SAfrica hip hop star faces angry crowd in court – Yahoo! Canada News
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Fri May 28, 5:43 AM
By The Associated Press
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JOHANNESBURG – Chaos has erupted at a court hearing for a South African hip hop star accused of killing four students in an alleged drag racing crash.
Inspector Kay Makhubela said victims’ family members screamed in court Friday and threatened to assault the hip hop star known as Jub Jub after his case was postponed.
Authorities managed to protect him and escort him out of the court.
The South African Press Association reported that the grandmother of one of the students who died said: “We will kill him … He must come and apologize.”
Jub Jub and a co-defendant, who are both out on bail, are facing charges of murder, reckless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol following the crash in March. Two others were critically injured.
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We are often told the path that follows high school is college. It is higher education that we are supposed to seek to train us for what we want to be. But what about who we want to be?
Although it is quite simple to consider that college may not be for everyone, that does not seem to be society’s stance on it today. Even though a degree is valuable, it may not always be what we need to succeed in a our field of choice, especially when that field is the music industry.
The music industry is not concerned if you attended those Music Appreciation core classes. What they want to know is if you are prepared to work twenty four hours a day. Are you prepared to be on your grind at all times in order to climb to the top? Assuming you are not trying to be an account executive in the music industry, hands-on experience and personal connections will usually override that college degree.
It is a rapid trend. Whether becoming an intern in the industry straight out of high school or dropping out of college to pursue a dream in hip hop, it appears as if the youth are realizing their vision early on and taking an active role in chasing it.
It’s just music. It’s only two turntables and a microphone. To some of us, hip hop is only that. It’s only rap music. To others, hip hop is a culture and a lifestyle. It represents how we live our lives and we are so deeply involved with it, we are practically in a relationship with hip hop. It molds the way we live our lives. In addition to our lives, hip hop has guided many recognized names in the manner they choose to live.
Russell Simmons was attending the City College of New York when he decided, just short of one semester of graduating, that his passion for the music was what he really wanted to do. He began to promote and manage Kurtis Blow, who would become the first rapper to sign with a major record label. Hip hop soon led a young Russell Simmons to another New York college campus.
In a dorm room at NYU, he set up shop with another hip hop lover, Rick Rubin. In that room, legendary artists such as the Beastie Boys and LL Cool J were established, not to mention the even more renowned Def Jam Records. Rick Rubin was all about hip hop at this time, so much so that he persuaded the university to give him independent study credits for starting his own record company out of a dorm room. He did graduate with a Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree in Film and Video, although it has been said that he mainly did it to fulfill his parents’ wishes.
Another iconic figure, Sean Combs was well-known on the campus of Howard University as the party promoter as well as the party animal. Eventually, he obtained an internship at the promising Uptown Records and dropped out to create some of the most memorable music and artists (Mary J. Blige, Mase, Notorious B.I.G.) that hip hop has known.
Kim Osorio, former editor in chief of The Source which was then known as The Hip Hop Bible, earned a law degree. With no formal training in journalism, she interned and freelanced to pursue hip hop journalism rather than take the bar exam and practice law.
With artists like Plies (nursing), Chuck D. (graphic design), David Banner (business) who graduated from college and music figures who attended college, one has to wonder if it is all worth it. Is it worth it to study a profession rather than actually doing it? Is a degree something you will every use if it is music that you want to live and pursue.
Russell Simmons has stated that a college degree is very important. It is those with the college degrees that hone over his business plans because unlike him, that’s what they studied and know. Nonetheless, I can’t help but wonder if the godfather of hip hop would be where he is today if he had not dropped out of college. And what would someone have to major in if they wanted to become the next Diddy or Russell or Rick?
It is difficult to follow your heart. It takes an even braver soul to let hip hop guide it. It takes a true love of the culture to be able to live it. Even though it seems simple to an outsider, leaving college or even earning a degree to work in hip hop is something that is ridiculed. One who chooses to live this life loves the music more than others’ opinions for they are constantly told that they are wasting their lives. If there is one person who does believe in their dream, that is truly a blessing. It really is not until they make it that those naysayers believe in them….and then want something from them.
As college drop-out, Steve Jobs, stated at a Stanford University commencement, “There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
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