Youth Magazine Issue 6 by Youngfunfree

Issue 06

Young.Fun.Free

Youth

Youth is a digital magazine run by the youth, for the youth. To help celebrate, educate and entertain while providing a free space to share your thoughts and ideas about the challenges faced by the youth of South Africa.

EDITOR IN CHIEF ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Gloria Godwin Akhona Ntsume

WRITER

Philemon Segone

WRITER

Philisiwe Malinga

CONTRIBUTORS Nom.Rain, James Mwanza, That Guy Erika, Celine Hendricks, Lemar Griffiths, Bruce Mahla, Kopano Polisa, Rookshana Wilson, Tiisetso Khumalo

INTERVIEWS AND FEATURES: Thando Simelane , XXC Legacy , Milk&Bone

MODELS Karabo Nkwale, Cassandra, CeeC, afro.diety, kb.Lee, Dreadhead.yoda, Keggowoods

DESIGNERS Feliz Pierra, Mpho Ramotala of MPHOETICdesigns, Tully-Glo Studios

CONTENTS TOXIC MASCULINITY

TRANS SISTERS

27 23

INTERVIEW

BEHIND THE SONG

38 Unemployed Youth

WHAT'S IN THE BAG?

CONTENTS

EDITOR’S LETTER When I and a couple of friends started this magazine at the beginning of lockdown, we thought it would be easy. I mean it’s just content creation after all, or so we thought. That same “easy” content creation then turned into having creative blocks, not being able to submit articles on time due to hectic personal schedules, and a dash of procrastination and laziness here and there. We thought it would be easy until life happened. Creating this issue took us just about seven months or so and for a bi-monthly magazine, that’s a really long time but finally, our 6th issue is complete and ready to be read by you. For every single person who has been patient with us, thank you for not throwing in the towel just yet. For all the people we randomly hit up, thank you for not turning us down even when you were probably very skeptical. For every contributor who helped us put this together, thank you for your submissions. To all the writers, this would not be possible without you and your determination, and lastly, for every single reader, new and old, thank you for taking the time out of your day to flip through these pages, created especially for you. Youth issue 6 is not about love, it’s not about hate, it’s not about culture and it’s not about entertainment. It’s about a society that is a work-in-progress. Working daily to become better in terms of our actions, our thoughts, and our conversations because as Khang Nguyen says, happiness is not about a finished product. It’s about a work in progress.

Gloria Godwin

TRANS SISTERS

For me COMING OUT IS A HUGE DECISION, WHICH COMES WITH A LOT OF IMPACTS. OTHERS MIGHT FIND IT DIFFICULT TO COME OUT BECAUSE THEY KNOW THE PEOPLE AROUND THEM MIGHT NOT BE AS ACCEPTING OF THEM BUT NEVER CHEAT YOURSELF OR THE WORLD FROM GETTING TO SEE YOU GLOW BECAUSE PEOPLE MIGHT NOT ACCEPT YOU, LIVE YOUR LIFE BEING UNAPOLOGETICALLY YOU.

SISTERS

TRANS SISTERS

CREATING A COMMUNITY OF SUPPORT, LOVE, AWARENESS, COURAGE & SISTERHOOD.

TRANS SISTERS

DO NOT allow anyone to take your happiness away from you by living a life based on their opinions. People will never stop talking regardless of what you do.

Be you and make the most out of your life rather than slowly dying inside because you not living for yourself.

SISTERS TRANS

SISTERS

TRANS

MODELS: CeeC, Karabow Nkwale & Cassandra

Director and Photographer: Gloria Godwin Assistent Director: Philisiwe Malinga Brands: Feliz Pierra, MPHOETIC designs & Tully-Glo Studios

s in a roo e i r e m s A

DEAR BROS –

TOXIC

MASCULINITY AFFECTS YOU TOO

submissions

DEAR BROS/ TOXIC MASCULINITY AFFECTS YOU TOO

We don’t talk about it enough but sometimes it sucks to be a man. I know we don’t bear children, we don’t go through menstruation and we don’t have certain tasks placed on us like cleaning and cooking. We are encouraged to “do what boys do”, we are allowed to stay out for as long as we like and we can get drunk and pass out without fear. No, what males of every age face are physiologically warfares. We don’t speak about it but it’s there. Like there are these “rules” and cultural pressures for men to behave in a certain way. Rules that all men and boys should live by that automatically turn us into men but in the end, those same rules end up messing us up. It's statements like men need to act tough and avoid showing all emotions. Men don’t cry, men like sports, men don’t play with dolls and the list is endless. Toxic masculinity glorifies unhealthy habits and also encourages unhealthy behavior. In school, being a man was about how many girlfriends I had, how fast I could run, and about never backing down from a fight. Being a man then turned into being measured by my strength, how to never let anyone see me cry, and how many women I could smash.

