Siya Metane was barely 15 when he scraped together the money to make his boyhood dream come true. In the backyard of the family home in Katlehong, on the East Rand of Johannesburg, he built a recording studio, partly using his winnings from his showcase turn as a freestyle rap artist on the TV show, Jam Alley.
Dozens of his pals from the neighbourhood would pop in to pick up the mic and capture their own ambitions in rhythm and rhyme, but it was Siya himself who took his fledgling career from the backyard to the front stage.
Today he is better known to his thousands of fans as Slikour, co-founder of the breakthrough rap outfit, Skwatta Camp, and award-winning solo artist whose home on the web, SlikourOnLife.com, is a leading platform for celebrating black entrepreneurship, culture, and music.
A role-model of cool, calm confidence and home-grown stardom, Slikour – his name comes from his one-time habit off slicking up his hair with gel – sat down with Ruda for an easygoing chat about black pride, the joys of fatherhood, and the ultimate key to survival: “Happiness makes you a find a way to live.”
Transcript:
R: Hello, and welcome to another session of the Change Exchange where we talk about life and we talk about change and about decisions and when life happens to you, and our guest today, Siya Metane, much better known, I think, as Slikour, Slikour the rap artist?
S: Yes, yes. That’s what I survived. It was my pipeline to get into everything else, yes.
R: How did you start rapping?
S: You know, when I was 9-years-old, I just literally found this thing, where I was from, we were staying in Katlehong, so my mother’s a nurse, and there’s not a lot of aspiration. So when I looked at these black guys who so-called rapped, who had so much conviction and they were so proud and they’d speak against the system and they’d do something that I’ve never seen before, and if I had to make a choice of the type of black person I would like to be, would it be … And that was obviously still during apartheid, would it be a submissive black, or because of, unfortunately, how our elders were kind-of in an environment like that, where they had to be submissive. Or would I be that black who is just vocal, who just literally had this opinion about things and this love … And so much love for themselves through music, because rap was very conscious at that time also. A lot of it was … I wanted to be that black. And besides just rap the art form, that black was an attractive thing to me, you know?
R: And you were barely 15 when you borrowed money and you built a studio in your parents’ back yard?
S: Ja, I was on a show called Jam Alley … I was actually … Funnily enough I introduced this thing called freestyle on that show, and they gave me some money, which was my capital. I won the competition, that was my capital, I bought some studio equipment, my brother used to work in IT, one of my friends Lebo, his father helped us with some equipment, and that’s how we literally kind of got a studio together in the 1990s before home studios were even a thing.
R: So that was the beginning of Skwatta Kamp?
S: You know when they say you speak things, it’s one thing, but when you do things … That was the action of creating a property that … This is what we really want to do. You know, if I look back with all the other kids, if you want to define yourself, that literally started defining what I really wanted to do, and over time we brought in … Attracted Skwatta Kamp, because at that time every kid from our hood who said they were into music would walk into my mother’s house and my mother would be like, man, my Sibo better not be missing … But my mother allowed me to be kind of, like, welcome, I mean almost 100 kids maybe would literally in a year would literally walk into my mother’s house, going up the stairs and just like, want to record. And that was it, you know.
R: Did you ever consider getting a real job? With a salary?
S: I don’t even know what that is, to this day. I kind of realise that like my whole life was based on what does my mind create, you know? And that also made me realise that the whole world, even a job, is someone’s idea and at that point it was just an idea and it was creative and it was bold. And then it was successful and then that boldness and that creativity becomes a boring job in 50 or 60 or 70 years. So I realised that like, I’m one of those guys who creates things, and all the time I try to get into an environment, into someone else’s idea, who was bold and an entrepreneur and a ground breaker when they started their … Think about the first guys who started the banks, and now there’s like someone going oh, it’s a boring job, you know? But there’s innovation in something ground-breaking about the guy who first started it.
R: Yes, about the origin.
S: So I realised, that my dad keeps on pushing me away from environments where people have created, because it’s almost like my calling is asking me to create, because like I said, I was barely 15, 16 and I really had a studio in my ‘hood, in my house, and there was no commercialness to it, it was just a studio.
R: When did you realise that I can actually make a living out of this?
