From Sky Radebe:
In 2010 I aka Sky self-released my own poetic Album titled Radio-not. I worked with artist near and far, to mention a few: German writer and amazing performer Norbert Herrmann, Orange Farm based Xman, Stax, Hieroglyphics, Kaffirman, Blaze and Venom. I wanted to can the face of poetry and I believe I have - although some people might not yet see that. Learning a language is like constructing a building. Step by step, as the building blocks are cemented together, it gains height. Similarly, the building blocks of language (grammar, prose, poetry) gradually develop a person’s level of proficiency in it. It is very unfortunate though that poetry is the material, which is not used adequately while raising the structure of language in our schools.
While people were kicking balls and blowing Vuvuzelas we were in studio cooking up this fantastic album. The production is raw because of the name itself it was never intended to be played on radio however I am not upset with radio play the project has received. For the first time this wasn’t a mixtape nor EP like most artists are busily creating but an album and happy that money people have enjoyed it and now you can too online.
Poetry lessons are more lively and engaging than any other lesson of language learning. Poetry-reading lessons can easily lead to poetry writing; reading and singing other’s poems facilitate children in writing their own poems. They love to play with language as soon as they are encouraged. Pray that you enjoy this to a point you would want to experience it live (seeing me on stage performing)
Asante (Thank you),
Sky Radebe

Sky-to-Radio

Beatboxing is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of producing drum beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice. It may also involve singing, vocal imitation of turntablism, and the simulation of horns, strings, and other musical instruments. Beatboxing today is connected with hip-hop culture, being one of "the elements", although it is not limited to hip-hop music. George discovered that he was able to create sounds from his mouth from the age of 14 and started practising and mastering the beat-boxing element of hip-hop. He didn’t win SA’s Got talent however replaced beat boxing on the map again. However we had our own George, Kaffirman a young man who isn’t afraid to call himself what the white’s oppression government called black people

RADIO-NOT

Beat Master [Kaffirman]

When writing this poem I had a question in mind more than a point to put across and that question was “Does the dust blind for life or is temporary?” I had a great opportunity to catch up with a young lady I knew from back in high school, and all the thoughts of yesterday come rushing back like rain with no warning on a sunny day and the one question I had in my mind was “Does the dust blind for life or is temporary?” because we both come from the dusty and muddy when it rains township called Orange Farm were tomorrow is not usually considered. But she made me see the changes that are possible in our country. Like the classic poem written by Tupac Shakur, the 22 year old Diana Mokwena is a perfect example of a rose that grew from a crack in the concrete. If people like me and her could make it why not tell people about this little place that most people haven’t heard about Orange Farm.

Orange Farm [Sky Radebe]

An English writer and social critic Charles John Huffam Dickens wrote an amazing book called Hard Times. The book was an awesome read yet the title meant more to me and Hieroglyphics. We wanted to share our learnings and struggles, state of believe, perception of what poetry looks like in the hood and a fight the we have been fighting since birth. Hard Times is an awesome taste of what to poets who share common interests can cook up if given a chance to express themselves without out limit. Hieroglyphics has grown as an artist but more as poet and this poem gives you an opportunity to experience his growth fully and freely.

Hard Times [Sky Radebe ft. Glyphics]

Being a poet and journalist has blessed to have interviewed people like the Gang of Instrumentals,the amazing American young Hip-hop/RnB star Bow Wow and although I have a decided to take the social media route of writing, writing play a big role in my life. So went out to study the art of teaching and of learning. And discovered that a teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils (children) and students (adults) and that the role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional qualifications or credentials from a university or college. These professional qualifications may include the study of pedagogy, the science of teaching. But I believe that teachers have been taught more by students than they would admit thus I wrote the poem teach. It is about give and take and the process of it thereafter. My favourite part of the poem will forever be the hook: “If I teach you! You gotto teach me back”

Teach [Sky Radebe]

I was in studio with the team for Untamble which helped with part of the post production of the Radio-not project, we were listen to beats that I could possibly use and we stumbled upon this young ladies voice and she blew me away. Right there and then I ask that we call here and demand to work with her. She was humbled that I wanted to work with herb however I was the humbled on that I would be working with such and awesome lyricist like her. We had this connection right away but we had not spent time together thus we cooked up this poem. A familiar stranger is an individual who is recognized from regular activities, but with whom one does not interact. And hope you enjoy this amazing poem… Thank you Untamble and God bless you Mpumi Nkabinde

Familiar Stranger [Sky Radebe ft. Mpumi Nkabinde]

Those repetitive words with only little variation help me to go through bad times - maybe I learned to always expect the worst?

The first time I made it to Orange Farm - to a poetry session - I was on time. (Just to add, the drawing used as header in this website derives from this very first poetry session I participated in in Orange Farm and is provided by amazing artist Enikö Gömöri | in RSA.) To make that clear, I was the only person on time that time. In South Africa, nobody expects anyone to be on time, thats what I learned. That day I also learned that the youth, no matter where, needs to tackle disappointments. For nearly any poet there is a big gap between hope - of becoming a noble prize winner or at least receive some honors - and the sense of reality. Reality shows that no matter how well the lyrics are assembled you still need to fight for having an audience and even more, to receive any kind of feed-back. But no matter what, you keep on doing your stuff. This adds another lesson to the piece "Apocalyptic confidence": even if you normally expect the worst - that will not stop you from fighting and that might even make your fighting more powerful. This is the feeling of “We Poets”.
The German translation tries to maintain this feeling. As it is a South African poem, some of the translation needs South African background to understand. Best example: “die Erkenntnisknochen der Geistigen Heiler” are the bones used by spiritual healers to help a client dealing with the future. It was a pleasure to translate and still is a pleasure to perform this piece.