You see, you never really think any of these statements about how to be a man are wrong because they’ve been passed down for countless generations that it's normal for men not to cry because if we do, we are weak. It’s normal for a man to be aggressive and fight because we are supposed to be protectors. It’s normal to have all the finical pressure placed on us because we are supposed to be the providers. But it’s not always healthy.

As a growing man, I can say it with my chest, men really are the biggest contributors to gender-based violence because we don’t know how to communicate our feelings, because we want to show off strength and not look weak and dare I say because our egos can be very fragile. But if we don’t acknowledge that we have a problem, then we can’t really fix that problem. I chose to address toxic masculinity to prevent further misrepresentation of what it means to "be a man”. It’s okay to cry and show emotion. Crying doesn’t make you weak, it makes you human. It’s okay to wear pink because it’s a color.it doesn’t always have to mean something, if I like it, I’ll wear it.

YOUTH

Toxic masculinity glorifies unhealthy habits and also encourages unhealthy behavior. It’s okay to be called gay even if you are not or even if you are. Other people’s words shouldn’t really hold that much power over us and I don’t know why we allow it to. Sexuality is a spectrum. It’s okay to get scared because it’s a natural, normal human reaction. It’s okay to run away from dangerous situations because all though I’m the “man”, I didn’t sign up to be the sacrifice. Must I die because I’m the man? . It’s okay to wear skirts if you like. Fashion is ever-evolving and you should never feel like you can’t wear certain clothing items because of what society says.

It’s okay to hate sports and the gym and it's okay to not have abs. believe it or not but dudes have body issues too; we just don’t talk about it. All I’m saying is let’s break the chain because suppressed feelings contribute to broken boys who turn into broken men and fathers, who then pass on those same traits to other boys. Can we love ourselves enough to not let society break us down? Can we love ourselves enough to not feel the need to prove our masculinity with all those stupid traits and actions? It’s cool to not objectify women. It’s cool to have a skincare routine and it’s cool to tell people exactly how you feel. You are allowed to, if only you allow yourself to. Real men protect women, not hurt them. Real men aren’t afraid to hug each other. Real men cry. Real men have problems; real men wear pink and real men get their nails done. Real men don’t objectify women and real men have fears too because real men are human.

Model: Dreadhead.yoda Director and styling: Nom.Rain Photographer: Gloria Godwin

When I first joined Instagram I remember seeing a bunch of pages dedicated solely to hair, makeup, celeb culture, and memes but I never really saw any pages dedicated to amazing black women doing amazing things until MILK AND BONE. This very page has gone on to become one of the most influential pages to date, with over 170k followers run by young people. I got the opportunity to speak to the amazing due behind the lifestyle blog about where it all started and the importance of body positivity and representation in the media.

-Tell us about the birth of Milk &Bone. It came from us just spending too much time on Instagram because it was still quite an uncharted space, especially the influencing industry. Every Friday we would would ‘brainstorm’ and exchange screenshots of posts we found really cool and trendy which we dreamt of featuring/creating on our own blogs in the future, most of these posts came from pages just like ours now, pages that reposted content. Then we realized there weren’t pages like that which were South African based, so we decided to start our own.

-As young people we juggle so many things at the same time, how do you find the time to create content for your blog?

-If you could describe your blogging style or voice, what would it be? Fashion, lifestyle, beauty, self-care, and affirming the positive. Also making sure we raise awareness on matters around us.

We try to have a schedule on when to post and what, we also try to plan ahead because of the way our page is set up, we need to look for content that fits our page. It can also be a ‘post when you can/get a little time off so the planning ahead comes in handy. In terms of the content that we create, it's just a matter of being free and available to create/shoot.

-What made you start the Milk & Bone outreaches?

-More people are getting into content creating because it’s a way of making an extra income these days but how important is it to stay authentic and true to your style?

We wanted to branch out and make M&B more than just an Instagram page, we figured why not spread goodness and help where we can whilst doing it.

-Do you think that social media contributes to body criticism and do you think that because of this there is a specific definition of “perfection” to be obtained? Not as much as before, at the moment a lot of people are changing the paradigm of body positivity. A lot of women and men are standing their ground in being proud of how they look, they’re expressing themselves and gaining a lot of attention. This wave of body positivity is getting a lot of people away from the idea that the “model body is perfection" and everyone is starting to love their own bodies and embrace them. Social media has actually given many people voices to break down this “perfection “ label.