S: I never ever realised that. Here’s the thing – happiness is the biggest key to survival. Happiness almost literally makes you find a way to live. So when this thing worked, this music thing, someone opened a door and said you guys are great at this. I’m a manage you. S’bu that time was a guy who manages, S’bu from my hood. He kind of opened up that door, and then we had the right songs and the songs literally like, people reacting to the songs, and we were still selling our music off the boot. We won our first music award, South African Music Award, as independent artists. But to show that we weren’t polished like every other artist, and our music was in every store … You know, I was Julius Malema before Julius. I literally jumped on stage and said if our music is not … Because we were still … At that time Musica was one of the biggest chain stores and I think there was Reliable Music, and we always used to fight, get our music there. And they wanted to get the major … The Sony, the BMGs, the PolyGrams and those things still existed. They wanted … Well, Sony still does. They wanted those artists in, because they’re from established labels and not getting independent artists. So I got on stage when we won that Sama Award and I said if our music is not in anyone of these stores, make sure you burn them! And that was a pretty crazy statement and two, three months later Gallo signed us and how the universe worked, we literally had the right song for the whole country to like, because we had songs for our rap guys to like, and rap was still niche. But then, it’s crazy how the universe worked, because we just had the song that the whole country would love.
R: Which was what?
S: It was called Umoya, and to this day this song is still played in clubs and kids … Because we do the math, we go you know, maybe that kid was like 6-years-old when that song … But kids who were 6-years-old when that song was big, are literally the kids that are going to clubs now and they’re singing the words, word to word for this song, until this day. So I am convinced, like I never … My job was to actually create the job. So even when I tried, I did work for a company called Xerox, they call themselves Bites now … I used to … It was called a … I don’t know what it was called. But all I did is I used to connect printers to machines and I’d literally go with these big reams of printed papers at Wits, because one of their clients was Wits, and I’d have all these papers and I’d go to the 7th floor and drop them all the stuff, and I had a nightmare that if I stayed here I was going to be poor. So what happened is, for real, I literally had a nightmare. So what happened was that I had at that time my father was also into taxis, so he was struggling with these taxis. And I was still making money off rap, while I was working at Xerox, so I’m this famous guy who literally catches a cab from home, literally gets off the taxi like here in Bree Street or whatever, and get off the taxis and take a walk to like Doornfontein, because that’s where Xerox literally had the contract with there, and one time I got jacked, well, someone literally took my phone, you know. I was this famous guy going through all this, but I wasn’t comfortable with spending money. So my father was struggling with these taxis, and I said okay, I’ll buy you a taxi, because a taxi is … But this is what you’re going to do: You’re going to handle the streets, I’ll handle the money. Now my father only finished school in standard 1 or … I don’t know if that’s finished, but school finished him in standard 1. Because it’s like a whole 40km walk to school in Mpumalanga. So he never finished school, but he had these taxis but the money management wasn’t there. So I said okay, you do the streets, I do the money.
R: How old were you?
S: I was maybe 21 or 22 at that time. And we grew that to 4, 5, 6 taxis. I think right from that period we almost had like taxis come and go and close to …
R: But that means confidence, trust in yourself? To say to your dad I can do this better than you can.
S: It wasn’t even that. It was just like … Now, remember, I’m buying a taxi and I still don’t have a car. So I’m catching a taxi to work, but I don’t have a car, but in my head I’m like if they only knew I’ve got one too! So it was that type of thing. So now I had two taxis but I was still working at Xerox. I was earning something like R3 000 or whatever the case at that time. But you know, the taxis are making money on the side, the rapping is making money on the side, so I’ve got all this passive money and I’m working this day-to-day job. So I could be there, I could pretend this nightmare comes and goes and literally I feel … You know, I used to sleep at the corner at work sometimes. That means I never liked my job. But I used to sleep when it was quiet, you know? And I had this nightmare that if you stay here … The nightmare literally had me older, sleeping there. And I went to my boss at that time, a guy called Solly, and they were very supportive. They knew my passion is music, so then they allowed me to do my little music things at the side at the office and I went to Solly, I said Solly, I think it’s time for me to go.
R: It was good, but this is the end.
