MANELIS TO PERFORM AT KZNSA OPENINGS

Veteran rapper and MC to perform at opening of three exhibitions at KZNSA.

Veteran rapper and MC Manelis is to perform at opening of three exhibitions at KZNSA: Imprint: New Ceramics by Carla da Cruz; The Reading Room: Artists’ Books by Cheryl Penn, and Joan’s Journey: an installation by Joan Alkema. These will take place at 18h00 on October 27.

The music of veteran rapper and MC Manelis is a mix of soulful hip hop, streetwise vernacular and socially conscious content. He draws inspiration from the vintage African music of Harare, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Letta Mbulu and fuses it with urban hip hop to create a sound that critics and peers agree is “the way streetwise vernacular rap should be”. At the performance at the KZNSA, he launches his long awaited EP sTshengise as part of the D’Urban Poison Session, and also performs a selection from his album Guidance 2 Talagu.

Manelis started his musical career with South Earthnix, a pioneering band in the 90's. He has shared the stage with an array of local and international artists including Ghetto Prophecy Movement (GPM) and Black Fists of Gavi, Dead Prez, Talib Kwali, Jeru da Damaja, The Coup, Black Thought (of the Roots), MXO, Mr. Selwyn and MUGGS. Some of the platforms he’s performed on include Grahamstown National Arts Festival, Fire on the Mountain and Splashy Fen festivals while he’s contributed to the compilations Sounds 031 and Isinamuva Liyabukwa. Manelis was rated by South African hip hop magazine Hype as one of the top five hip hop artists in the country.