We think it's important to love what you do first, it should be something you would be doing even if you were not getting paid to. Staying authentic requires you to stay true to yourself as well and be honest about why you want to be a content creator, finding this truth pushes everything else, you’re able to stay consistent and see the good in what you’re doing even when things are not going so good.

-What are the biggest misconceptions about blogging or bloggers? The biggest misconstrued idea of blogging and bloggers is that they are superficial people, that they value more of the material aspects of things rather than face value. Also that bloggers live perfect lives and they don’t face everyday struggles.

-What is the importance of body positivity and representation in the media?

We feel it is just important to be yourself and be confident in the way you are, if you are looking to make any bodily changes it should come from your own personal will and not social pressure. People should be able to freely express themselves.

-What stigmas do you think must be thrown out the window when it comes to representation? Definitely, the narrative that women can’t be seen in certain clothing as it is alluding to the fact that they are “asking “ for attention. This feeds into men being able to post flaunting their bodies freely whereas when women do it is seen as provocative and inappropriate.

-What wise words can you give to anyone who currently battles with body positivity? Love yourself unapologetically and continue to do so every day that you get the chance to, your body does not define you and what you are capable of achieving.

On the cover Models: kb. Lee, Dreadhead.yoda, Keggowoods Director and styling: Nom.Rain Photographer: Gloria Godwin

YOUTH

Model: kb.Lee Director and styling: Nom.Rain Photographer: Gloria Godwin Jacket: Tully-Glo Studios

SONG

BEHIND

THE

Interview

Rudeboy

Thando Simelane (North the jap mix) (feat. Khumo Pulumosa)

Rudeboy, Rudeboy, Rudeboy You such a fuckin vibe, you a mood boy You turn your whole life into a Moodboard Rudeboy, Rudeboy, Rudeboy Rudeboy, Rudeboy, Rudeboy, Rudeboy, Rudeboy, Rudeboy, Rudeboy

INTERVIEW

Thando Simelane A JOBURG HUSTLER IN THE FOREFRONT OF JOZI'S YOUTH CULTURE. WE SPOKE TO THANDO, RAPPER, SONGWRITER, AND DESIGNER ABOUT THE INSPIRATION AND ORIGIN OF RUDEBOY, A TRACK THAT WE COULDN’T GET OVER AND THIS IS WHAT HE HAD TO SAY.

WHEN DID YOU START WORKING ON RUDEBOY? I started writing on the song in 2019 mid-year.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO CREATE RUDEBOY? So, I’m watching a fashion exploration TV show, just got back from work and the theme that day was looking into the Rudeboy UK subculture, I’m relaxing. Beep, North sends me the beat to the song. I like the term and I thought it would be a great name for a song, so I decide whatever song goes on this beat is called Rudeboy but I had to relate to what I have experienced in my life. ·A lot of people also say I look rude and mean, so it makes sense to kinda theme a part of my life as being a Rudeboy plus I love clothes too.

DESCRIBE YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS? My process is different from song to song, some songs are written without a beat, some songs the beat tells me what the song is about, and some take longer. Sometimes it takes months to even come up with a solid song.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR ALBUM AND WHAT EXPERIENCE THE LISTENERS SHOULD GO THROUGH WHEN LISTENING TO YOUR BODY OF WORK? The project is called A FAIR WARNING the message behind the name is I am coming, you might not see it, but I am and if you see me coming, you are lucky because you were warned.

The listeners should be like, this guy just woke up, his hood is fucked up, people are striking but all that's on his mind is money, and he's coming to the commonplace of hustles and he does it because he got himself and his siblings to take care of. All he wants to do is just live a good life, but he soon notices there’s no love in the city but a sucker for love, yet the city won’t give it, and if it does it's fake love. But all that shit does not distract him from his mission, and he keeps to himself and becomes a Rudeboy.

HMM…CAN I GET A JOB, PLEASE?

A personal account of a young person’s fight to provide.