S: Thank you Solly, it is time. Because, you know, also I was struggling to get a job. So they also kind of gave me a chance and it was before the rappers picked up, so I was struggling and so you know I also had to be respectful of that, and I had to be cognizant of that and …
R: So how did Bada Bing start?
S: So, we already when we started out our recording stuff, before we even signed, we already like were selling tapes under a label called Bada Bing, you know. So by the time that we were signed by Gallo, we were one of the few guys to go oh no, we’ve already got a company. And you can deal with the company. So the company ended up becoming a management company and then we all started finding talent over time, yeah.
R: And Ventilation?
S: So Ventilation, interestingly enough, I always had a … It’s like a studio, like having a home studio at that time was unheard of, you know?
R: You had to go professional.
S: Yeah.
R: Go somewhere, pay …
S: Ja, I mean, how dare you think of that. So we had a recording studio and you had to go record in the toilet to do your vocals, okay? So once again, Ventilation, what we did, I told my partner at that time, Lebogang Mothibe, I said … You know, we do these events and people come to our parties and they get picked up and we’re kinda cool, you know? I think we can actually make brands cool. And Lebo at that time was like, nah, let’s just do the music. Let’s just do the music. So I had like a thing where it’s now common where brands are mixing with music or whatever the case may be, so I could tell Lebo that we could make this work, in music. Let’s just get brand in. So you know, we started sending ideas to various, like, companies. We sent to Coke, we sent it to wherever, and it was ideas and then, you know, someone from Coke like, Sprite, literally, a lady called Khosi, picked it up and said why do you keep sending us ideas? We don’t do ideas, we do campaigns, right? And I was like, okay, what is that? And it was like, okay, cool …
R: How do I package?
S: Ja, not even package … That’s far-fetched. We don’t package, we just do, and we’ll see how it ends up, you know what I mean? So anyway, Khosi literally goes boom, so we’ve got a campaign, it’s a music and hip-hop campaign, so you guys can manage the music, which kind of almost gives us a role. So because we’ve got the music role, now I’m sitting at what they call the integrated marketing whatever whatever that like Coke has, and this is when I started learning, oh, target market, consumer, brrr … I start getting all my marketing like cues from there, and my lingo and then I go … So what do they mean when they say niche, so now I’m learning my marketing in this Coca-Cola IMC, and as I learn my marketing, we become almost like the first almost rap outfit to literally organically find a connect with the brand. Not through an agency, it’s the brand. Khosi literally pioneered that, okay, cool, these are the guys we work with, they’re in the world. You know, right now, brands are trying to be that, but you know, like Khosi] pioneered that. We basically made the brand grow by R30 million with regards to PR, you know, and they grew by 26% in the market. And their basketball never did well. They literally only did well because of the music campaign that we kind of pitched to them, you know? And executed also. And that was my window into the marketing world, and no marketing degree, just always like gut. Like rapping, I don’t rap. I just liked rapping and my gut, and I don’t know how to play songs or whatever the case may be. I just was able to kind of create one of the biggest songs in rap, you know. And then here I am, four, five years later, I’m not working with Lebo now, I’m a partner at like TBWA, TBWA’s experiential agency, all it is it just was gut, it was a sense of this is what I need to do. So I’ve always …
R: What do you say to a youngster out there?
S: Well, I mean …
R: How does one find that way? I mean, I’m sure every road is individual, every path is individual, but what is the principle coming out of that? Even if anything?
S: Well, it’s a simple principle, you know, just like when I started, someone was bold and said, like, you know, maybe if we put a couple of bricks together we can make a house? And then someone gave it a name and said well, that’s architecture. And design. And then maybe that was architecture, maybe that’s construction. All these ideas … We’re in a world created by ideas, and the only thing that keeps the world bubbling is ideas. And who creates ideas? It’s people, so you’ve got to believe that you’re just as important and your idea counts. But most importantly, you will fight for your idea to count. That is the core of it. Fight for your idea to count, because …
R: Don’t let it go if the first person you approach just …
S: And it’s not even people, sometimes the world is not ready for your idea, but the world was ready for you, so if the world is ready for you, that means you’ve got to be patient, you know what I mean? So make your idea count, and that’s what we’ve got to fight for. Everybody’s got ideas, but people aren’t fighting for their ideas to count. And that’s my thing. Right now, I mean, I … So literally, just an example, like three, four years later, I’ve never started marketing … I’m a direct partner in this agency, I mean, I’m just a rap guy, right? And then it doesn’t speak to my heart, and me and my partners, we decide that we should go our separate ways. We built this website called SlikourOnLife. It’s a music website, we create content and it’s not making money, but I saved up some money, I said I’ma make this thing count.
