Durban music picks: December 10 2010

Alex Sudheim

14 DEC 2010, 16:52

2 min read

Durban offers up a mix of world music and local hip-hop this week.

Congolese World Music star Rene Tshiakanyi is in Durban this week for an album-launch show at Glenwood’s unique Moroccan restaurant Yossi’s. Eschewing any polarising notions of ‘black” or ‘white” music, Tshiakanyi describes his music as a combination of classical pop; zouk – a Franco-Caribbean style of Creole music – R&B and rock. His debut single La Presse S’efface was a moving tribute to the journalists in the DRC who lost their lives in the fight for media freedom and was a significant hit around the world. Tshikanyi is a guitarist, singer and songwriter who performs his songs in French, Congolese and English.

Yossi’s, Davenport Road, 8pm, Friday December 10. Tickets R30 at the door. Tel: 031 2010090

Groundbreaking Zulu rapper Abdus descibes his music as ‘a raw hip-hop/rock hybrid driven
by highly original Zulu songwriting infused with a love of rhyme and intricate wordplay. The
artist has an exceptional gift for language and his songs are filled with clever puns and linguistic
experimentation while his live performance is renowned for its charisma and energy. Influenced
by a wide variety of musical sources such as Coldplay, Kanye West, Busta Rhymes, Linkin Park,
Nas, J-Dilla and The Roots, Abdus has gathered a formidable retinue of fans and was last year
nominated for the Hype Magazine Awards for Best Lyricist, Best Newcomer and Best Mixtape,
walking away with the Best Lyricist gong. Catch Abdus in action this weekend in the company
of Champ, Niche Fam, Judas & 3rd Brick, Ayanda, Sah, Gev, Rez Proph, Sabotage, Ngqondo,
Verbalist, Liquid KZN, Msizi and DJ Lab.

Harbour Café, BAT Centre, Durban Harbour. Starting at noon, Saturday December 11. Entrance
R30. Tel: 079 707 7773