I don’t think any of us thought it would be like this. I couldn’t wait to finish school, I couldn’t wait to graduate and I definitely couldn’t wait to get a job. I fantasized about the entire thing you know. what I would do when I got my salary. I planned on maybe getting an apartment and a car and I would take care of my family because you know, black tax and all. Finishing school was supposed to be exciting and thrilling but three years later and it’s still pretty depressing. South Africa, a country where power outages come easier than a young person getting employed, with the youth unemployment rate being at an all-time high of 75%. I mean 75% guys…really? SUBMISSION

Sometimes you just have to ask yourself is it a scam? You know the whole, go to school first and then go to varsity and then graduate so you can get a good-paying job because when you look at it, more than half of the graduates right now don’t have a job and it’s not easy finding one. I know people think that the youth don’t work hard enough, that we want everything handed to us and that we are lazy. The older generation thinks we are so fragile and that they can’t say anything to us because we’ll probably get depressed, which they obviously never had in their times. But the truth is, they don’t get it, and how would they? Half of what we face is new to them. People think that the reason young people don’t have jobs is that we simply don’t want jobs, because we are not willing to start at the bottom but the reality is that we’ve applied for those “bottom” jobs even with our 25 qualifications, 2 volunteer gigs and 30 testimonials of how amazing we would be for the job, we still don’t make it and that’s really messed up. I’m not saying hand things over to us on a silver platter but I am saying can our government do better. If you not going to create jobs for young people can you at least invest in our business ideas without us having to know someone who knows someone, who knows someone connected? I don’t even think this is a cry anymore, at this point it’s a scream. It’s a scream for better government, it’s a scream for better policies and it’s a scream to try to help the youth because, in Whitney Huston’s words, the youth are the future.

YOUTH

ASK THE YOUTH Question: How did your first heartbreak change you?

-IT MADE ME ACTUALLY REALIZE MY WORTH AND THAT I SHOULDN’T WAIT AROUND FOR A MAN TO TREAT ME THE RIGHT WAY.IT MADE ME REALIZE THAT I’M ACTUALLY A PRIZE. THAT’S WHY I ONLY CRIED FOR LIKE A DAY. I WAS LIKE “WAIT, WHAT AM I CRYING FOR? HE SHOULD BE CRYING!” AND IT TURNS OUT HE IS, I CAN’T TELL YOU THE NUMBER OF TIMES THIS GUY HAS TEXTED ME.

- It made me look for the fine print in everything a potential partner has to say. Like a mini detective. Some trust issues erupted.

- It changed my life and perspective forever; I was no longer the same person after that. It taught me to be more conservative in terms of relationships.

ASK THE YOUTH Question: How did your first heartbreak change you?

- Okay. I think the one that really changed me is the one that still pains me but fulfills at the same time. The relationship taught me things about myself and that definitely changed how I moved with other people. Right now I’m not as patient and tolerant of people who “need time”. Because waiting for someone to realize how compatible we are, and how deserving I am of everything I ask is how I found myself still heartbroken 5 years later. I used to be okay with waiting for people to come to terms with themselves and what they want from a relationship with me. Since then I don’t “chase” after partners. It's either you tell me what you want, what your intentions are, or l leave. I don’t like ambiguity, I don’t wanna get to know each other and see what happens. I need to be with people intentionally, even if it's just vibes, I need to know I'm vibing with the intention of just vibing and nothing else. So I guess it also made me suspicious of people. I don’t trust men, one bit. But it also taught me that physical attraction is the least important aspect when I have great affection for someone. I mean, I loved him before I saw his face, and going forward I always looked for that feeling of pure abandon when I consider new people. Uhm I also became more guarded after that. I mean I cried for that relationship more than I've cried about anything since I was a toddler. I cried for like a year. He was my person in every sense, and if he could leave me, anyone else could and it would hurt the same. Madly contributed to my low self-esteem. So I tried to avoid giving anyone the chance to make me cry for over a year. His leaving also made me more grateful for the people who stay in my life. That pain, taught me to be honest with my feelings so there’s nothing left unsaid, that I think is what keeps the pain alive. I think one thing it definitely did for me, was highlight my attachment issues, so I now move in acknowledgment of that.

ASK THE YOUTH Question: How did your first heartbreak change you?

- My first heartbreak I think made me come out of my bubble on what relationships are like or would be like. I feel like, before it, I had a different perspective. I never got cheated on or anything (that I know of) but it still really hurt coz you know when you get attached to a person and stuff. But yeah I think it just changed my view. Made me trust people a lot less also. But emotionally it also made me strong because I realized I can handle anybody leaving my life and I'll be fine so it gave me power in that sense I guess. It really made me realize that I just need me, myself, and I. but at the same time, it didn’t make me believe that love doesn’t exist or something. Or that I won't trust anyone again or something. Nah I still believe in love and that I'll find my forever one day and I also try to remind myself that love is still out there and that I don’t want to project my past experiences into my current life in a negative way you know.

