Driemanskap will not longer we travelling to Washington DC to take part in the 8th Annual SA Week. Having been on standby since Sunday waiting for the promoter to finalise travel arrangements, Driemanskap finally gave up hope of making the journey yesterday when the promoter could not be contacted.

SA Week is a 7 day event held in Washington DC to celebrate South African culture and heritage through music, art, cuisine and fashion. It aims to create an opportunity for South African artists and musicians to showcase their talents. Driemanskap were due to perform at a music extravaganza on 24th September featuring Hugh Masekela, Ray Phiri, Stimela, BLK JKS, Thandiswa & Nomsa Mazwai, Lorraine Klaasen and Black Coffee.

Driemanskap are bitterly disappointed to be missing out on this prestigious opportunity, but assured their fans and supporters that they will not allow this small setback to discourage them.

Ma-B posted the following message on Facebook

SAD NEWS! Some of y’all must have seen this on Dla’s status but i also owe 2 all of those who prayed & wished us a safe & a fruitful journey. Thank u but y’all deserve 2know that the USA trip is no longer happening. We found out the hard & disturbing way, but it’s only gonna make us stronger.

Redondo posted the following message on his Facebook page:

Okwenzekileyo kuyafana nokudaliweyo, kungakuninzi endikuluzileyo kukwakuninzi nendikufundileyo. 2 al dem 3manskap wellwisherz i b-live uv already heard wat happened about da u.s. trip, as much as al we r dissapointed bt only GOD knowz why. anyway life goes on nd asoze aphele amandla. aluta continua!!! nd 2 much luv 4 ur support, CAMAGU!!!

Pioneer Unit would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their messages of support. You can rest assured that there will be many other opportunities for Driemanskap to expose their talent to the rest of the world. For now, Driemanskap will continue to focus on creating more great music.

That’s how we rrrrrrrrrrrroll!!

We caught up with Dla and Redondo after a recording session at Pioneer Unit Studios in Cape Town. Dla had just finished lacing his vocals for a potential Driemanskap collaboration with legendary conscious hip hop crew Dead Prez.

Dla and Redondo broke down their forthcoming trip to Washington DC to take part in the 8th Annual SA Week…

Click here For more information about Driemanskap’s participation in SA Week

That’s how we rrrrrrrrrrroll!!

Ben Sharpa recently returned from Budapest where he performed at Sziget Festival with DJ Cadik. The photo above was taken on a boat on the Danube river on their way to the festival. The building behind them is the Hungarian Parliament.

Cadik is a stalwart of the Hungarian electronic underground party scene. He’s a producer, promoter, radio DJ and live performer. Ben and Cadik have been working on collaborations which should be out soon. Watch this space.

While Ben was at Sziget he also ran into Gas Lamp Killer so they got their pose on…

For more about DJ Cadik, check out his Tumblr

That’s how we rrrrrrrrroll!!

On Sunday 18th September Driemanskap will be joining a heavyweight delegation of some of South Africa’s finest musicians who are heading to Washington DC to take part in the 8th Annual SA Week.

SA Week is a 7 day event held in Washington DC to celebrate South African culture and heritage through music, art, cuisine and fashion. It also aims to create an opportunity for South African artists and musicians to showcase their talents. The event, now in its 8th year, is hosted by Khabo Mabe On Time, Inc., a Washington-based South African company that was set up to promote South African interests in the United States.

Driemanskap will be joining musicians, Hugh Masekela, Ray Phiri, Stimela, BLK JKS, Thandiswa & Nomsa Mazwai, Lorraine Klaasen and Black Coffee, as well as a host of esteemed participants including the Minister of Arts and Culture, Paul Mashatile.

The packed itinerary includes a series of daily cultural and business events, culminating in a music extravaganza on Saturday 24th.

Stay tuned to PioneerUnit.com for regular updates, photos and videos documenting Driemanskap’s trip. You can also get live updates by following @Driemanskap, @pioneerunit and @MthethoTshemese (Driemanskap’s manager) on Twitter.

Click here for more information about SA Week (including detailed itinerary)

That’s how we rrrrrrrrroll!!

Having created a massively successful platform for spaza hip hop in Cape Town with their Jukebox Sessions events, Driemanskap are hitting the road to give the Eastern Cape a taste of their unique kasi flavour over 3 nights in 3 different locations.

After only six editions, Jukebox Sessions has become an iconic event in Cape Town hip hop. It has become so successful that Driemanskap have been forced to look for a larger venue to accommodate the massive crowds they have attracted.

In keeping with their philosophy of creating a platform for aspiring artists, Driemanskap will be featuring local musicians on the line up at all three Jukebox Sessions: Spring Hip Hop Bash events.

Driemanskap recently came into the public eye after the SABC 1′s primetime music show, Live, showed the video for their street hit, S’phum’eGugs. This was followed by a studio appearance on Live to perform, Camagu. Since then they have released a video for, I Will Make It, which was also featured on Live.

