Ever since Tokelo Moyakhe, known by his stage name Maglera Doe Boy, burst into the South African hip-hop space, he has assumed a position of authority with his commanding baritone, stentorian bar delivery, and sense of awareness. Adding to this, a key marker of his musical excellence has been the divergence of his visuals, exploring ways of crafting music videos which are otherwise not to the taste of mainstream acceptance. With his latest ocular offering of “The Running of Bulls/Dor Do Povo”, Maglera takes on the short film format to tell Diaspora stories alongside SAMA-nominated rapper 25K and Ason.
Running for eight minutes, the music video is extracted from two songs found in his acclaimed album, Diaspora – songs which are connected from end-to-end to create a sprawling narrative on a visual level.
Playing out as a type of duology, the short film takes place in the land of Mozambique in the region of Macaneta. The former half of the visuals switch between painterly scenes of lowly country life contrasting with the stationary yet high-rising views of the city in the shape of skyscrapers. The imagery of crescent-horned bulls and kraals in the first half consummates the controlling metaphor of the song: “The Running of Bulls”.
Thematically dressed in his black-and-white suit, his grillz are the only thing which shine with opulence, while the monochromatic lens dovetails with his dress code to lend the music video a sense of uniformity.
The latter part (“Dor Do Povo”) overturns the deadened and colourless reality of the first half of the short film. The dryness is replaced by coastlines and the sense of isolation ends with the inclusion of community. Translated to “Pain of the People”, the second half taking place within civilisation completes the narrative of the song in which he raps about the existential tribulations that people in Africa have to endure.
Maglera’s newest visuals might shy away from commercial appeal and attraction from the general population, but it’s a contemplative opus that asks for attention with no intentions of wasting a single minute.