-At first, I hated the guy but as I was healing, I realized that I made mistakes too in that relationship so no one was perfect. It taught me to be honest always and not to feel ashamed about who I am. If you love me, you will stay; if you don’t you will go.

-Well I was the main but it was about time I had to realize there is so much to give in a relationship. Way more than just expressing love through words and actions

WHAT'S IN YOUR BAG? We asked stylist, old skool DJ, Wardrobe buyer, and go to thrift aunty, THAT GUY ERIKA what her top essential items are that always stay in her bag, come rain or shine and this is what she had to say.

WHAT'S IN MY BAG

Lipgloss

Phone

Powerbank

Sanitizer

Extra Mask

Gum or Candy

Youth Magzine

Model: afro.diety Director and styling: Nom.Rain Photographer: Gloria Godwin

Karabo Khafela

NEW AGE TRADITINAL HEALERS

NEW AGE TRADITIONAL HEALERS Conversations about African spirituality and religion have always been comfortable and controversial topics to touch on but in recent light, we are seeing a new rise of young traditional healers walking in this path proudly (as they should). Karabo Khafela, A 21 year old incarnate of healers and diviners within her lineage tells us about her journey as a young healer.

I believe I’ve always been led, my source and spirit, with my gift shinning bits of its light through dreams and energy. I pose now as a healer that is aware of her self, yet still open enough to learn from all that is spirit and universe. My art has always been my guiding light into my gift, mainly because I grew up in a family that didn’t practice spirituality.

As a healer, one has to understand that it is not only about the patients that come to you for healing, but also about healing yourself, always. It’s not about learning about herbs and divination through bones but being a vessel the universe uses to speak to the earth. That is why as a healer, be it traditional or not, the connection with your roots and kundalini/dlozi/badimo, together with your reiki/isthunywa/moya is important.

Most of the time, being a young healer required more strength and also a level of patience. Most are believed to not know how the land of the spirit communicates with them. And this had a lot of stigmas arise about being young and walking the path. Some of these come as a test and others a lesson. Hence one needs to be in tune and believe in themselves and the spirits that work with them. I believe, in this generation, we go through so much that it’s easy to lose yourself in the progress of it all, yet a lot are willing and working to find themselves in the midst of chaos. Being a Kundalini yoga instructor, I’ve learned about the truth of self and spirit and I am still learning this truth as a more infinite power within everyone who walks on the earth.

Though I know a lot of healers and spiritual healers may argue on this, but I still firmly stand and preach about practice of initiating students into the realm of the spirits. This is after my recent realization that, we are creating a community of healers, yet a community of unhealed traumas and miss educated initiates. This is because, now when one is said to have a calling, all they ever do is let them walk on the journey the “Gobela” has walked and not in the very same way the ancestors would require the initiate to walk into. A lot of us as people have lost key roots of spirit and that is the connection to mother and father spirit (source energy and creative energy). We are yet to understand their language of codes that spirit uses to speak to us and we are yet to get lost in the very same language of codes due to miss education and being misled. Writer Karabo Khafela

Youth

RU RU DE DE BO BO Y

INTERVIEW

XXC LEGACY

Courtney Mthethwa, also known as XXC Legacy is a Multi-talented singer, rapper, and instrumentalist from Johannesburg. On a random day, we caught this other YouTube video that she was in and all we can say is not only is this queen gifted in the musical department but she also serves the laughs and the vibes! We had the pleasure of getting to know a bit more about her and this is what she had to say.

XXC LEGACY HOW DID IT START FOR YOU? WHAT GOT YOU INTO MUSIC? IT STARTED WHEN I WAS WATCHING AN ADVERT AND IN THE ADVERT, SOMEONE WAS PLAYING VIOLIN AND I POINTED AT THAT VIOLIN AND TOLD MY MOM I WANTED TO PLAY IT, MY MOM THEN EVENTUALLY GOT ME INTO VIOLIN LESSONS AT AROUND THE AGE OF 7. I DIDN’T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO GO FOR LESSONS THOUGH AND I WAS RAISED BY MY UNCLE AND MY AUNT AND THEY HAD A KEYBOARD AT HOME SO I WOULD JUST TEACH MYSELF THAT. FROM THEN I WENT TO THE NATIONAL SCHOOL OF THE ARTS AND FROM THERE I STARTED RAPPING AND SINGING AT THE AGE OF 16. HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE AND SOUND? I AM A SINGER-RAPPER, SO I DON’T SPIT BARS OR FLEX ABOUT HOW RICH I AM OR HOW RICH I WANT TO BE OR HOW PRETTY I WANT TO BE, OR ANY OF THE MATERIALISTIC THINGS. I SING ABOUT WHATEVER’S IN MY HEART. SO IF I FEEL LIKE A BAD BITCH TODAY, I’LL SING AND RAP LIKE A BAD BITCH. I MAKE MUSIC BASED ON EMOTIONS. MY STYLE IS MORE LIKE A HIP-HOP, BOOM-BAP, RNB VIBE WHERE IT MEETS EACH OTHER. SO TODAY I CAN DO HIPHOP, TOMORROW I CAN DO BOOM-BAP, TOMORROW I CAN DO RNB BUT IT’S MAINLY BOOM-BAP/HIP-HOP RNB.

