/ 12 May 2017

The Lists: Chimurenga Chronic, Lyric DVDs and celebrating comic books

The Lists: Chimurenga Chronic
THE PLAY LIST

Manelis: Township Jupiter. Manelis has been tinkering with a new aesthetic pretty much since the Nineties, which is when I first heard him rhyme. His diction is miles ahead and his beat is kwaito, bubblegum and errant space rap all rolled into one. Rappers don’t age gracefully, it’s against the laws of gravity. Township Jupiter, true to its name, defies the laws of gravity. (KS)

Lyric DVDs. The mid-2000s were a mini-golden era for reggae. In 2004, the one drop revival kicked in and roots singers were coming out of every crevice in Jamaica, or so it seemed. Documenting this in the most nonsensical but charismatic fashion were the Lyric crew. Each episode has reams and reams of footage containing little more than yardies chilling with their homies, speaking nothing but the most indecipherable patois. In between the vibes, there were plenty acapellas thrown in. (KS)

THE READING LIST

Chronic Books: Supplement to the Chimurenga Chronic from April 2016. On the odd occasion that I explore my home library, I always find gems that I want to kick myself for not reading sooner. My latest retrieve is this supplement that begins with a taxi ride with a proselytising driver on the streets of Ouakam in Senegal, courtesy of Wendell Hassan Marsh, and ends with a brilliant extract from Juan Villoro’s book God is Round: Tackling the Giants, Villains, Triumphs and Scandals of the Word’s Favourite Game (Restless Books), about my least favourite subject, football. (MB)

THE GAMING LIST

It was International Free Comic Book Day last Saturday so of course a bunch of us trundled down to the comic bookshop and spent the day ignoring the comics and playing board games instead. Tokaido, mainly. It’s a beautifully designed and simple but elegant journey game through rural Japan, where we rack up points by painting landscapes, visiting shrines, encountering mysterious strangers … and passive-aggressively trying to enjoy the journey more than our fellow travellers. We also had a game or two of Ca$h & Guns, which is about aggressive-aggressively shooting your friends and taking their stuff. What a time to be alive. (TSM)

The Lists are compiled by Friday editor Milisuthando Bongela, arts writer Kwanele Sosibo and gaming writer @TheSerifM