This week Huck toasted the London launch of DiY photography zine Grown Man Business, put some Joburg heavy beats on repeat and spoke with the team behind a documentary exploring Argentina’s hip hop scene.
Buenos Aires Rap
In a city that styles itself as the Paris of Latin America, proudly displaying its tango and European culture to the rest of the world, hip hop is usually excluded from the picture. As an underground movement, hip hop’s contribution to Buenos Aires’ rich and varied cultural offering is largely ignored by the rest of society. But beneath the gaze of most Argentines, an immensely creative, multi-class and multi-racial, grass-roots music culture thrives.
After meeting in the city’s thumping underground clubs, Diane Ghogomu from Pittsburgh, Sebastian Muñoz from Chile, and Segundo Bercetche from Argentina, became determined to reveal this vibrant scene through new documentary Buenos Aires Rap. The international crew brought different perspectives to the project, shaped by particular experiences of hip hop culture in their home countries. Huck spoke to Diane to learn more about the extensive three year project and the vibrant hip hop culture it documents.
Grown Man Business
A hundred or so friends came down to our gallery 71A London where James Whineray, Callum Paul, Lloyd Stubber, Pani Paul and Lola Paprocka used the walls to once again prove a subject doesn’t have to be beautiful to make a beautiful photo. Our online preview provided a glimpse at their work. If you’re hungry for more, we’d definitely encourage you to track down the zine — now available at select shops in the UK.
Iapetus Records Playlist
Iapetus Records have never seemed all that comfortable in the South African hip hop industry. They’ve always set themselves apart a little. They’ve never compromised on their core sound, and while other labels can sometimes be nothing more than individuals joined by tenuous threads of text messages and emails, Iapetus have always been locked tight.
They tend to push one project at a time, every artist stepping in to help. They’ll converge on a home studio Yeoville, a Jo’burg suburb. With a beat playing and some good smoke going around, they’ll sit down and start writing. And you can hear it in the music; you can practically see the smoke drifting out of the speakers. Close the curtains and cut the lights, and you could be right there.
Check out the full playlist here and get up to date with the best of Iapetus’ dark, bass-heavy ouput.
Stay tuned for more for stories, interviews and galleries in the week ahead.
You might like
Louis Theroux’s ‘Manosphere’ shows men aren’t the problem, platforms are
No Ws for Good Men — The journalist’s new documentary sees him dive headfirst into the toxicities and machinations of the male influencer economy. But when young creators are monetarily incentivised to make more and more outrageous content, who really is to blame?
Written by: Emma Garland
In the 1960s, African photographers recaptured their own image
Ideas of Africa — An exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art explores the 20th century’s most important lensers, including Seydou Keïta, Malick Sidibé and Kwame Brathwaite, and their impact on challenging dominant European narratives.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Reynaldo Rivera’s intimate portrait of queer Latino love
Propiedad Privada — Growing up during the AIDS pandemic, the photographer entered a world where his love was not only taboo, but dangerous. His new monograph presents inward-looking shots made over four decades, which reclaim the power of desire.
Written by: Miss Rosen
In photos: The newsagents keeping print alive
Save the stands — With Huck 83 hitting shelves around the world, we met a few people who continue to stock print magazines, defying an enduringly tough climate for physical media and the high street.
Written by: Ella Glossop
Inside Bombay Beach, California’s ‘Rotting Riviera’
Man-made decay — The Salton Sea was created by accident after a failed attempt to divert the Colorado River in the early 20th century. Jack Burke reports from its post-apocalyptic shores, where DIY art and ecological collapse meet.
Written by: Jack Burke
The quiet, introspective delight of Finland’s car cruising scene
Pilluralli — In the country’s small towns and rural areas, young people meet up to drive and hang out with their friends. Jussi Puikkonen spent five years photographing its idiosyncratic pace.
Written by: Josh Jones