Event #1: Friday 9th September 2011 – East London
E Lounge
Buffalo City Stadium (formerly ABSA Stadium)
East London
R30 (before 11pm)
Doors open at 8pm

Event #2: Saturday 10th September 2011 – King William’s Town
Platinum Lounge
1 Grey St
King William’s Town
R30 (before 11pm)
Doors open at 8pm

Event #3: Sunday 11th September 2011 – Mdantsane
Cappello
Mdantsane City Mall
Mdantsane
R30 (before 11pm)
Doors open at 1pm

Check out the Facebook event page

For further information call:
Xolani: 076 484 3103
Chris: 071 174 6433

That’s how we rrrrrrrrrroll!!

Tomorrow, after spending a week in Cape Town recording his new project, 4DLS (Fourth Density Light Show), Ben Sharpa flies out for his 3rd European tour of 2010. This will probably be his last visit to Europe this year so don’t miss the opportunity to catch him live if you can.

Ben’s confirmed dates:
Saturday October 9th – Salle des Fêtes – Tignieu-Jameyzieu
Saturday October 16th – La Vapeur – Dijon
Friday October 22nd – Festival Rocktabiles – Grenoble
Tuesday October 26th – L’Olympic – Nantes
Thursday October 28th – Nouveau Casino – Paris

Ben will also be performing with the legendary Vast Aire, Archetypes and Gin-i Grindith when he gets back to South Africa on November 13th in Joburg.

If you would like to book Ben while he’s in France, contact Val at Jarring Effects:
val (at) jarringeffects (dot) net

For more details on Ben’s live shows, check out our gig page.

That’s how we rrrrrrrrrrrroll!!

Ben Sharpa talks to So Real TV about his recent European tours and his latest project, 4DLS. Check it out…

That’s how we rrrrrrrrrroll!!

This week we’ll be in studio with Ben Sharpa recording the Fourth Density Light Show (4DLS) project. We started recording on Saturday and so far the sessions have been great. 4DLS is primarily a live audio visual show concept but we decided to make a recorded version that we will release prior to touring the show. You can read more about 4DLS, as well as checking out some photos and video, by clicking here.

Ben is down in Cape Town until Friday, then he’s briefly back to Joburg before flying out for his third European tour of 2010. You can check out Ben’s tour schedule by clicking here.

While Ben is away, we’ll mix the project and spo0ky will start creating visuals. Ben is back in South Africa at the end of September at which point we’ll go into full rehearsals. Hopefully we’ll start touring the show in early 2011. Keep it locked for more info.

That’s how we rrrrrrrrrrroll!!

Rattex has been on tour in Europe with Swiss dub electro band Filewile for over a month now.

Nokia very kindly gave us a lovely X6 so that Rattex could record a video diary while he’s away.

Check out Rattex’s tour video diary on Vuzu.tv

Check out Rattex performing with Filewile at the Woodrock Festival…

That’s how we rrrrrrrrroll!!

Kool Out Live and Pioneer Unit are searching for the illest unsigned emcee in Cape Town as part of our joint birthday celebrations.

One emcee will be chosen from each of four open mic sessions in four different hoods. The four winning emcees will perform at the Kool Out Live event on the 29th of May in Cape Town. The winning emcee on the night will win a recording session with Pioneer Unit at Red Bull Studios.

So far we’ve been to Kuils River and Phillipi where we crowned two winners; NICOTINE LUNG (Kuils River) and MANQOBA (Phillipi).

This weekend we turn our attention Guguletu and Khayelitsha…

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SATURDAY 22nd MAY – GUGULETU
2pm – 5pm at the Sports Complex
Hosted by Driemanskap
Live performances by Driemanskap and Ill Skills
Sound by Red Bull
Skateboard workshop
FREE!

For more information contact Dla on 082 067 9297

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SUNDAY 23rd MAY – KHAYELITSHA
2pm – 5pm at I Section Park, Nanana St.
Hosted by Metabolism
Live performances by Metabolism and Rattex
Sound by Red Bull
FREE!

For more information contact Metabolism on 072 264 4327

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You don’t have to be from those hoods to enter, you just need to bring your A game and be ready to represent yourself to the fullest.

Please note: we cannot accept entries from crews, only from individual emcees. If you are in a crew, each member can enter separately.

See you there. May the best emcee win!

Check out the Facebook event page

Phillipi representing (click photo for larger versions)

Manqoba – the winner in Phillipi (click photo for larger versions)

Big crowd in Phillipi (click photo for larger versions)

The crowd in Kuila (click photo for larger versions)

Nicotine Lung representing (click photo for larger versions)

Nicotine Lung – crowned champ of Kuila (click photo for larger versions)

Click here for the full set of photos (28) of Flickr

That’s how we rrrrrrrroll!!