IF YOU DIDN’T BECOME A MUSICIAN, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING? I THINK I WOULD BE WORKING AN OFFICE JOB OR DOING SOMETHING IN BCOM BECAUSE I WAS STUDYING FOR A GENERAL BCOM DEGREE ALTHOUGH I DIDN’T FINISH. IF NOT THAT THEN I’D PROBABLY OWN MY OWN RESTAURANT BECAUSE I LOVE COOKING. WHAT’S THE SINGLE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT IN YOUR CAREER FOR YOU? WHEN I STARTED RELEASING PROFESSIONALLY. THIS WHOLE TIME I WAS SCAMMED BY MYSELF. I THOUGHT I KNEW EVERYTHING AND I THOUGHT THAT YA! SOUNDCLOUD GIRLS WE UP! KANTI SOUNDCLOUD DIDN’T GET ME ANYWHERE. I REALIZED I HAD TO RELEASE PROFESSIONALLY IN ORDER FOR THE WORLD TO GET TO KNOW ME AND FOR INTERNATIONAL PEOPLE TO GET TO KNOW ABOUT ME. SO THE FACT THAT I COULD RELEASE PROFESSIONALLY AND PROPERLY LIKE ON DIFFERENT PLATFORMS, THAT FOR ME WAS JUST LIKE A WOW MOMENT LIKE YOU’VE GROWN.

NOT ONLY ARE YOU AMAZING ON THE VOCALS AND THE RAPS, BUT WE CAUGHT A FEW SNIPS OF YOU PLAYING INSTRUMENTS AS WELL. PLEASE TELL US MORE ABOUT WHICH INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY.

OKAY, SO I PLAY THE CLARINET, THE BASS CLARINET, AND THE PIANO. THOSE ARE THE THREE INSTRUMENTS I PLAY FLUENTLY AND PROPERLY AND I’VE STUDIED THOSE INSTRUMENTS AND FINISHED THEM. I FINISHED CLARINET UP UNTIL GRADE 7 AND PIANO UP UNTIL GRADE 5 AND THE SAME FOR BASS CLARINET. THEN THE REST OF THE INSTRUMENTS I CAN PLAY BECAUSE I KNOW HOW TO PLAY PIANO, SUCH AS THE FLUTE AND I CAN TRY PLAYING THE BASS GUITAR HERE AND THERE, THE ORGAN, AND JUST A FEW STRING INSTRUMENTS.

WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO COLLABORATE WITH IN 2022?

TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR COLLABORATION WITH MOOZLIE AND KID X? WITH KID X IT STARTED AT DJ SLIQE'S LISTENING PARTY. I WANTED TO WORK WITH KID X FOR THE LONGEST TIME AND I JUST DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO TALK TO HIM AND THIS WAS LIKE FOUR YEARS AGO. SO WE SPOKE AND I KEPT ON SENDING HIM TRAP AND DRILL BEATS AND HE WAS JUST LIKE NO, NO NO NO, IT’S NOT MY STYLE, SO I LET IT GO. AND THEN LATER ON LAST YEAR I WAS JUST LIKE EISH DUDE I STILL WANT TO WORK WITH YOU AND THERE’S THIS SONG I THINK YOU MIGHT LIKE BUT I DON’T KNOW IF YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH THE KEY. I SENT IT TO HIM AND AFTER A FEW HOURS, HE RECORDED IT AT THE SAME TIME. WITH MOOZLIE I WAS SPEAKING TO HER IN MAY AND I WAS TRYING TO WORK WITH HER SO MUCH, SO I WAS LIKE YOH PLEASE I WANNA WORK WITH YOU BECAUSE I JUST LIKE HER SENSE OF STYLE AND HER SENSE OF STYLE IN MUSIC AND HER APPROACH. WE SHARE THE SAME PRODUCER SO I JUST DECIDED THAT YOU KNOW WHAT, LET ME HIT HER UP THROUGH MY PRODUCER AND LET’S SEE IF WE COULD WORK SOMETHING OUT THAT WOULD CHALLENGE HER MUSICALLY AND LET’S SEE WHAT WE CAN DO AND SHE KILLED HER VERSE LIKE TJO. I THINK IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST MOOZLIE VERSUS.

