Scrambles For Money

Braamfontein has that eerie sense of underlying danger to it. On the outside, it’s calm and manicured; an average Mzansi inner city ‘hood. But if you dig a lil’ deeper you’ll find thriving pockets of sub-culture, like roses sprouting out through the hard concrete. One such place is the Grayscale Gallery; an exhibition space and graffiti shop, one of the bastions of Jozi hip hop culture.

You can find Grayscale at 20 De Korte Street. Step inside, climb two flights of stairs, keep left, notice the buzzer, press the buzzer and wait. Unless there’s an event happening, Grayscale resembles nothing more exciting than the average business venue on any given weekday. But when night falls, a sizeable number of hip hop heads can usually be found living the culture within its stern walls.

Here’s a few snapshots from a recent battle at Grayscale organised by Scrambles For Money. Bring your punchlines yo!

“Shut the fuck up!” Gin-I Grindith sets the battles off, keeps the momentum flowing, and maintains order on the battlefield.

Gin-I calls it.

Don’t believe it!

Watching and waiting for that elusive punchline.

Gin-I and Krook’d check the clock. Time!

‘Camera’s Eye View’.

Ooooo, aaaaa. We call ’em ‘Punchline Faces’.

Comme des Fuckdown?

Super emcees Protista and Blakrok.

Kadence plotting his moves. He’ll be up against Demon at Talk Is Cheap II, the battle scheduled for April 26th.

Hangin’ out…

Elijah hands it down to Fudge. Check it out, blow-by-blow in the vid below…

Awww shiiiiit! That hurt.

And the crowd goes wild

Elijah’s having none of it. 

Tumi beaming – even conscious emcees love hip hop roots! He’ll be up against Ness Lee at Talk Is Cheap II.

One-L shows love.

Fudge flips it.

Inferno gets lost in the moment.

*You dig? Watch all battles on Youtube, right here.

**Scrambles For Money: Talk Is Cheap II will be taking place on April 26. Event details here.

***Check out our other reportage from Scrambles For Money.

All images © Tseliso Monaheng

10   0