The streets of the ghetto in their vibrant and polished glory present improved houses in manicured lawns, fancy cars parked in double-story garages and ladies and gents donning the latest designer gear. This is the epitome of gleaming success as seen through the eyes of youngsters who are sadly enticed into the world of drugs and crime in the false hope of quick riches and instant happiness. However this story hardly ever has a happy ending as portrayed in the music video, Ngqangqa by Kanyi Mavi.
“The song tackles a major issue facing Cape Town (and South Africa at large), which is the constant struggle against drugs. Instead of concentrating on the consumers, the song focuses on the dealers, merchants and distributors as they are all part of the same community, all products of the same environment, the ghetto – an environment where criminal acrobatics are not only celebrated, but also respected and praised… The person who helps the community where government falls short, who helps their church raise funds for new windows and doors, who helps the neighbour with groceries when the budget is tight – is the very same person who provides the drugs that the neighbour’s youngest son or daughter is addicted to. It’s the very same person responsible for deaths caused by turf wars, and has the ‘law’ on their payroll,” says rapper, Kanyi Mavi, who is also the director of the music video.
A vocal and assertive female emcee in the male-dominated local hip hop industry, Mavi chooses to converse in her mother tongue Xhosa. Having directed two of her previous music videos, the emcee says that the biggest challenge she has faced in developing all three videos is budget. “It takes so many people to make things happen and all those people need to be paid for the skill and contribution.”
“As far as challenges during shooting, I’ve been fortunate enough to work with people who are able to share my vision and also help improve it. I had to learn how to let go of the reigns a little bit and trust the abilities of the people I work with,” Mavi shares.
Born in Cape Town, Mavi grew up in Gugulethu and Hazeldean. As a musician, she chose to be a conscious lyricist, taking inspiration from the events happening around her and turning them into a story for others to reflect on. The rapper put into effect the same principles when it came to the making of the Ngqangqa music video. “The entire video was shot in Gugulethu. The aim is to show another side of the ghetto, the side we hardly see. It’s a place with all kinds of people, both rich and poor,” she explains.
The video follow a day in the life of Ngqangqa. “Because the song has so much information, the video needed to be simpler,” says Mavi. “It begins with Ngqangqa at home. We are introduced to her as just an ordinary lady from the ghetto. We then meet her group of ladies. Their scene is centred on a significant event, the transaction. Post the transaction; we then meet the other side of Ngqangqa, a darker side.”
Mavi says that the most difficult part of the shoot was casting the right characters to portray the story she had in mind: “The characters had to represent women other women could also relate to. They had to be real girls, outside of the media prescription look. It was important that the ladies were different from each other, but still made sense together,” she says.
Cinematographer Mpendulo Mabindisa says that of utmost importance for him was for people to connect with Ngqangqa: “…she’s a boss but a very troubled woman at the same time. I made sure we got the most of her scenes in slow motion… Seeing her walk around her home in confidence, the camera is following her movement, she’s in charge. It was more of the camera complementing the story through shots.”
Mabindisa used the Panasonic GH4 and a DJI Ronin to shoot the video. “I like the GH4 because it’s a small camera. We were limited with space in the house but having a small camera made it a lot easier for us to move around without wasting too much time. The Ronin always comes in handy for me when it comes to all these steady moving shots and I knew it was needed for this music video,” he shares.
Editor Karabelo Ditira comments: “The main goal was to light the set stunningly for colour grading to take place without any fuss, and also to make sure it’s not evident that we lit when watching the video. The outside scene was already lit by lights around the location, so we only had to add a fill light just to make it stand out from other things.”
“The motion of the camera helped to make the video cinematic, which is why as an editor I chose six motion shots to open first for the video. Specifically smooth motion makes the video cinematic and appealing. It also can’t be cinematic if you are not careful about where you cut your scene, as I strongly believe in cutting with the beat when editing anything that has music in it. I do not want the audience to feel out of touch or bored when watching anything that I edited, which is why the edit is smooth and slow then it builds up speed in the middle when the song builds momentum too.”
Mavi says that that since the video has been released, people have been amazingly supportive on social media, more so than on TV, where only two shows have played her video so far. “I think people like this music video, not only because it’s beautiful and appealing to the eye, but also because it has depth embedded in subtleties, every scene counts,” concludes Mavi.
TECH CHECK:
I like the (Panasonic) GH4 because it’s a15 small camera. We were limited with space in the house but having a small camera made it a lot easier for us to move around without wasting too much time. The Ronin always comes in handy for me when it comes to all these steady moving shots and I knew they were needed for this music video.” – Mpendulo Mabindisa
KEY CREW:
Director/Producer: Kanyi Mavi
Cinematography: Mpendulo Mabindisa
Make up/Styling: Thandeka Steenkamp
Editing: Karabelo Ditira
Grading: Bladeworks
