Forever Younging With B.A. Nhlapo

Her hip hop weekend slot for Sedibeng FM between the hours of 18:00 and 21:00 is very popular among her listeners who range in demographics from youngin to old timer. Her popularity amongst students can be credited to her days on Open Varsity, a show on SABC 2 which aired Monday to Thursday, where she together with two other presenters helped students tackle varsity and life challenges through interaction. Small in stature, her presence more than makes up for her petite frame. She enters Chicken Licken, where I have been patiently waiting for her, like she owns the place. It’s quite obvious that she draws people in. People want to know who she is and why she thinks she’s the shit. I ask her this when we finally sit down to eat and talk about her interests in merchandising, hip hop and eventing.

Tell me about these events you’re doing I say to her. There’s an assignment lying on the table under a textbook for events management. She tells me that she’s pursuing the degree. Her logic is that even though she has eventing experience, she needs the degree to be taken seriously. She also is adamant, almost fierce even, about her having paid her dues in the little leagues. She’s chasing events on a Big Concerts scale and she sees herself there not in the next ten years she says, but in the next three or four. Her emphasis also is in the manner in which she’s been trying to make money from her events. “It’s no more short changing the artist, it’s no more asking favours from artists. I’ve looked at ways and gaps to ensure profit. People have been talking gate takings but there are other small ways to make money”.

Guiding her back to the topic of her having paid her dues she shifts slightly in her chair and her hands become animated, often confusing the air in front of her. It’s evident that she is very passionate about this topic. I tell her how blown away I am that she is now at a point where she realises where she’s made her mistakes and even recognises their patterns before they manifest. This is powerful. Especially because she’s done it so soon. People usually take ten to fifteen years to accomplish this; this is why it’s called paying your dues. She’s quick to correct me though, saying “No it’s not so soon. People forget that I’ve been throwing events from the age of 21. I’ve been laughed at. I’ve walked in rain to auditions. I’ve been bullied over deals. I’ve done so much, and at that age I was a little wet behind the ears. The passion was there though and I was the first person that age to throw a proper event in the Vaal where you had a big stage that cost about R50 000 and security that cost about R20 000. They took a chance on me, SAB and a guy called Zoey. I put together a stupid proposal, but I made sure that it had gloss on it [laughs]. I went there and I told them you are gonna love it. I sold them my confidence and they bought it”. If you want to know if a person has paid their dues, go to where they live and ask about them. Go to municipality and find out if they know this person. Trust me I’m done paying my dues for a R3000 payoff. I want to play in the big leagues. People will say you’re so money orientated. Hell yes! I’m not doing all this here for my health. I want my money”.

How important is an ego? I ask. It’s something that we hear a lot, selling ‘them’ confidence, especially in this industry.

“In this industry, the product you’re selling is you. You need to have that Kanye West ego. You have to. My business partner and I went to a meeting and when we got out of it he said that I wasn’t my usual self in there. I told him I sold me, I sold us. I didn’t care what they felt in there. You can’t sell something you don’t believe in, and I believe in our product so I sold it. "

How do we bring that down from corporate to the artist, I interrupt her, it’s all very well on the business side of things, but when you are a rapper, how does that same ideology work for you?

“Right now there are a lot of slashes. A person is a rapper slash producer, slash graphic designer and slash radio dj. Choose one thing and stick to it. Stop trending, we’re trending all the fucking time. If someone is doing music, you want to do music, if somebody wants to be a bus john, you want to do it. You just keep on trending, that’s why you never succeed because you keep on jumping into what’s cool at that time. Stop that shit. Entrepreneurship is not fashion. This here is hard work. And stop with all the meetings! We can do business over skype or email or WhatsApp if need be. If you say to me we need to meet and it’s honestly something we could’ve spoken about over the phone, then I’m charging you for petrol and my time. It’s costly to meet for everything. There are other ways to communicate.”

What inspired your jump into media?

