Ben Sharpa

Ben Sharpa
Birth name Kgotso Semela
Born (1979-03-25) 25 March 1979
Origin Jabavu, White City, Soweto, South Africa
Genres Hip hop
Occupation(s) Rapper, Producer
Years active 1996 – present
Labels Concentration Camp, Pioneer Unit Records, Jarring Effects
Associated acts Audio Visual
GroundWorks

Kgotso Semela, known by his stage name Ben Sharpa, born 25 March 1979, Soweto, South Africa is a South African underground rapper and music producer.

Biography

Kgotso Semela was born in Jabavu, Soweto, a South African township.[1] His family moved to Chicago when he was still a kid.[1] He became interested in hip hop in March 1985 ; the first album he bought was Criminal Minded, the debut album by Boogie Down Productions.[1] When he was teenager, he then moved back to country of his birth, South African apartheid referendum, 1992.[1][2]

Ben Sharpa started his hip hop career in 1996 with the foundation of now cult crew Audio Visual, together with MC's Snazz D (Julian Du Plessis) and Krook'd tha Warmonga (Isaac Chokwe). The group later amalgamated into the group known as GroundWorks, which included MC's from both Cape Town and Johannesburg.[2]

Career

Kgotso Semela chose Ben Sharpa as stage name, because he has "always been sharper".[1]

Early career

He formed a group with Krook'd tha Warmonga, Snazz D, Forekast, Gemini, Hueman, Non-Depiction, Bonafide, and S.E.L.F. called GroundWorks.[1] The group was made up of members from acclaimed hip-hop crews from the Johannesburg and Cape Town music scenes, including members of Audio Visual, BaseMental Platform and Cashless Society. In 2002 and 2003, the group produces two self-released albums on a label called Concentration Camp Records: GroundWorks Demolition: The MeStory and Pavement Special Vol.1 ; Kgotso Semela uses as a reference to O Captain! My Captain! respectively the names Kaptin and Oh Kaptin, My Kap'n on these albums.[3][4] No album has been released later by the collective but in a 2008 interview, Kgotso explains GroundWorks is still alive and "it’s not a group, it’s not a band, it’s not a cult or a gang, it’s an ideology and a mentality".[1]

In 2002, Ben Sherpa won a battle freestyle competition organized by MTN, a South African telephone network operator. He then visited London and met Eminem.[2]

In June 2006, Sharpa headlined alongside Wordsworth and Jonzi-D as part of the Tri-Continental Hip Hop Festival, a three cities hip hop tour that was held to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Youth Month in South Africa.[2]

2008-2009: The Sharpaganda Theory and B. Sharpa

In 2008, he began a 3-month tour in Europe, in England, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium and Switzerland.[1]

The same year, he released his first album, B. Sharpa. The album was described to blend hip hop and dubstep.[5] Several producers worked on his album, D Planet, DJ Sibot and Hue Man and DJ Milanese. The album contained featurings from Tebs, Archetypes, Konfab and WordsWorth.[1] The themes covered are dark,[5] evoking the police brutality,[6] the government agenda, conspiracies or the teenage pregnancy.[1]

After B.Sharpa

In 2012, he released with Pure Solid the album 4th Density Light Show (4DLS).

Discography

Solo career

EP
Albums

Collaborations

With GroundWorks
With Pure Solid

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Tumi Tlhoaele (2008). "b sharpa". rage.co.za. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2014.. Through Internet Archive.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Benjamin Mathieu. "Ben Sharpa - Timeline" (in French). Music Story. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "Groundworks – Demolition: The MeStory". Discogs. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "Various – Pavement Special Volume 1". Discogs. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  5. 1 2 Dat' (2 November 1999). "Ben Sharpa - B. Sharpa" (in French). Krinein. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  6. ↑ See the title Hegemony

External links

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