the throne www.thethrone.co.za
August 2018
Castle Lite presents HIP HOP HERSTORY
ROUGE | MOOZLIE | GIGI
"IT'S IMPORTANT TO ME THAT THEY SEE THEMSELVES AS CEOS, AS BOSSES, AND THAT THEY KNOW THEY CAN WRITE THE SCRIPT FOR THEIR OWN LIVES — THAT THEY CAN SPEAK THEIR MINDS AND THEY HAVE NO CEILING. THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE A CERTAIN TYPE OR FIT INTO A SPECIFIC CATEGORY. THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE POLITICALLY CORRECT, AS LONG AS THEY'RE AUTHENTIC, RESPECTFUL, COMPASSIONATE, AND EMPATHETIC. THEY CAN EXPLORE ANY RELIGION, FALL IN LOVE WITH ANY RACE, AND LOVE WHO THEY WANT TO LOVE."
- Beyonce on her hope for her daughers / Vogue Magazine
THE THRONE | ISSUE 5
THE HIP HOP HERSTORY ISSUE AUGUSTÂ 2018 Editor-in-chief Caron Williams Cover stars Gigi LaMayne Moozlie Rouge Photographer Elijah Semosa | 72 Photography Make-up MakoleMade Beauty Mbali Mkhaya Styling Caron Williams Styling intern Noxolo Qwabe Shoot intern M. Sibalo Retoucher Adelina Tibesigwa Special Thanks Ryan Keys (Ball Growns) A Fashion Agent adidas DNA Brand Architects Buyi Nzima
T H E T HRONE | ISSUE 5
Castle Lite Presents:
HIP HOP HERSTORY "I remember the exact day I fell in love with Hip Hop… Little did I know how much Hip Hop would be a part of my life... Hip hop was as young, naïve, confused, sometimes innocent, and sometimes as mischievous as I was. And as I grew up, Hip Hop grew with me... and along the way it took on all my baggage, my dreams... I felt Hip Hop and Hip Hop felt me. And I know that everyone who loves the music feels the same way I do.” Sid, Sanaa Lathan’s hip hop magazine Editor in Brown Sugar, captured how I’ve felt about hip hop since my formative years. I never would have guessed running around Cape Town obsessed with Faith47, Godessa and all the incredible acts in the city would lead me to eventually be the editor of a hip hop publication, sit on the MTV Hottest MCs panel, or even run my own culturally immersed agency. Being the only black women in any given room still haunts me in many spheres of my life, but I look around South African
hip hop today and I feel like I have finally found home. Above me, sits Lee Kasumba, Melanie Ramjee, Maria McCloy and a host of OGs who are literally the reason I’m able to have a career today. I look into the game and it’s astonishing to me that there are women who look like me, sound like me, dress like me and represent the full spectrum of what it means to be a woman in South Africa in 2018. Nuanced, passionate, talented with unwavering commitment to their respective crafts, I have finally found my tribe. Our Issue 5 cover stars, Gigi LaMayne, Moozlie and Rouge, have risen to become powerhouses in the game. With incredibly different backgrounds, they’ve each passionately fought to establish themselves as forces in an industry that isn’t forgiving to women. As Papa Pope grimly reminded Olivia in The Fixer, “you have to work twice as hard to have half of what they have,” something that still rings true for women in general, black
women in society even more so, and it’s an even more pronounced challenge for women in hip hop. It’s been a harrowing journey fighting for the recognition and respect they deserve, but our trio of stars have taken the challenge in their stride, asserted their positions and are redefining what it means to be a woman in the game. What is does it truly mean to be a woman in the SA hip hop industry in 2018? We’ve seen Gigi LaMayne graduate from Wits University with four distinctions and masterfully spit her way into one of the biggest labels in the country. Moozlie has proven to be a triple threat with her arsenal of presenting skills, fashion prowess and rap career. With a phenomenal year underway, Rouge has bagged a TV presenting gig and cemented her place in the game by winning her first South African Music Award this year. Gigi, Moozlie and Rouge’s multifacetedness, passion and sheer drive has shown a light on the progression made when women are simply afforded
T H E T HRONE | ISSUE 5
their rightful recognition. Their individual strides have also marked a noticeable evolution in the game for women; they’re no longer accepting being relegated to the side-lines. Whilst their ascension in the game deserves much applause, it’s begs the question – why is hip hop still a male dominated genre? Why do women have to demonstrate continuous excellence and outwork their male counterparts to be recognised as legitimate
members of hip hop’s exclusive boys club? Why do women who out-rap their male counterparts still have to fight for their rightful place in the game against men who have half their talent? Who do we blame – gatekeepers, society, patriarchy? And most importantly, how do we begin to address this? Over the course of this month, the powerful trio will be chatting to us about their forthcoming projects, evolution in the game, their involvement with
Castle Lite’s Hip Hop Herstory campaign and interrogating why the game has remained antiquated and deeply entrenched in values that do not promote the success of women.
Nao Serati | Blossom AW18
INFLUENCER OF THE MONTH | TINUKE EBOKA
FASHION MULTITASKER STYLIST BLOGGER BRAND COLLABORATOR
Tinuke Eboka's affinity for fashion and creative prowess has offered her a unique entry into the South African influencer industry. The fashion devotee studied Business of Fashion at French business school HEC Paris, as well as and Styling at Conde Nast College in London.
INFLUENCER OF THE MONTH | TINUKE EBOKA
www.tinukeeboka.com Twitter: @tnxbk Instagram: @tnxbk
IIMAGES COURTESY OF WWW.SPREE.CO.ZA
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE MONTH | AART VERRIPS
www.aart-verrips.com
Aart Verrips "Johannesburg-based photographer, Aart Verrips has captured the attention of the South African fashion scene, while making a global and digital impact. Verrips continues to gain recognition for a distinctive style that merges the daring, provocative and risqué, while maintaining a commercial aesthetic, expansive creativity and attention to detail that hint at his earlier studies as a pastry chef in France. Commenting on his decision to pursue the profession, Verrips says: “I love fashion photography because you can create a different world in one single frame, you can make the impossible seem possible’."
Aart Verrips for Lorn
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE MONTH | AART VERRIPS
AART VERRIPS FOR THEBE MAGUGU SS17
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE MONTH | AART VERRIPS
Nakahne Toure by Aart Verrips for Gay Times
Aart Verrips for Lorn
Aart Verrips for Lorn
THEBE MAGUGU | FIGURES OF FORTITUDE
"For the past two collections – Gender Studies SS18 and Home Economics AW18 – we
THEBE MAGUGU
explored the condition of the female force in South Africa. We are constantly surrounded by women, and on a personal level, the trait I have always found most admirable is their powerful ability to possess both Strength and Vulnerability; traits I feel blessed to have been exposed to with the matriarchal figures who raised me and traits which are monumental in anyone hoping contribute positively to the bigger human condition.For this lookbook, shot on sculpted scarecrows, the two collections come together to form a personal short story: an ode to women. In some of the images, you will see a raging fire taking place; a crop burning we found quite poetic. Some dresses are
Some coats are functional, some are torn in half. I also wanted to create a dialogue about how beauty operates on a very subjective spectrum, which doesn’t have a wrong or right side."
pretty, some are challenging.
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THEBE MAGUGU | FIGURES OF FORTITUDE
FIGURES OF FORTITUDE
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