R: Your videos are amazing, they really hook you in.
S: Yeah, yeah. So I say I’m a make this thing count. Right now, SlikourOnLife is in the Top 1 000 websites in the country, right? Second to that, we, I was speaking to a big marketing agent, one of the biggest marketing agencies and they said it’s the first time they see a person in black entertainment who is not inside the entertainment industry, actually turning the business of a website. So even the business that we created with SlikourOnLife, we found angles in the digital marketing space. So I literally taught myself digital, and then I literally understood content, and then I married those worlds together. And like, right now, what we’re doing with influencers, what we’re doing with content, what we’re doing with that, it’s all of the fact that I tell the guys that I never stop doing what I love, and it’s music.
R: Let’s just, what’s the website address?
S: It’s SlikourOnLife.co.za.
R: Ja, it’s really worth it, go and find it. It’s really worth it.
R: I wanted to ask you something else. There was one single, that really stirred things up, and that was Blacks are Fools, 2010. Where did that come from?
S: It’s a thing about having ideas. A thing about believing that you can make the world better. One journalist said you’re such an idealist. Therese Owen once said that to me. I never knew what she meant – what does idealist mean anyway, you know? But now that I know, I truly am. And I was like … I just have this vision that like … I have this optimism that everybody wants to be better, I have this optimism that everybody will align to make the world like be better, and make things be better, not only for now, but for tomorrow, for the kids of tomorrow, but for tomorrow, for the kids tomorrow, and everything else because of where we are as a county, and then you realise that that’s not always the case, you know? You realise that money is a huge motivation for people and it’s not about what have I done that counts, you know. Because then you realise that those are not people that fight for their ideas or ideologies to count, those are people who are fighting to actually like live off other ideologies of this is the status that money gives me, this is the status that position gives me, this is the status …
R: Listen to that song … There’s a serious irritation. You are furious?
S: Yeah, it is. Because, in all that when I talk about broadcast, when I talk about … I’m like … You guys should be helping us, you guys should be building us. We should be creating an industry where the artist can survive. And we’re talking about even marketing, we’re talking about like, manufacturing, we talk about retail and we talk … And we go, so … One can go, yeah, it’s white people, but it’s global. People that own a lot of what’s happening. And we aren’t … The political powers aren’t opening the door. The broadcasters aren’t opening the door for the talent. And the world is moved by creatives. So if you don’t feed the creative, basically, you will not be able to see any fruit from it, right?
R: So why are blacks fools?
S: Because at most times, specifically … Because blacks are fools, but we’re better than that, because I looked at the guys that I feel are our leaders at that time, I look at the guys that we feel like have the power to move us forward. And all the time we speak to them, they literally like, are, they don’t care about development, you know? I’ll go as far as saying that it’s one thing for let’s say a BEE, literally like goes buy in to a global company. Buy into a global chain. Where is the BEE that talks about the African idea? And the African idea goes well maybe the African idea does not have enough funding, so because it does not have enough funding, that’s where like the … Whether it’s white capital, whatever you want to call it, then plugs into that. Because once you build that African idea, that’s when you build African pride, that’s when you build African patriotism, that’s when the kids want to be African. But like, as long as you keep on allowing the global idea to always grow, like kids always feel disorientated, they say where do I fit in here, you know?
R: But maybe because of a very provocative title, you … There was a huge backlash … And then two years later you made the most amazing music video? Was that as an answer?
