Is it a book launch? Maybe it’s another session presented to us by Writers Forum, a session? Definitely not! 18th of September marks a day carefully hand-picked by God Himself to crown a poet by the name of Kabelo Noel known to the masses as Kilobyte. He believes that God didn’t have to split the blessings he granted his family with his brothers and sisters as he is the only child, he’s a writer, singer, dancer, engineer and a whole lot other things in which he’s putting to good use. For Kb it all began during the year in which he matriculated, the crowd’s reaction provoked his consideration for poetry and he looks up to fellow poets such as Tumi from The Volume, Mak Manaka and Lebo Mashile. During a short interview mid-way through the spectacle Rori of Yo-tv asks Kb why he does what he does and he responds “some teach, some inspire and some entertain but I’m here to do all the above.”
I have a smile tickling my aorta all the way to the other side of the ventricles , pleased to be part of what is about to take place. Intrigued by the beautiful predicament of being both a performer and a writer, but they correlate (Husband and a father) “It’s going to be a spectacle” I think to myself and immediately as I enter the large infamous Musaion theatre I engage in eye contact with a piano on stage and he responds “yes Flexible me and my instrument brothers are going to make it heavenly.” A saxophone and two acoustic guitars decorate the stage with melodic colours and large speakers are still being moved into the theatre and are placed on each corner of the stage, banners of sponsors pretty in the back-round on stage as if posing for snapshots and “wannabee” be noticed.
The show eventually takes flight even with the hostess Rori a tad late, Maps was partnering her as the Mc’s for the night and we underway as Dopey followed by sister Lwazi both bless us with poems. After nine months of preparation the man of the night Kb comes up and is quick to remind us why we appreciate his poetry as he delivers potent poetry and refers back to his hanger to change attire with almost every item rendered. I’d describe the poems he recited first conceptually commercial and I’m yet to come across an artist who precisely articulates such concepts as thorough as this man here. He heads backstage and is followed by my favourite sister Nothukela, before her words escape she silently prays and like they say the rest is history. Emma infers that “blood is thicker than water” with a beautifully constructed poem, flashes of Kb’s inspiration are evident as she performs. Being the poetry junkie that I am here I was thinking Fifi had swept me off my feet with her recitals over acoustic sounds, this was before The Temba ternos including Kb followed with opera and “raised me up” in spirit. OTI w’rapped up the first part of the show.
The second part of the spectacle saw the likes of Gee, He and I, Monica and Sweet Lemons showcase their items, this time the main man went up three times and as he was about to conclude the show he took a moment to chant “Street Poetry” and I’m sure my “WHAAAT” response was somewhat enough to cause a crack in the floor. Thinking back and searching for glitches to constructively criticise is like me trying to find life in an unfed lion’s den. This was a show that saw Kb’s book sold out on the night [couldn’t get it then but I have it now ;-)]. For a ‘piece of art’ like that to book yourself a seat you happily pay R180, the R30 was more of a preview price (yeah So basically the show was free).
AUTHOR-RISED @ the Musaion,
