I am done slamming Cole, it’s hypocritical. I am not going to be one of those guys who thought the album was fire for 2 days and slammed it on the third day. Admittedly, the album sounded different after he apologized. It was infused with disappointment. Yea, he disappointed everyone, if you release a diss record, you have to stand by it and face the music. Is it cowardice or death prevention? Ain’t no shame to run if the amygdala is triggered. Hardly, he just wants peace because the game is toxic. 20 guys dissing Drake, the apparent plan is to end him. Damn! Envy, pettiness and jealously running rampant. How can you plan for another man’s downfall? Cole said it best – p r i d e . i s . t h e . d e v i l. Apologize and sit on the sidelines, stay neutral, forever the middle child, you don’t have to commit to anybody, that’s idiotic. Pride is what will lead to your downfall because even Superman has kryptonite. There’s a huge difference between healthy competition and toxicity. This is toxic. A J. Cole & Kendrick Lamar collabo album might still change everything, we might still get that, that will be healthy competition. We shouldn’t act like Cole’s skills regressed after the apology, quite the contrary, he is in his prime. He says so himself and as somebody who has been listening to him since “The Warm Up” in 2009, I agree. He is still one of the best wordsmiths in the game, you can’t fault his skill and he can still bury rappers. I am done slamming Cole, he chose his mental health and peace over ego and pettiness. At least he is consistent with the messages he preaches, he is a stand up guy, I respect him for that. He is not feeding a facade of what a rapper should be, he is not perpetuating a stereotype, he is just not participating, I can respect that, he has always been conscious. Personally, I can’t leave now, I have been a fan since “The Warm Up”, since “Dead Presidents II”, he got me on the first listen and I’ve been with him ever since. I can’t leave now when he is better, when he is rich, when he is in his prime. I was there when he had no money and was dreaming out loud. “The Off-season” had some of the best writing, he flowed, he had punchlines, he told stories of the underdog, he gave us access to his psyche, he was vulnerable, he educated and he empowered – a full J. Cole album, the moment everything came full circle for him. I am not leaving the moment he says “The Fall off” is like Hov dropping “Reasonable Doubt” last. Hell no! I believe that assertion. Let them fight over the throne, they will tire themselves out, discredit one another and commit silly mistakes, clearing the way for you to ascend. Although he apologized, “7 Minute Drill” still exists, it’s still valid and was named after a whole album that is still streaming. Is he really sorry? Might Delete Later still awesome, still Cole in his prime.
I fell in love with her when I heard her sing “Back to Black”, I got goosebumps and I started to shiver. I felt Amy’s spirit, she lived through Sharon, her execution was flawless, I had never witnessed talent like that. She was amazing, she felt familiar, my dopamine levels spiked to new levels, I loved watching her on the stage. She made me happy because now when I went to the theatre I’d hear Amy. Everything just felt like devine intervention, like a higher power was in control, like the Universe was conspiring in my favor, like I finally made it! It was my first week on the job on the square as the stage manager, Daphne Kuhn on the credits. For me it was a dream job because I’d get to interact with fellow content creators. Theatre on the square is known for hosting the best talent in the country, if not the world and for me the opportunity to be a spectator of greatness is heaven. I had seen “Nothing but the truth”, written by John Kani, starring Sello Maake Ka-Ncube, Mbali Nhlapo and the Ziaphora Dakile. It was a spectacular show, honestly the best I had ever seen. I saw it twice. I remember after the show, I saw Mbali near the box office. I remember feeling the urge to go up to her and congratulate her on the great show. So I went up to her and told her that her performance was awesome, I hugged her and I walked away. I meant it too, everybody in the production excelled with flying colors. First time I went to the theatre I watched “Home Affairs” starring Sello Ramolahloane and Lawrence Joffe. I went to the theatre with the hopes of getting a job, lucky for me Daphne was in the box office. I talked to her and gave her my CV, but the theatre wasn’t hiring, Covid sent the whole industry on its knees and the theatre didn’t have sponsors to sustain the expenditures of the business, to cut matters short, there was not enough money coming through. I persisted and made my case stating that I just love content and I just need a chance. She relented if not compromised and offered me a ticket to watch “Home Affairs” the next day at 20:00. At the moment the heavens opened up and I heard choruses of Hallelujah in my head. I took her up on her offer and went the next day and I loved the show. Of course one ticket for one show was never going to be enough for me, I needed more. The theatre door was the door I’d been looking for all my life, the stage, the lights, the sound and the live performance. For me getting a job on the square was never about money. I felt establishing connections was key for the long-run and ultimately, I started working there for free, for the love and happiness it gave me but Daphne did give me money for transport, a wonderful gesture. She changed everything for me. After “Home Affairs”, I sent an email to Daphne thanking her for opening up this beautiful world of theatre for me and I asked her for tickets for the next show. She