“Three years ago I decided I was done. I used to work for a company that imported international books and brought them to SA. I went from a basic salary of fifteen grand to saying I’m done. It was the time the reality show Forever Young was airing. First episode, I was sitting there, eating with my girlfriend of the time. We had a very comfortable life. I had a two bedroom townhouse with a pool outside, nice. Driving a Velocity, this was the in thing at the time. Living the debt life (laughs), not the good life; you know what I’m saying? But I was done. I was at the point where it was a drag having to go to work because I could do everything with my eyes closed. I was no longer challenged. It was sales, and I could do it so well, they made me deputy sales manager. I had that killer instinct of knowing which book would do well in SA and that gut feeling never let me down. But I was bored. I knew I was gonna kick ass every month, but I wasn’t fulfilled. Everybody who came to see me at the office would say “You should be on TV or radio. You talk too much. Why are you here?” So back to sitting at home, eating with my girlfriend watching this programme; I remember when it first started Scoop reminded me so much of me. And then there was Thomas and then there was Lungsta. And these guys were living life. They were travelling, presenting, acting. They were getting paid to do what they love, and that opened my eyes. I started thinking to myself I could get paid for this life? That is fucking awesome! And I know my girl looked at me just then coz I had this look on my face and she said to me ‘you better not do something crazy’. That’s how well she knew me. But I did it (laughs). There was a repeat of the show and I was at home watching and something Siyabonga said about if you do something you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. That got to me and so I called my boss and quit my job. I remember it was the middle of the month. My boss was trying to convince me to stay; he saw that that wasn’t working so he started convincing me to at least give it two weeks. My contract required me to give them a month. I quit that same day.”

You’re such a rebel I say to her grinning and shaking my head. So? What happened next?

“Forever Young didn’t happen for me”, she responds laughing. “I got another job soon after and stayed away from anyone trying to tell me about TV and radio and all of that. I started dating another girl. The other one left me saying I was crazy leaving the good life for fly by night dreams. So we were shopping at the mall and I was talking to some woman behind the counter who was so rude. I was calming her down in a very cocky manner but at the same time you won’t get it coz it’ll fly over your head, you know what I’m saying? At the back of me was this guy from, I don’t know, but they were looking for contestants for this show. Because I’m over auditions and acting and all of that, when (after finishing our transaction) this guy approaches me talking about auditioning for his show, I tell him I’m not interested because now I’m under the impression that

He wants to mess up the comfortable life I’ve just recently sorted out again by selling me dreams. Unknowingly, my girl gets his card while I’m in the bathroom and asks about the details for the audition”.

I like this girl…she had your back

“You know what I’m saying? The auditions were in two days, and they were talking. So on the day, she calls me at work and tells me that she’s sick and that I need to come home. I’d just clocked in. I speak to my boss and tell him there’s an emergency at home and then leave again. When I get home, she tricks me into going to Randburg. I don’t know how…I don’t know what she said, but I found myself driving to Randburg with my ‘sick’ woman. She even knew where we were going, directing me ‘turn left, turn right here’ [At this point I am laughing my behind off]. A lot of pre-thought went into this I tell B.A. “You know?” she responds laughing, “So now we’re at the Urban Brews Studio gates and I am so ignorant I don’t know what that is. I’m signing in thinking we’re going to the doctor. We park the car and head over to a queue. I can see familiar faces of actors in this queue and for the first time, I ask my girl where we are. She says ‘don’t be mad, you’re auditioning’ “.

Did you get that job?

She did.

How important is it to have a partner who supports you I ask B.A. after calming down from the giggles. She’s serious again when she responds. She tells me that as a hustler it’s extremely important. Your partner must be able to see the bigger picture with you, and be willing to go through the day to day with you. Negativity must be limited. Your partner is the one person who can easily influence your decision making process. She/he is the closest to you and so they know what it takes to get you to do or not do something. If they are not in alignment with your dream then they can most definitely shatter it.

Tell me about your journey with hip hop…

“I noticed hip hop via Kriss Kross’ “Jump”. [She starts singing the chorus and embellishes the lyrics]. I remember I Kriss Krossed my jeans and when I got home my mom smacked the hell outta me. This guy had a Walkman at school and everybody wanted to be his friend just so they could listen to that one song. It was crazy. A few years later though I heard Pac’s “Dear Mama” and that changed what hip hop was for me. Suddenly it wasn’t just a gimmick, it was life. I could relate and that’s where my love for it grew from. Very few people know this about me, but I used to rap in a cipher underneath a street light in Sunnyside with the likes of JR and Flex Boogie. I look at these guys now and I’m happy they stuck with it and made it. But what’s surprised me is that the guy who was the baddest at our cipher, you know that guy that comes in and you know that it’s over for everyone else? Yeah, well he didn’t make it. I guess JR and the others left their comfort zones to pursue it and that’s why they are here they are.

So who do YOU listen to now?

She says that it’s different to what it was back then. Back then the priority was in the message the lyrics told. Having grown as a person in the past years, she’s drawn mostly to people who can make her think while also making her dance. J Cole, Jay Z and Kanye West come to mind. [Coincidence much?]

Kanye’s dress sense and hip hop also being about wearing the attitude on the outside bring us to merchandising.

How did you get into merchandising?