S: It was. We’re in times where truth is trouble. So if you want to move forward, though, you’ve got to let people know where you stand, right? You cannot be neither here nor there, you’ve got to let people know where you stand. And I’m the nicest guy in the world, but I’ve heard like people don’t like me, and they’re anti-me, not because I’ve done anything to them, because you know, I’m truthful. Because I sincerely want to make a change, you know? Building SlikourOnLife was off my pocket, and it’s employing so many kids right now. I’m employing like, we’re three years old, we’re employing like 12 kids, you know? I’ve had one acquisition, and there’s possibly another acquisition that’s happening. We might grow like another extra 10, 20 kids. And you know, people go, so you’re … I’m employing kids from the ‘hood. It has nothing to do with race; it’s got everything to do with we do things for our culture. So these kids literally understand the music that like we resonate to, and the artist. So sometimes they diss to kind of be in the positions to work there, but you know why? My investors are literally like invested in an African idea, from an African kid, which is creating opportunities for other African kids. Now for me, that’s the BEE that we need to build, where we need to develop African ideas, because those African ideas literally like cross the border on who they help, depending on what they are.
R: Do you believe, well, do you experience that black entertainment is a viable business environment?
S: I mean, I think that there’s no such thing as black entertainment, there’s no such thing as black industry, because we haven’t created the right structures to make it a business. I’ll be honest – something that’s smoother that our industry is the Afrikaans industry, but they in themselves have created that industry so they can be able to live off it, whether it’s through concerts, through music or whatever else they do. But we don’t have that. You know why? Because the industry is dependent on other players to make it happen, and as black people we aren’t taking ownership of our industry.
R: Are you going to do that? Are you going to change that?
S: Well, look, SlikourOnLife is the biggest online platform right now. SlikourOnLife is speaking to various brands and we’re helping brands to direct money to artists in an authentic and relevant way to support their content. I mean, something that was just trending right now with one DJ, with Euphonic DJ, he out of his heart just like found these kids, it’s trending well and he just found these kids and it trended and it’s doing well. And what we’re doing now is we’re placing a brand to properly support the music. Right now, this is the beginning of the translation of African dreams, African aspirations and African ideas can start being invested in by the corporates that actually make like money off these Africans, you know what I mean? So it’s a small thing. I’m not saying it’s the biggest thing, but you know, you’ve got to literally like start small. So the question is … I am doing it! I am doing it and I’ve been doing it. And we started Skwatta Kamp and we were the biggest thing, it was an indication to me because I was too young to know. It was an indication of the power our culture has. A. It was an indication of, if we own the culture, this is what it would mean for our people, and if we own the culture this is what it would mean if business wants to interact with our culture. We were once supposed to be signed by an international label. This international rapper came – Ludacris, and we did some stuff and they tried to take us, they took us overseas, we tried to meet up with Jay Z at the time, and the only reason the deal never happened, they’re like, you guys are big ass artists, but you don’t own the value chain. And that’s what they’re saying – we don’t own the value chain. So right now, we’ve got to start owning the value chain, and the first way we own the value chain is by embracing the culture and saying that’s our strength. And you know, when we talk culture, I mean, whether … I’m not even going to talk rap or whatever, but you look at like the Ndebele and the Lesotho people and you look at their fashion, now Luis Vuitton is out there, creating like jerseys that look like Lesotho stuff, you know what I mean? Nothing is like … Why is that? Because we haven’t taken ownership of our culture. And when we do take ownership, we don’t want to put money in it and like take pride in it, you know. So it’s a big job, it needs more than me. But I need to wake up every morning and say like I’m not only doing my part, but I’m leading the conversation.
R: You now have a six year old son?
S: Yeah, he’s a crazy @#% @#%.
R: How has he changed your life? Are you very involved in his life?
S: Highly, highly involved. I see him every two weeks, because I’m not with his mother, but he’s got a stepfather and he’s had his stepfather like seven, eight months or so, you know? And they live together, but you know, he can, without me telling him … He keeps on … So his stepfather is white. So he calls his stepfather dad, you know? I’m fully kind of integrated, right? And he calls me baba. He will come back to me and go, baba, I think you’re my dad. So he’s figured it out because that’s how present I am in his life.
R: And how is having a son changed you, do you think?
S: I think it just shows …
R: Does it make one grow up?
S: It shows me the urgency of fighting the ownership fight. It shows me the urgency of owning the story of our culture.
R: For his, and his generation’s sake?