obliged and with that I started coming to the theater more often. I saw every production. It was not until “The Dress Code” that I was welcomed to the family. Reginah Dube who started alongside Daphne in the early days of the theatre took a liking to me straight away and offered to take me under her wing so I can learn more about theatre, I accepted. Loftus taught me how to operate the lights, he was the technical guy in charge of the sound and lights, he had a good taste in music, level-headed, calm, the voice of reason, showed care and love towards his work and was always good to me. He was a great guy, I admired and respected him. Melidah was accommodative, kind and beautiful. She was the person I looked forward to seeing at the theatre. Malebone was the light that brightened my day, she had a smile that radiated and always made me feel welcomed and at home. Reggie was the guy who opened the door for me when I started for the first time that monday. That’s the day I first heard Sharon sing “Black to Back”, it was like I floating on clouds, like I was one of the 144 000 people selected to go into heaven, like everything was finally coming full circle. Of course her co-stars are on the level of her excellence. Lorri is a different beast when she’s on the stage, she lights up, you can literally see light emitting through her pores, she glows, no hyperbole. She is witty, comedic, intelligent and a great singer. She is the tempo of the show, the heartbeat, the soul. Ntambo is powerful, assured, heartfelt and dominant – also a great singer, when she sings “My Mother’s savage daughter” the whole world is at her mercy, she doesn’t even need the piano, she performs it acappela style, she’s on the stage barefoot with her dreadlocks dangling on either side of her shoulders, she is raw and empowering, she is amazing! One of the top highlights of the show. And Cliff of course murdering it on the piano. No mistakes, 10/10 performance every day! Shoutout Craig Jackson with his show “Defending the Caveman”, a great show I watched twice. And it would be a great injustice if I left out “Cat and Monkey”, I loved it, it reflected so much about reality, about how toxic co-dependent relationships can be, it was funny and relatable, I knew the characters on the stage first hand, Danielle Retief and Rowlen von Gericke executed extremely well. Even with that Sharon takes the cake for me mainly because of Amy. Lorri helped immensely at the end of the song, her song “Black Velvet” converges at the end with “Back to Black” and the end result is a masterpiece. It was the day everything finally came together and Amy Winehouse was the soundtrack, I felt blessed and everything made sense.
P.S. A big congratulations to Amanda Bothma, Vincent is a masterclass on theatre. When I heard Germaine Gamiet playing the piano in rehearsal, I thought he was the best piano player in the world and I told Daniel Anderson his talent was on another level! After the first show, I told Germaine that his the best piano player in the world and for Daniel, well, I told him his the goat – that’s the best I had, it wasn’t hyperbole, it was the general consensus, you have to see “Vincent” for yourself, it was what I felt and it needed to be expressed. Vincent always had people on their feet clapping and clapping, it was warranted to, it’s a great show. I am proud to have been a part of the production staff for “The Dress Code” and “Vincent” – Daphne Kuhn on the credits.
I used to be famous back in the day, you know when Dube was on 2 and Stokvel on Sundays. My claim to fame was to entertain you, to make you happy. I graced magazines covers and walked different stages like a catwalk. Panties would be soaked wet when I appeared on the screen and did what I did best. The spotlight was always on me and I’d leave many starstruck, shinning like light reflected on a diamond. I used to be famous and finessing was easy, I would just show up and I would be lavished with gifts and money streamed like a waterfall into my bank account, there wasn’t anything I couldn’t afford or a girl I couldn’t get to the fort. It was automatic, my presence unlocked all doors and left many knees weak. Mute and in awe like a vegetable that can’t speak. I used to be famous, walking on the street was near impossible. Every time I was sighted, the paparazzi would be on my case, bombarding me with flashes that would send an epileptic into space. I used to be famous, I was loved and appreciated for my skills. I mattered, I used to exist. Now I am a fragment of yesterday’s slide show, a glimmer of a star that used to shine bright, a dinosaur that history has left out of its archives. I walk on the streets and no one wants a picture of me, with me, paparazzi is present, they just fed up with me. Finessing is harder as my efforts are off target, Mercedes Benz repossessed as money is proving hard to get. I used to be famous and everybody knew my name, today everything is relative, we are all the same. Panties dry and left to crack on the washing line, abandoned like a kid in foster care who’s never been mine. The spotlight and lights off me, career dimmed out like 6 o’clock in winter. I used to be famous, I was on Billboards that oversighted highways. Today the trajectory of my career is sideways. No one cares, I am an afterthought and kinda look like somebody who used to be famous for a while. Maybe the glitz and glamor was all in my head, maybe I am worthless after all. I used to be famous, I was special and different. Nowadays, I struggle to pay rent. Cause the people who used to love me are now suffering from voluntary Alzeheimer disease, they choose to forget that I once ruled the set. Or maybe they just don’t care. I used to be famous back in the day.
