It’s a cloudy and rainy Sunday afternoon and my photographer (Thabiso) and I are texting about our journey to one of the biggest hip hop events in the South of Joburg. Actually I’ve always wanted to go to one of these events but I kept missing them because I’m just that busy journo. Regardless, I took some time out to attend an event called Authentic Sunday where people actually get up to the most ungodliest things ever hey. Based in the heart of Diepkloof Soweto at The Zone 6 Venue this event is most definitely a party to attend.

So me being me, I’m used to seeing a total of two to three lines at most events: one for those buying tickets, one for those guestlisted and one for the media. When I got there it was some long ass line with all these buzzing born-free’s trying to get in and live up to what Hector Pieterson died for – FREEDOM.

Anyway, I got in and got attended to quickly with no hiccups. My photographer got hooked up too and we decide to go in and check out this event that brings in a total of 3000 people. Here’s the the thing about the people who attend this hip hop event – they all look the same!  Jordans, chains, snapbacks and obviously the girls were in leggings, jeans and crop tops. So I wasn’t really surprised by the crowd but by the actual turn out . People came out to turn up and made sure they brought everyone and anyone that could contribute to making this an epic night.

As the night started buzzing I heard a lovely female voice coming from stage and when I looked back it was the beautiful Ms Cosmo on the decks. I have never heard Ms Cosmo play live and that night just made me give her my Hippy stamp of approval. Damn she can get a crowd jumping in no time!

While I’m walking around and enjoying the dope tunes, Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune calls me  to the side.

“Hey man, please! No pictures or video in this section. My reputation is already not the best,” he laughed.

I giggled and nodded away in sarcasm. Why? Because I knew he would do something later on that night that would make his reputation worse. As I walk away from the goalkeeper I decided to take a brief break and check out the VIP area. When my photographer and I head to the VIP section we sit down and start preparing the lenses and laptops. Within ten minutes of our sit down some guy tells us to leave because the section was reserved for Joburg-based art collective “BoyznBuckz”. We didn’t mind moving but it was kind of embarrassing for the guy who asked us to leave when he saw us getting handshakes from the guys and them asking how we’ve been.

Speaking of  BoyznBucks, when their set arrived later that night trust me all I can say is “iTurn up yangempela“. These guys performed an unforgettable set. I’ve seen these dudes perform so many times but last night was unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed. Okmalumkoolkat threw in energy like never before with his partner in crime Riky Rick right by his side. That wasn’t all – the Boyz had a few surprises for us.

Cassper Nyovest made an epic appearance when Riky Rick performed their popular song The Bizness.  The crowd was just uncontrollable when he jumped on stage. I mean even the little groupie in me showed itself and I also went backstage to go witness this performance up close.

Let me say something quick: when Major League DJ’s played Cassper’s “Doc Shebeleza”, all I saw was a crowd that was ready to tear the house down. I literally felt the ground shaking when they were bouncing around singing along to his lyrics word for word like they were in studio when he was recording the song. The smile on Casper’s face was not an egotistic one, but one that showed how delighted he was to have people appreciate his music so much.

While we there singing with Cassper guess who decides to show his face on stage? ITUMELENG KHUNE! Amen. Sloshed as f*ck, he went on stage just to vibe with Cassper Nyovest. That’s fine, but why did he have to start fights with people when he was done? That’s not all – I think he got too comfy with a female presenter from SABC 1’s Shift Kamohelo Bombe. Where was Minnie when this boy was behaving so badly around women? The drunk Khune was starting fights, swearing at girls and calling them b*tches because they didn’t want to chill with him. Deep sigh. Now I know why Bafana Bafana didn’t make it to the World Cup.

When that drama was over Da Kid X aka “Mr Cashtime Tsotsi For Life” blessed us with an epic performance. His set was okay. The crowd actually didn’t relate to his new song “Pass N Special” but it did go buck wild when he performed the hit single Caracara. The night was still young so there was break from the performances was and a DJ called Mr X threw in a few tunes. Look, some of the DJ’s missed the memo. I thought the theme was “Old School” but the majority of the songs I heard were not. But hey. We partied.

The night went on. It got heated. It got turnt and I did me good and decided to go watch girls twerk for the camera. I  took a few pictures of them too. Later on, I went over to order a drink and had to wait 25 minutes for my change… and it was just one drink, not even a bucket of drinks. When I headed back to my spot a cat fight broke out. All of a sudden girls started beating the living daylights out of each other. Boobs and bra’s flew around and and I had to stop the fight. Yes, me. Where was the security? Nowhere! And this is the Zone 6 everyone goes on about?

I fixed my cardigan, moved away and saw another epic performance take place. Skwatta Kamp hit the stage and took us back to when we were just youngins sagging our pants and trying to imitate  our favourite rappers. It was kind of mind blowing to see guys like Bozza, Nish and Nemza back on stage still giving off the same energy they did all those years back. It’s like they never left. After Skwatta’s set, Cashtime Life’s resident DJ “DJ Vigilante” took to the decks and killed it with no doubt. On the other hand, the boys from that old dance group “The Repertoires” were bouncing around aimlessly. I’m still trying to figure out their relevance right now and even mentioning them in this piece is also just a young “put-on” since they looked like they needed some exposure.

Authentic Sunday. Zone 6 Venue. One night. One party. This was an amazing event and, in spite of a few hiccups the guys who organised this are professionals.  I don’t know about you but I’m definitely looking forward to the next Authentic Sunday.

More images here

Words:@Thy_Black_Hippy

Pictures: @Ric3hard