S: You need to be rooted in something. They gotta look back and go damn, you know. This is what they did, we gotta do better. We don’t have that – the only thing we have is in politics, you know, Nelson Mandela, OR Tambo, this is what they did. But you know, now we gotta … These kids need to look back and say this is what these guys did with culture, this is how these guys took this brand and this is what they did with it, and this is the connection of that, and that influenced the retail because this is the merchandise or the clothes that they created, and that influenced the outlets because this is the products that they started selling. These kids need to start like having those stories from an African perspective, because right now we picked them from a global, from an American perspective. So for me my son already has shown me the urgency of like, not waiting for tomorrow to do it. You’re either going to jump in the deep end or you’re either going to go I can’t swim and I’m not sure.
R: And talking about his mother … You said you’re no longer with her. You’ve had serious relationships.
S: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
R: And now you got married? What made you decide that Melissa was the one?
S: I’m a bit of a madcap, you know? But like a passive madcap. I’m so like my son, it’s because I’m a mad scientist, you know. I believe in things and it kind of puts people in a fear. Maybe that was a thing in my previous relationships … I have these visions of this is what I am going to do, you know? And I’m not sure, but I’m a do it. And sometime when you’re in a relationship with somebody, they just want to go, you know, I just want to make sure we’ve got food in the house …
R: Stability.
S: Stability, you know. Besides Melissa just being a great person, you know, when you’re with someone besides your parents that enables you to enable yourself so you are enabled to tap into your greatest visions, dreams …
R: Allow you to be everything you can.
S: Without questioning you. She knows that I literally walked out of an agency where … What are the chances that I’d get anything better, because I never had a degree, I was a partner, blah blah. She knows I walked out of that to follow the side thing. And she goes just like urgh, but she stuck it out. And it’s grown right now, and it’s growing business right now.
R: And how did you and she decide on how to get married? Because the cultural thing plays such a big role.
S: Yeah. Well, you know … I literally … I’ve got a strong belief that like my ancestors, and everyone who came, I just feel like we’re like this network. You’ve got different poles and different countries, but it’s different poles and different lifetimes, you know what I mean? So I feel there’s a strong network where I come from. I feel I am the ups and the downs of my family tree and I felt that it was important to do things in a cultural manner, and you know, she’s like, aye, cool.
R: What’s her background?
S: She’s … Her father’s side, they’re Xhosa, but like, she’s also like a bit half, like, she’s like coloured.
R: She was willing to step into your world.
S: Yeah, you know, her father passed away, or at least it’s like she lives mostly … She lives with her mother who’s very much in the coloured side. So there wasn’t sort of very much a resistance to kind of stepping into my world. Obviously we’re still respecting the Xhosa aspect of it – because she can’t run from her bloodline, no matter what she look like. She’s still that. So we’ve got to balance that and we’ve also got to speak to her network on her side and do the right thing.
R: And how are you going to create a home where you both and your families are at home?
S: I think, you know, the kids already like – she’s also got a daughter who’s the same age as mine – same age as my son. So we create that environment, we create that environment, you know? Culture is just a way for you to connect with your ancestors, but human beings will be human beings. They all have their flaws. You’ll see your flaws in your kids, you’ll see your strengths in your kids and it’s about you. I always say if you know that at 5-years-old you were broken or you had a huge crack, you’ve got to start plastering that crack for your 5-year-old kid right now so he doesn’t turn out the way it turned out for you. So essentially we all like got cracks, and the sooner we plaster ourselves, the better we become. What like parents are supposed to do, that’s why I feel like the presence in your kids’ life is so important. What parents are supposed to do, parents will see the plasters … The cracks of their kids quicker, because it’s a reflection of them. And even when your child is living with someone else, they might see it as a nuisance or they might see themselves as I’m just being patient with them because I just love them, but you know, when it’s your kid, you literally like, obviously you love them, but you already know the crack, so you switch them off quick. So you go hey, you better stop with that right now, because I know where that is going to end up, because I ended up there. So you better stop, you know what I mean? So that’s why for me, I’ll never not like be present in my kid’s life, or any of my kids’ life because I can’t be preaching that I believe the world can be better, but I’m not fixing an individual that’s a part of the world that actually is my seed. So you’ve got to start at home before you speak in the streets.
R: Yes, yes. Siya, thank you so much. I really enjoyed this. And all of the very, very best. Until next time, then. Bye-bye.
S: Peace.
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