Apocalyptic Confidence & Wir Poeten [No Bird]

I was introduced to this young man in the times of Educentric, a crazy poetry collect from the Vaal which was were I got my foundation of poetry. X-man and I have been doing this for a while. Refuge was an experiment to see if we couldn’t create a sound track or backtrack replacing that beat with the actual happenings of what is in the poem itself. Dj Papi proved that he is more than just a producer or dj but an artist only a few people can pull this through. Enjoy the creative package poem with awesome lyric within it. Refuge by Mr. Xolani X-man Khoza.

Refuge [Xman AKA Xolani Khoza]

Taking care of a woman is a challenging job. This is especially true if you are her boyfriend and trying to figure out what she wants. Man and woman are a different species with different needs. How can we hope to care for each other in the way that we would like to? The truth is that it is impossible. Misunderstandings are inevitable. You cannot avoid stepping on each other's toes. The only thing you can do is to be as considerate as possible and apologize when you have wronged her. So I wrote this poem for a girlfriend who is now my ex. She was with me when I needed a friend, partner and a lover. Although we have parted ways she opened my eyes to what it means to love a person whole heartedly. I guess with that she taught me how to love my wife and I will forever be humbled by her within you or crazy love dedicated to Miss Jabulile Seakwe.

Within You [Sky Radebe]

After years of doing one thing one would question if the journey is worth it or not? This poem was to get greater understanding of the standards set by society about the spoken word and just brief sharings of what happened in my travel to where I am now.

Standards [Sky Radebe]

This poem was inspired by heartbreak. Heartbreak is usually associated with losing a family member or spouse, though losing a parent, child, pet, lover or close friend can all "break one's heart" and it is frequently experienced during grief and bereavement. The phrase refers to the physical pain one may feel in the chest as a result of the loss, although it also by extension includes the emotional trauma of loss even where it is not experienced as somatic pain. Although "heartbreak" ordinarily does not imply any physical defect in the heart it is what carried this poem. This was meant to be a duet like Familiar Stanger and Hard Times however did have the balls to record my part I guess Stax did a good job and I would have messed things up if I did. Dankie Stax!

Fainted Heart [Stax AKA Tshepang Mabe]

In 2010 I aka Sky self-released my own poetic Album titled Radio-not. I worked with artist near and far, to mention a few: German writer and amazing performer Norbert Herrmann, Orange Farm based Xman, Stax, Hieroglyphics, Kaffirman, Blaze and Venom. I wanted to can the face of poetry and I believe I have - although some people might not yet see that. Learning a language is like constructing a building. Step by step, as the building blocks are cemented together, it gains height. Similarly, the building blocks of language (grammar, prose, poetry) gradually develop a person’s level of proficiency in it. It is very unfortunate though that poetry is the material, which is not used adequately while raising the structure of language in our schools.

Oh Shit [Sky Radebe]

After television replaced old time radio's dramatic content, music formats became dominant in many countries. Radio drama and comedy continue, often on public radio. Music drives radio technology, including wide-band FM and modern digital radio systems such as Digital Radio Mondiale. Due to the absence of any defined syllabus for poetry and weak teaching methodologies, our students never get to explore this wonderful world of expression. If we want to nurture the love for poetry in young minds and don’t want poetry to remain a dull and boring subject for our students, a clear pathway needs to be discovered by educationists and ELT experts in this area of learning. Due to the absence of any defined syllabus for poetry and weak teaching methodologies, people never get to explore this wonderful world of expression. If we want to nurture the love for poetry in young minds and don’t want poetry to remain a dull and boring subject for people out there, a clear pathway needs to be discovered by educationists, DJ’s and ELT experts about poetry. The poem was out of anger that Radio is not give poetry a break and people who have are not on Radio anymore.

Radio-Not [Sky Radebe]

Poetry is a form of literary art which uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language—such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre—to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning. Poetry has a long history, dating back to the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh. Early poems evolved from folk songs such as the Chinese Shijing, or from a need to retell oral epics, as with the Sanskrit Vedas, Zoroastrian Gathas, and the Homeric epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Ancient attempts to define poetry, such as Aristotle's Poetics, focused on the uses of speech in rhetoric, drama, song and comedy. Later attempts concentrated on features such as repetition, verse form and rhyme, and emphasized the aesthetics which distinguish poetry from more objectively-informative, prosaic forms of writing. From the mid-20th century, poetry has sometimes been more generally regarded as a fundamental creative act employing language. LOL after know what poetry is we had to take a look at what people think poetry is and thus we poets. This poem has been translated to German by Norbert. Enjoy this English version.

We Poets [Sky Radebe]

This piece offers words which try to express the process of becoming aware of some mean insight. The first title was: "Listen at your own risk". Thanks for having this as opening poem in this wonderful compilation!

Sky-to-Radio

NoBird