Hiphop is a way of life for 25-year-old Adeiye Tjon Tam Pau from Amsterdam, alias MC Complex. “That is what Dutch and Cape rappers have absolutely in common,” he says.
There was this immediate click during exchanges between rappers from the Netherlands and South Africa.
Poverty’s Paradise
Wealth is relative
Is we here at illustrate
Share what’s on your dinner plate
Don’t stuff yourself with the big cake
With no loved ones around you
Just thug ones that hound you
When you flash past in your iron horse
Spending fast cash, you acquired with force
Who would you be, without no chips ta floss
Like rezarection after the kross
You’d be a newborn humble man
Sharing inner light with your brethren
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From ‘Poverty’s Paradise’, written by MC Complex and Rick D - 7th Foul (of 7th Foulnation).
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MC Complex: “Going into the background of another person gives you a better understanding of yourself. It has made me feel more competent in writing texts. The same goes for the South Africans. They were quite surprised to hear that part of my roots are to be found in Africa because I am from Surinam. It gave them a new perspective on Europe.”
Townships
MC Complex feels that there are no basic differences between Dutch and South African rappers. He is, however, deeply impressed by the political and social awareness of his southern colleagues. “At the age of fifteen those guys are already rapping about the heaviest issues,” he says. “They live in a much tougher sociey. They experience crazy things in my eyes. Street violence is common practice over there, with a roughness unknown to us here. Hiphop clearly gives them something to hold on to. They can put their emotions into it.”
“South African rappers try to explain to other young people that it’s not cool to carry around a gun,” says MC Complex. “In this way they are able to give life in the townships a positive twist. In the Netherlands we also rap about violence, but the context is different here. In South Africa you can really feel the tension and destructiveness in daily life.”
Greenpeace badges
“Rap is something you do, hiphop is something you live.” The famous phrase coined by MC KRS-One clearly indicates the difference between rap and hiphop. Rap is putting poetry to music: a technique.
But being hiphop is about your whole life, says MC Complex: “It is about being engaged in the issues addressed in your raps and making a real contribution to society. MC stands for Master of Ceremony. That is a well-respected hiphopper who hosts hiphop nights besides doing his own performances.”
MC Complex raps about things that occupy his mind. Most of his texts are about social and political issues. “I am the sort of guy one would expect to walk around covered with Greenpeace badges but I don’t feel at ease in a club like Greenpeace,” he says grinning from ear to ear. “I’d rather express myself in music. A rap such as ‘Poverty’s Paradise’, for example, is an indictment against superficiality and consumerism.”
Intense battles
“Sometimes I feel lonely being a hiphopper in the Netherlands today,” MC Complex admits. “At the age of twelve I already joined the Rhythm and Ramp Tour. That was in the 1980s. There were very intense battles between hiphoppers from Amsterdam and Rotterdam at that time.
Battles are aimed at outstripping one another in texts and rhyme. Or at commenting, in rap, on the subjects of another rapper. In the streets of South Africa you see many battles starting spontaneously. In the Netherlands performances are staged in clubs.
Hiphop is no longer as popular with the Dutch public as it used to be. They listen to the music and just give a nod. In South Africa the audience will cheer you on. They take notice of the texts; your text is what makes you succeed or fail in winning their respect.”
Inspired by his trip to South Africa MC Complex, together with friends, started his Live on the Low hiphop nights in the Café Winston in the Amsterdam Warmoesstraat: “You can only feel the typical hiphop atmosphere during the open mike sessions at the Winston.” Sanna Jansen is NiZA information officer for the Media Programme.
