About Me
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Emile YX? represents the positive face of hip-hop. As much community activist as public entertainer, he must be one of the most dedicated hip-hop practitioners on the globe. Rapper, breakdancer & capoeira artist with Black Noise, one of South Africa's premier hip hop groups, he also edits Da Juice, South Africa's leading hip-hop magazine.A former school teacher, Emile Jansen remains deeply involved in youth education through the vehicle of hip-hop music and culture. Describing himself as "essentially a b-boy at heart" it was break-dancing and grafitti that first drew him into the hip-hop fraternity. The microphone offered an opportunity to address critical issues "that our people are faced with".Since forming Black Noise in 1988 with like minded youth, Jansen and crew have never forgotten their roots on Cape Towns troubled, but vibrant, Cape Flats. A 'community' labelled 'coloured' by an apartheid government, whose central notion of 'separate development' forged new identities for displaced and dispossesed peoples in barren and desolate environments, for many the Cape Flats are synonymous with crime, much of it violent. Racism is also an inevitable legacy, with notions of cultural difference so entrenched that in the Cape context, it is as much a tension between 'brown' and 'black' as it is (conventionally seen as) conflict between 'black' and 'white'. Addressing this legacy, and in reclaiming one's African identity remains a central concern for Jansen and Black Noise, as do fundamental issues such as literacy and environmental education. More recent challenges, such as voter education (for the historically disenfranchised) and HIV/Aids education also feature in their work, and sees them making prolific use of schools, libraries, prisons, and community centres. Some of these projects are done in conjunction with non-governmental organisations, local government and (less frequently) parastatals.While much of Jansens work is inextricably bound up with Black Noise, his leadership role is frequently evident, as spokesperson as well as initiator of several of their projects. He originated the T.E.A.A.C.H Project (The Educational Alternative Awakening Corrupted Heads), a series of community based discussions addressing "vital issues facing our people" which was subsequently "adopted by the group as a means to re-educate people to the proud past the black people have and to make them aware that respect for our people by themselves and others will only be attained if we know our past and supply our people with black role models that they can aspire to ... ". Jansen also initiated Heal the Hood, a touring school based project that promotes "respect for being African and using these talents responsibly for the benefit of Africa.". In this project discussions with school children is followed by poetry, rap, songs and drama from pupils dealing with critical issues. Subsequently 'Heal the Hood' has become an overall framework or concept for many of their projects.Jansen has also played a central role in organising the African Hip-Hop Indaba/Expo, and in organising African Battle Cry, a series of workshops dealing with hip-hop. Another feature of Jansen's work has been his role as a writer and editor. He played a central role in writing and compiling the booklet What is HipHop with other group members, and edits Da Juice, a magazine that has had thirteen issues since its debut in 1993. Clearly establishing a forum for the exchange of ideas is a central concern for the socially conscious hip-hop artist, supplementing and strengthening their more conventional roles recording and touring.Within the country Black Noise has toured extensively, especially in the western Cape, with their performance at the inauguration of President Nelson Mandela being one of their highlights, having made their political preferences clear by campaigning for the ANC in 1994. Black Noise have released seven albums of their own material since 1993. Four of these have been on their own label, epitomising their 'Do For Self' philosophy, and they have also issued four compilation albums of material arising from their community projects.Balancing their 'local' emphasis, Black Noise are also very much part of the global hip-hop community. In 1994 Jansen participated, as South African representative, in the 20th Anniversary of the Hip Hop Nation in New York, and their second album was released in the USA by an independent label. In 1997 Black Noise won third place at the international breakdancing championships in Germany, and since then Jansen has been central in organising and hosting the "Battle of the Year, South African Breakdance Championships', a forum that leads to South African breakdancers being chosen to compete in international events. In 1995 Black Noise were featrured in Juvenis, a film marking the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, and they have performed in Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark, Finland, and (extensively) in Sweden, where they have been involved in promoting hip-hop as a vehicle to address racism between local and immigrant communities. It is also through their Swedish links that Jansen, and subsequently Black Noise were introduced to capoeira, a martial arts/dance form with its roots in the transatlantic slave trade, and Black Noise are in the forefront of promoting capoeira in South africa. Their latest album, Rotational Heights, is on a Swedish label and will hopefully make further inroads for Jansen and Black Noise.Hip hop culture provided Jansen with the means to take control over his own life, and it is this ethos that he promotes through his many faceted works. A positive role model for the youth, and nobodies clone - YX? indeed.