Money can’t save your soul, it’s illusory like fairy-dust, made-up, a figment of your imagination. Cause one day you have it and the next you don’t. Even if you have barrels of it like Walter White, it can’t buy you love, it’s insufficient to buy you life, it’s meaningless. Saul and Mike had 7 million in cash and they would have traded it all for a glass of water, cause 7 million in cash is worthless when you are in the dessert trapped in the scotching heat dehydrating your body of fluids, leaving you dry, stretched out like biltong. Cautionary tale money feels good now but what did you do to get it? Criminality and drugs have fixed endgames namely being murdered or a lengthy prison spell. There’s no wiseguy on the street, even the bosses get taken out, you will get outsmarted, you will be marked and you will get taken out. Cautionary tale, crime doesn’t pay, it robs you off your peace and state of mind. The bitches leave after you cum and the drugs just numb the pain but the persistence of life guarantees yesterday’s pain and empty void. Cautionary tale money is just paper or numbers on the screen. What matters most is relationships and bonds you share with others. What matters most is love, real love, your family, your friends and everyone you hold close to your heart. Cautionary tale, 7 figures can’t fix what you are, you’ll just be an asshole with 7 figures that no one likes. Cautionary tale, get your soul in order, treat others how you’d like to be treated, show empathy, love, be grateful for life, take it one day at a time, take it easy. The cars on magazines look great until you get them and start taking them for granted, cause greed is like an insatiable desire that spreads every time a level is reached. The power, the greed, corruption it never stops cause money never stops, it’s all in your head. Cautionary tale, don’t take someone for granted because of money. Don’t disrespect or put another person down because of money cause a bullet in the head makes us all equals. Cautionary tale, cautionary tale, everything is cause and effect, when you take a soul for money, you will lose your own. Cautionary tale, what matters most is temperance, justice, God and love. Cautionary tale, all that you have is your soul. Cautionary tale, slow down, you moving at a fast pace, you have snort too much cocaine, the feds are on your case, the bitches are all the same, your family has moved to Spain, you are alone. Cautionary tale, you have lost everything, you have money but can’t spend it on anything and burning it won’t accomplish anything. Cautionary tale, everybody gets caught or ends up dead, don’t sell your soul for a fleeting distraction cause the persistence of life will still hold you accountable.
Better call Saul is basically a show about a guy doing bad stuff. As his arc progresses he does more bad things and encounters bad people. A scumbag Lawyer who resorts to underhanded tricks and creative methods to win his cases. He will fabricate evidence, smear your reputation, deceive, manipulate to make you the demon, morality is not a vice. He went from serving senior citizens with their wills and estates to serving hardened criminals, prostitutes and junkies. Nonetheless, he is the perfect guy to get you out of a rock and a hard place. Colorful, eccentric, slippery and unpredictable, presiding judges never know what to expect. He knows how to get you out of a sure thing. Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould will make you cheer for the bad guy, cause if everyone in the show is a bad guy, who are you going to root for? Obviously the guy with Halocaust numbers and that makes you contemplate about your human nature. Am I as pure as I would like to believe? Am I a good guy? Do I want to be a good guy? Cause Saul learned a lesson when he was a boy and it also hit hard. There are two types of people in the world, the sheep and the wolf, decide where you fit in. Do you really wanna be a sucka all your life? Standing on the stands, watching life frizzle into obscurity. The wolves are the go getters, they make things happen, they will things into existence, they make the money, they fuck the bitches, like Tony Montana they are portrayed as the bad guy. Would you rather be the lousy sheep? Following orders, “doing the right thing”, staying in your lane, playing it safe, boring as watching two coat paint dry. The Gilligan Universe shows us something different, fast paced, big money, bloody, murderous, exciting! Life is boring why not add spice, lie, cheat, extort, manipulate, murder, get away with it and repeat. Walter White had noble aims for dealing Crystal Meth, a high school teacher struck with the news that he has cancer, to compound things he has mortgage problems and can’t avoid to pay for Chemotherapy. He turns to Chemistry and starts cooking Crystal Meth and it proves to be lucrative. As his power accrues he becomes a monster and killing becomes routine. Cause when you kill one, then you have already crossed the line, you have transgressed, you are already a sinner, you are already condemned and going to hell why not do it again? One day it starts being normal and the cost of business and killing in cold blood becomes a part of you, you gain a reputation, you become the grim reaper.
antakalipa 