PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - A long queue of teenagers waited patiently to get through the gates to Vegas In Plett (VIP), a local nightclub for the pen-ultimate event of the 2010 Plett Rage Festival. Once inside, "Pa - row, Pa - row, Pa - row..." could be heard chanted by the crowd of about 1 500 ‘ragers’. One would be perfectly justified in expecting the screaming masses to throw their underwear at the stage. Girls were seen making vulgar symbols with strong sexual connotations and the boys, well one fan had actually painted a slogan across the top of a pair of Y-fronts which he held up high in honour of his legend, Jack Parow. It took a row of strong bouncers to restrain the crowd from rushing onto the stage. "The crowd was amazing! Plett, I love you guys! HOSH JA!" was Parow’s official comment.

There were mixed responses from the crowd: The most common response to the question, "So, you like Jack Parow?" was, "I love Jack Parow!" Many fans had made their own shirts sporting lyrics from his songs, specifically for this concert. Others were present merely out of curiosity. "I was a bit disappointed by his first couple of songs - perhaps because I could not understand them," says one English-speaking festival-goer. "That was the most raucous crowd I have ever been in!" said another seasoned party-goer.

Jack Parow is an Afrikaans rapper and a satiricist extraordinaire. He is backed by DJ Naaldekoker (dragonfly). Using popular Afrikaans songs among the backing tracks, DJ Naaldekoker scratches, mixes and blends an accompaniment to Parow’s sometimes bizarre live performance. Parow’s lyrics deliver pertinent commentary about the demise of individuality and authenticity. The irony is that the youth are so poorly informed that they appear to regard this satire as an example, thus losing their authenticity in an attempt to emulate him. There is a growing South African sub-culture known as Zef, to which much of Parow’s success can be attributed. "It's kind of like Posh, but the opposite of Posh." says Parow. Culturally, this is a fascinating phenomenon: In the eighties, Zef was the appropriate way to describe someone from the lower social classes. Today, it is ‘hip’ to be ‘zef’ with youngsters spending vast amounts of money to dress themselves in the sub-culture’s fashion, although the same result can be achieved at a fraction of the cost. In some ways the result can be regarded as positive social change with the divide between the classes becoming less apparent.

Parow delivers a high energy live performance and has a definite following in South Africa, Belgium and The Netherlands. His facebook fan page currently has 120 847 fans, with his fan-base growing almost hourly. Love him or hate him, Parow is making his presence known. With Afrikaans being the third most widely spoken language in South Africa, perhaps there is method in Parow’s madness.





ARTICLE: CANDICE LUDICK