal through Teal Trutone (Gallo subsidiary). In 1990 POC was nominated for the OKTV Award for Best New Group. They also embarked on an extensive 80-leg anti-drug school tour that reached an average of 70 000 students.
The second release in late 1991 was Boom Style (referring to the hardhitting punch of a TR-808 drum machine kick drum or self-praise of the way the music is kicking – although often mistaken to mean "tree style" because boom means "tree" in Afrikaans). While the album had a scathing attack on the apartheid regime in the song 'Ons Stem' (meaning our voice – as a response to the racist apartheid national anthem 'die stem' – the voice) and the innovative Hard Time on Stage, the follow-up to Murder on Stage from Our World, it was less experimental. The lead single, Boom Style, like their first single, Our World, aimed to fuse contemporary US hiphop influenced dance music with mbaqanga styled guitar riffs. While Our World was rather innocent and daring for its time, Boom Style reflected the realities of operating within the music industry and the pressures of the market on POC. The censorship board sent a formal letter to the label to express their displeasure over the use of the Afrikaner national anthem in which POC not only mocked 'Die Stem', but also disrespected Afrikaner and other colonial political icons. Their live shows incorporated all aspects of hip hop culture and not only emceeing. Turntablism, b-boying and even aerosol art at times were used to not only present POC but represent hip hop culture and expose to parts of South Africa where people did not know what hip hop was. The video for 'Kicking Non Stop' was censored because members of the crew put a portrait of the then president, P. W. Botha, in a fridge to chill. This year the POC social issues based tour covered another 45 schools.
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