IN 2022 I’D LIKE TO COLLABORATE WITH STILO MAGOLIDE, WITH BIGSTAR JOHNSON, WITH OKMALUMKOOLKAT, WITH A-REECE, MASHBEATZ, AND THATO SAUL. WHO ARE YOU OUTSIDE OF MUSIC? OUTSIDE OF MUSIC, I’M A BUSINESSWOMAN. I HOST EVENTS FROM TIME TO TIME AND I ALWAYS TRY TO FIND A WAY TO MAKE MONEY ON THE SIDE. TELL US WHAT A SATURDAY IN YOUR LIFE LOOKS LIKE? SO IF I’M NOT PERFORMING OR HAVING MEETINGS WITH MY MANAGER OR WORKING OUTSIDE OF MY MUSIC OR MY BRAND, I ENJOY SPRING CLEANING ON SATURDAYS, LIKE MY FRIENDS LIKE TO CALL ME A MOM EVEN THOUGH I DON’T HAVE KIDS. I ENJOY SPRING CLEANING ON SATURDAYS OR SUNDAYS AND MAKING MY FAVORITE MEALS. IF I DO HAVE THE FUNDS I’LL BUY MYSELF ALCOHOL AND NETFLIX AND CHILL BUT YA. USUALLY, IF I’M NOT DOING ANYTHING I’LL HAVE A LAZY OR CHILLED SATURDAY.

WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE BEST SONG YOU’VE EVER RELEASED AND WHY? MY BEST SONG! OKAY, I CAN’T REALLY SAY I HAVE ONE SPECIFIC FAVORITE SONG BUT I’VE GOT MY TOP 3 FROM MY RELEASED SONGS. I THINK THE FIRST SONG HAS TO BE END OF DAYS, WHY? I FEEL LIKE THAT’S WHERE PEOPLE CAN FIND OUT WHO XXC IS IN TERMS OF MY SINGING AND RAPPING. THAT’S THE ONLY SONG WHERE I’M SINGING AND RAPPING AND I RAP ABOUT SOME OF THE PERSONAL ISSUES THAT I EXPERIENCE FROM HOME. THE SECOND SONG IS KHONA MANJE, EVEN THOUGH I DID IT AS A JOKE JUST TO PLAY AROUND, I THINK I EXPANDED WITH MY VOCAL RANGE A LOT LIKE I HARMONIZED TO THE CORE AND LAYERED A LOT OF VOCALS IN THAT SONG. THE THIRD ONE HAS TO BE RUNAWAY; IT BROUGHT A DIFFERENT SIDE OF US IN TERMS OF MUSICALITY. I WAS SINGING MORE BECAUSE I DIDN’T WANT TO RAP ON IT AND MOOZLIE’S VERSE WAS JUST FIRE.

IMAGINE YOU LOOKING STRAIGHT INTO THE CAMERA RIGHT NOW AND THIS IS YOUR MOMENT TO ADDRESS A STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH ARTISTS, HIP HOP, OR THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADDRESS AND SET STRAIGHT? IF I WAS LOOKING STRAIGHT INTO THE CAMERA I’D LIKE TO SAY STOP COMPARING RAPPERS!! OR FEMALE RAPPERS ALTOGETHER. I DON’T EVEN LIKE TO SAY FEMALE RAPPERS. STOP CALLING US FEMALE RAPPERS. WE ARE WOMEN WHO RAP, NUMBER ONE. DON’T COMPARE ANYONE’S JOURNEY. JUST BECAUSE THIS PERSON IS A SOUNDCLOUD RAPPER AND THEY STARTED LAST YEAR AND SOMEONE ELSE HAS BEEN IN THE INDUSTRY FOR FIVE YEARS AND THEY DON’T HAVE THE SAME CLOUT OR WHATEVER, OUR TIME IS DIFFERENT. GOD’S TIMING AND OUR TIMING ARE NOT THE SAME. DO NOT EVER COMPARE SOMEONE’S MUSIC AND DO NOT EVER COMPARE SOMEONE’S BRAND BECAUSE OUR ALIGNMENTS ARE ALL DIFFERENT AND WE ARE NOT THE SAME PEOPLE.

