Credit: Instagram
Back with the second instalment of Sekeni titled ‘Sekeni 2.0’, Mac 11 realised the full strength of his kasi narrative: the story of the hustler still on the come-up, working every day and coming back again until the wheel of fortune turned in his favour.
With the help of Thabiso Lukhele from RedTape Films, the Durban-based kwaito musician’s final product is fertile with nostalgic kasi symbolism, almost as if they are carefully placed heirlooms all over the visuals.
The music video features Mac 11 and his guests, Maraza and Rhea Blek, vibing in different kasi locations. Punctuated by the appearance of Mac 11 riding around in a blood-coloured gusheshe, the music video starts with Mac 11 spitting lyrical kasi vignettes in a white vest, blue pants, and snowy sneakers.
From then onwards, the focus transitions to the other artists, showing all of them jamming together with the gusheshe behind them. Other scenes see Maraza with Mac 11 on a rooftop and Rhea capping the song with her melodious voice to the backdrops of amakhumbi and shacks assembled from corrugated iron.
More than anything else, what the visuals excel in achieving is the mindfulness in the symbol selection. Images that have greatly contributed to the identity of pantsula life in Mzansi. This can be seen in kasi staples in the form of igusheshe, reversible bucket hats, and scenic depictions of the township life.
The way it was shot breathed an experiential feel to it, akin to ‘Down the Drain’ by Thabza Tee and Njelic, capturing everyday kasi happenings in a way that made it feel less like a music video and more like a personal tour through the neighbourhood. Everything about the scene selection aligned with the roots of kwaito music that so heavily influenced the direction of ‘Sekeni 2.0’.
The most noticeable symbol in the music video is the use of the gusheshe as the thread holding the concept of the song together. The way the car was utilized as a metaphor is reminiscent of Justin Timberlake’s ‘What Goes Around… Comes Around’, here, close to the end of the music video, the screeching tires of the same red car tattoo circles of skid marks on asphalt, completing the concept.
Even the placement of the car is subliminal in a way, with the stark red car just looming in the background the whole time. Isn’t that like the idea of karma, that it just hangs back patiently, waiting just as the car was doing the entire time? As if to say, “I’m here, and I’ll be back again.”
“Ekseni, emini, eb’suku, njalo k’yoze kube nini siphanda…” sings Rhea towards the end, echoing the cyclic life of a hustler’s lifestyle, the very thing the visuals did well to preserve.
A novel voice in the kwaito scene, Mac 11 has certainly done enough of his homework to pay homage to those who came before him while carving a unique mark for himself to alert his contemporaries that he’s to be reckoned with.
