THE BOY-BAND AGES - 1998 -2000
His love for Hip Hop began when he was stuck in his love for Pop music, Backstreet Boys and Britney (Yes). Anyway, one night while visiting his cousins (Siyasanga & Tebogo) they locked him in a room and made him listen to Bone Thugs (Ancient Hip Hop) over and over again, one song that caught his attention, after scratching the walls, was Krazy Bone "T.H.U.G Mentality". Long story short 4 hours later he was shouting “T...H.....U.....G We be ...That's the mentality with Thuging, Thuging, Thuging till the day I die” (The Hook) -he was in love, or hooked rather. The next day he wrote his first rhyme ever, he was possibly 12 years old. His cousins being avid Hip Hop lovers told him he was good and that's all he needed to hear.
So he wrote and wrote filling up first rhyme book...a lil later he started break-dancing with his old friend (Diego Baldi). They did a couple of shows and were noticed by a Rap crew on the coast called Maestro Family which comprised of the late ( Kevin Blackie), Troy aka Phantom and Turner aka FatboyT. They had a space for an extra rap verse in one of the tracks during our practice session and he obviously opted in. They told him he sucked at Rap and should stick to Break-dancing, that's when he vowed to show those mouphukas.
Back then he was still called the WULF, later (Diego) named me Boogieman because of the dancing, he then shortened it to infamisboo, then iAMinfamis just sounded louder and less romantic. MAWAWA MC came after researching the history of his ancestor of the same name.
THE LAY-Z SKUAD ERA 2000 - 2005
By this time he was known for random freestyles and resitting from his rhyme book, so rounding up a crew was simple. The plan was to call the crew MELZ (After Mawawa’s real name Melikhaya) but a friend of his (Kevin Dladla) alerted him to the issues that might arise . So he went with Lay-Z Skuad due to the teachers at school always calling him friends and his lazy, so he planned to show them what Lay-Z people can do and he spelled it like a dumb ass on purpose to further scratch the chalk on the board.
The first member he recruited was Kevin Dladla (Kurse the Enigmatic One), he asked him to write a verse for a track called "Reality". The kids flow was sick so he was in, Diego who he only ever knew as a break-dancer also randomly started spitting (reciting rhymes) and that was the Third member. Diego recruited (Kyle Motto-ross) a lyricist that had just moved to the coast from JHB that was the fourth member. Word spread so he also needed someone crazy that's when he asked his English class classmate (Joshua Fanner - Switch) to write a verse in English class, in English I guess. The Nigga finished that verse in 15 Minutes and it was strong with flow and madness, with Josh as the 5th Element the crew was complete. They met our producer through our school musical play - he had heard Mawawa MC (iAMinfamis) freestyle and wanted him to hear his beats - Mawawa had his doubts because the man who turned out to be the best composer he had ever known looked like and was a square (Simon Mukasa), he was member number six.
They felt they were missing something none of them were pretty boys and Josh knew these twin lighties that wanted to join the Crew (Alex and Chris Qwabe). They came with that Snoop-Dog vibe and the girls loved them. So now They were sitting with 8 members. Kyle herd another mad lyricist - takes on to know one - He went by the name (Bheki Makhanya). Has to go down as the dopest member to ever join the crew. That was member no. 9 and that was it (They thought). Then the late (Gareth Davis aka Buttino Heat) a f-crazy Jozi kid that was just a mate but he had Hip Hop elements like beat-boxing styles they had never heard before, so he became the 10th Member. (Yes they saw them selves as the New South Africa’s Skwatta Kamp – another Hop Hop relic )
They later added members that were more towards the dance crew of lazy which in the beginning was just Diego and him. They later added (Rudi Turner) as Our Official Dj, (Bailey Hart, Tony Aub and Kyle Shimmel) as breakdancers and his beautiful ex-girlfriend (Patience Garton) as our manager. By Grade 10 (Std 8) Lay-Z Skuad was 15 members strong. They ripped the South Coast apart, Patience really knew how to organise gigs. They opened for acts like Ntando and Spoonfeeders while in High School, also performing for government functions, festivals and pagents. It got to a point where the people would leave after our set and not wait for the headliner/s, they also had some groupies (devoted fans) to name a few; Jessica Stoppel and Kylie Kate Schults. Oh they had great times this was a bit crazy for high schoolers to experience.
Then the realities of Varsity and our final years in High School calmed us down and after they split nothing really ground breaking happened. Kevin and him went to UKZNPMB (Not Planned) and they won a couple of small comps during our studies. Kevin left and pursued a rap career on the coast, Diego went to Cape Town and came back cleansed, Kyle became a Junior Architect, The twins got married, Joshua got his electrician qualifications and he don't know what the others have really been up to. He dropped out of varsity and went back again to finish his cinematography.
THE NOW PERIOD - 2015 - 2016
Working as an Art Director in Umhlanga he saw the state of the game and he was proud and how hard musicians have worked to cement SA Hip Hop as a force. Now he feels he has everything he needa to keep the folks and his pocket happy while he chases after his Dream. Thank you for your time
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