XXC LEGACY

E L CX

YCAGE

XX C

IF YOU CAN HAVE YOUR FANS REMEMBER ONE THING ABOUT YOU, WHAT WOULD IT BE? I’D WANT THEM TO REMEMBER THAT XXC IS VERSATILE IN EVERYTHING THAT SHE DOES. SHE’S NOT BOXED IN ONE GENRE BY SAYING SHE’S A RAPPER. IF YOU WANT ME TO DO DRILL, I WILL DO DRILL. IF YOU WANT ME TO DO HIP-HOP I WILL DO IT, BUT I’LL DO SOMETHING THAT SUITS MY SOUND.

HOW DO YOU STAY GROUNDED AND FOCUSED AS A YOUNG ARTIST? NUMBER ONE – PRAYER. IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE AS AN ARTIST THEN HOW WOULD YOU KNOW WHO GOD IS, YOU NEED TO BE ALIGNED WITH THE LORD. ALSO, DISCIPLINE, IF YOU ARE DISCIPLINED WITH THE LORD, YOU KNOW THAT YOUR MORALS AS A HUMAN BEING ARE ALSO DISCIPLINED. SO IF YOU ALIGN YOURSELF WITH THE WORD OF GOD, THEN YOU ARE SORTED. I ALSO KEEP MYSELF DISCIPLINED BY MAKING SURE I HAVE MEETINGS. I HAVE MEETINGS CLOSE TO EVERY DAY, IF NOT EVERY DAY THEN EVERY SECOND DAY AND I MAKE SO THAT MY TO-DO LIST IS ALWAYS UP TO DATE, AND IT'S ALWAYS WITH MY MANAGER TO SAY OKAY WHAT ARE WE DOING TODAY, WHAT’S THE MOVE TODAY.

FINISH THE SENTENCE; I KEEP IT P BY… I KEEP IT P BY STAYING CONSISTENT IN EVERYTHING THAT I DO AND BY HAVING MOMENTUM. LASTLY, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON THAT YOU WOULD LIKE THE PUBLIC TO LOOK OUT FOR? I’M WORKING ON AN EP CALLED END OF DAYS AND IT MIGHT BE DROPPING IN APRIL. I HAVE TWO NEW FEATURES AND AN INTERNATIONAL COLLAB WITH A PRODUCER FROM GERMANY AND WITH ANOTHER PRODUCER FROM AMERICA SO STAY TUNED FOR THAT.

MODEL:AFRO.DIETY DIRECTOR AND STYLING: NOM.RAIN PHOTOGRAPHER: GLORIA GODWIN DRESS: TULLY-GLO STUDIOS

HERE'S WHAT TO ASK FOR AS A NEWBIE PLANT PARENT Our top 5 list of the easiest household plants to care for.

RUBBER PLANT

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BIRDS NEST

SNAKE PLANT

Res•o•lu•tion /rezо’ ɭooSH €n/ -A firm decision taken by a Hun or gent to do something they have been aspiring to do or determined to quit a certain habit. 2022, a year to resolute or not to resolute? At the beginning of every year, people make decisions that are to change certain aspects in their lives that they are now more aligned with. This form of rebranding comes at a specific time which is usually the beginning of the year. This either works or (for most of us) takes a turn for the worst and doesn’t. There’s nothing wrong with having new year's resolutions matter of fact it is good. It’s the pressure that comes in when you don’t follow up with these ‘resolutes’. That causes havoc of stress and unnecessary anxiety.

If you have been making resolutions all these years but have never achieved any I suggest you stop because the problem is the lack of honesty you have with yourself. Instead of instantly rebranding let’s focus on identifying why we cannot fulfill these purposes and what’s holding you back. The reality of this whole situation is you cannot wake up from the year 2021 to 2022 and your mind has completely altered, having adopted a different mindset and having different actions altogether. The problem could be not understanding what resolutions really entail. As most of us just take whatever writing equipment that is at our disposal and jog down “ideas” or “aspects” that we want to change in our lives. This is a call for destruction because you are not consciously engaging with yourself and understanding why and where the need for having these resolutions comes from. Self-introspection will creep in in areas of your life where you don’t think it necessary, but it is essential. Therefore do everything with and nothing without it. So, to start off this Year do not just limit yourself to a list of things you want to quit, things you want to achieve, a habit you want to develop just because you are entering into a new year. Instead, be intentional with the type of person you want to be by investing your time in questioning yourself how you got here and being honest with the time it’s going to take and the amount of work that you will have to sacrifice to get to that. Basically, the aim is not to quickly aspire to reach a goal but aspire to be honest with why you want that and how you planning to get there. Cheers to burning that list of resolutions.

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