“It started off in high school when I saw a gap in having LBGTI clothing. I used to shop with my mom and I couldn’t find the right clothes for myself. All the female clothes were too girly and all the male clothes were too male. I started to think that there needs to be a cross over. Something I can wear, something I can relate to. This is when I started with the brand ‘Ong’shebileng?’ Which was an eye on a t-shirt with the words UP TOP. People loved it. I had the opportunity to launch that brand of t-shirts and hoodies at FTV Brooklyn and we shut it down. People came from everywhere to support and it was just amazing. I was 18.

For five years after that I concentrated on school and my sights were set on being a professional soccer player. What brought me back was watching the brand Amakipkip make a strong comeback. When I saw that, I knew I could also come back. At that point I was getting into wearing my own designs, t-shirts that I was making for just myself".

How important is it to wear your own designs?

She exhales deeply and looks me straight in the face. “Very important” she says “You’re out there advertising all the other brands to the kids and you have no idea who they are. I feel like if we start wearing our own urban brands we’re not only feeding someone else’s kid, we’re building the economy in such a way that we have money rotating. I believe in that so much”.

The saying PUSHA PRESSA PHANDA is not new. Walk me down the thought process from popular kasi saying to brand.

“I’ve always believed in; the more you see something or the more it’s on you, the more you’ll be about it. When I first started, I wanted it to be for me. My t-shirt in the morning as I go out to go do my things. I wanted it in every colour. I got together with the graphic designer Mmitsi. We got introduced on a project that didn’t work out, but the relationship was there and when things fell apart, he left the design with me so I asked him if I could use it and he said yes. The design itself came out very well because when I described it to him, I literally said that the hand must be reaching out for this money and the money must be running away on some ‘na na nana na’ tip. It came out beautifully. I’m also learning that you cannot be shy about your brand. You must not be afraid to bombard people with your brand and have them talk about it."

You’ve branched out now from just doing tee’s?

“Yes, PUSHA PRESSA PHANDA now includes socks, vests, bucket hats, sweatshirts, caps that I plan on sending as a teaser to key people in the industry. It’s definitely not just a t-shirt thing anymore”.

And then there’s your brand BLESSED…

“Blessed was something I said all the time. People would ask me how I’m doing and I’d say blessed. How’s life? BLESSED. That was just me. How BLESSED, the brand came about was I met a guy who wanted a bucket hat but didn’t want the popular colourful ones that were in. He wanted something simple. So I thought to myself, if I get a plain bucket hat and get a sick font and just write BLESSED, I would make a killing in the month of November. I need money right now…I’m broke! So I just literally went to the nearest shop where I could get a bucket hat but I didn’t get the type I was looking for. When I finally did get the kind I wanted, the guy who was embroidering the hat bought it [Laughs]. When it got out, everybody in the Vaal wanted it but I kept it exclusive. I didn’t want everybody getting it. I wanted that one popular boy at school to have it…the people wanted more, and the more I delayed, the more they wanted it."

Marketing plan one man?

“It worked perfectly. Supply and demand. It’s the small idea’s that make big money”.

So where to with merchandising and getting your brand out there?

Now I’m looking at getting at your high-end t-shirt. Not so much PRESSA PUSHA PHANDA in your face, something subtle of very good quality that will tell people quietly what the brand is. We’re also trying to venture out into jewellery. Look, I don’t want to get into too much, but I also don’t want to keep it stagnant. This year is about making Guap, not pennies.

You started with Sedibeng FM in October of last year in their weekend hip hop slot, what have your highlights been thus far?

“I started off in what I like to call the party starter slot from nine to twelve. I then got moved down because I was in demand; people were always calling in to find out what time my show was starting. That was dope for me because I took over a house slot. And if you’re in radio, you understand how big that really is. I’ve only been there for eight months, it’s a great accomplishment”.

“I’m really fucking good at what I do. And people will say that its ego, but it’s not, its facts. Why should I be modest about my accomplishments? If that’s that Kanye West ego then so be it”.

• What gets your songs onto BA’s radio playlist?

Your presentation should be phenomenal…it should make me feel a certain way. Like you’re not dependent on me to play you. Like you’ve put your heart and soul in to it.

• What would people be shocked to find out about you?

I’m a hopeless romantic, born in the month of love; I often shock myself on my sense of romanticism.

• B.A’s biggest support?

My mom. My mom has been my rock throughout. When I wanted to play soccer, my mom bought me the freshest boots. When I walked out of my secure job to realise my dream of getting paid for my lifestyle, my mom was my unlimited support.

• B.A’s biggest hurdle in life so far?

Fighting depression for 8 months in 2008. A time where I failed to realise my dream of playing soccer professionally. I almost gave up on life, but managed to pull myself out and push harder.

• Something your friends don’t know about you?

I used to break dance with a crew in high school.

Follow B.A. on twitter and check out Pusha Phanda Clothing on IG.

Twitter: @BANhlapo

IG: @pushaphandaclothing