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Yes, yes, we all know that public holidays in SA = braais, booze and hangovers.
But there’s far too much happening outside your yard this Heritage Weekend for you to do the usual shtick of braaing with the friends.
First of all, there’s STR CRD (that’s Street Cred, for the un-hip people who don’t know) on 24 September. It’s a street festival that covers music, fashion, art, technology and skateboarding, among other cool things. This year’s Str Crd takes place in Joburg, at the hip Maboneng Precinct. Musicians such as Dirty Paraffin, BLK JKS and Theophilus London will be there. You should be there too. Tickets for Str Crd are available here (you can only buy them online)
If you’re more into house music, check out the Castle Lite Spring Fiesta at Wild Waters Complex in Boksburg, also on Heritage Day. There will be five dancefloors with a whole lot of DJs playing, such as Lulo Cafe, Black Coffee, Culoe de Song, Liquideep, Mi Casa, DJ Kent… Phew, it’s going to be massive. Book for tickets here.
If gigs and festivals aren’t your scene, then perhaps SA Fashion Week might interest you. Surely the most prestigious and hotly-anticipated event on the SA fashion calendar, SAFW will take place at the posh Crowne Plaza hotel in Rosebank, Joburg. Designers showing this year include Clive Rundle, Amanda Laird Cherry, Black Coffee and Gert Johan Coetzee. The Nelson Mandela-associated brand, 46664 Apparel, will make its runway debut at SAFW, which takes place from 22 – 25 September. For more info, visit the official SAFW website, dahling! *kisses on both cheeks*
For the more cultured among us, there’s Joburg Art Fair. The fair places the spotlight on contemporary African art and takes place over three days. So if you’re one to throw around terms such as “Cubist” and “Impressionist” and to name-drop Rembrandt and Caravaggio, this is the place for you. If you’re looking into starting an art collection or scoping out the African art scene, the Joburg Art Fair is a must-do. Tickets are R100 for a one-day pass. You can book online here.
There’s lot of cool stuff to do this weekend. Don’t disappoint me and have a braai with your mates. Be adventurous, get out there, be social.
Who knows, we might rub shoulders somewhere.
Black Coffee has been nominated for an MTV EMA
And in some good old scandal-free news, DJ Black Coffee has been nominated for an MTV Europe Music Award.
Hurrah, hurrah, we’re quite impressed and very proud of the man.
Whether you like house music or not, it’s almost impossible to ignore the man’s talent for making smooth beats. That guy is a hitmaker of note – and it’s not one-season music either, it’s near-classic stuff. Clearly MTV could not ignore his talent, either.
The category he’s been nominated in is brand spanking new, and it’s called World Wide Act. The award will feature five nominees from five different regions: Africa/ India/ Middle East, Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America and Europe. Black Coffee is one of five nominated under the Africa/ India/ Middle East category, and if he garners top votes he will be in the World Wide Act category.
So I guess it’s like a nomination for a pre-award. Or something.
Either way, well done to Black Coffee. Good on you, man!
Alicia Keys has been cheated on, if rumours are true
The rumour mill has kicked into overdrive for Alicia Keys and her producer hubby Swizz Beatz.
Apparently, allegedly, supposedly, Mr Beatz has been doing some funny things behind his Grammy-winning wife’s back with a 23-year-old woman named Christina Elizabeth.
The story goes as follows:
Beatz and Elizabeth met at Solange Knowles’ birthday party in 2007. Nothing happened at the time, but they stayed in contact. Regularly. Via their Blackberries and through other means, too (wink wink, nudge nudge). The two would send each other explicit messages that nobody would want their mother to see. Except, now they’re all over the interweb for millions of us (and Alicia) to see after Ms Elizabeth lost her phone recently.
For those who don’t know, what makes this story juicier than the average cheating celebrity husband tale is the fact that Alicia was herself, at one point, the mistress. Yes, when she and Beatz got together, he was married to someone else. Tut, tut. It seems the words of Alicia’s hit song ‘Karma’ are coming true, with her getting a taste of her own medicine.
But Ms Keys brushed aside the cheating rumours on her Twitter with the following tweet: “Some things are just LAUGHABLE!!!!! Now, Let’s Continue to SHINE!! Everything else is just a waste of time!!”
We can only hope.
Has anyone seen the new KFC ad starring Khanyi Mbau and Kelly Khumalo? Like the previous ad with goalies for rival teams Moeneeb Josephs and Itumeleng Khune, the two are “united” in their love for KFC. Hmmm…
For those who don’t know, Khanyi and Kelly have been sparring in gossip rags for a while now. Kelly even bliksemed Khanyi in a Rosebank salon once. And now, lo and behold, the two are in an advert sharing a new meal that has pap in it (only black girls eat pap, KFC?).
We wonder just how much the two were paid to not only be in the same room together, but to fake a friendly conversation. Imagine how dramatic the shoot must have been – we would have loved to be the gaffer at that filming. Actually, do the two REALLY detest each other or have they just been putting on a show for some paragraphs in a story and insets on a gossip show?
Either way, KFC is cashing in on this – and so are Kelly and Khanyi, although their love/hate relationship is so 2010.
So, KFC, who will star in your next ad? Dineo Ranaka and Nonhle Thema? Wouldn’t THAT be juicy?
The flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, its spring time and once again time for Arts Alive. The month long festival has all sorts of entertainment for all types of people.
It consists of all forms of art from music concerts, theatre,comedy shows if you are in Johannesburg this month you have no reason to be bored.
One of the highlights for the festival is the Africa Unites concert which includes Nigerian artist ASA and Eric Winana it takes place on the Friday 2 September at Bassline.
The Jazz on the Lake on Sunday 4 September at Zoo lake with a line up which includes Melanie Scholtz and 340ml also promises to be a great time.
Other events to catch in the next week are Reggae night at Bassline in Newtown.If you are into Dance Season of Simplicity will be shown at Joburg Theatre from the 2 – 4 September.
Prize of Peace is a theatre show about Nelson Mandela and F.W De Klerk set in the Grand Hotel in Oslo. The show is set on the night before they won their joint Nobel Peace Prize. It will be shown throughout the month of September at Old Mutual Theatre on the Square at the Sandton Square.
The Social will be tweeting live from some of the events throughout the month. Follow us on @TimesliveSocial
