Jack Parow
| Jack Parow | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Zander Tyler |
| Origin | Parow, Cape Town, South Africa |
| Genres | Hip hop, zef, rap, Afrikaans rap |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Labels | Parowphernalia, Supra Familias, TopNotch |
| Associated acts |
Die Heuwels Fantasties Die Antwoord Garlic Brown Bittereinder Francois Van Coke Fokofpolisiekar Van Coke Kartel Inge Beckmann P.H.Fat Haezer Gazelle SiboT JR |
Zander Tyler (born 22 February 1982), better known by his stage name Jack Parow is an Afrikaner rapper from Cape Town, South Africa. He is well known for his contribution to the song "Die Vraagstuk" with Die Heuwels Fantasties and performing with them at the Oppikoppi festival in 2009. He has contributed and collaborated with various other artists such as Die Antwoord.
Early life and career
Since a young age Parow reportedly wanted to be a rapper, from the instant he heard Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle.
| “ | I bought that Now Monster Hits 4 and Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle was on there and since then I always wanted to rap. I was in Standard 3 or 4, that's when you first decide what type of music you like. I always liked Dr Seuss and other things that rhyme – it's fun, I dig it. | ” |
Due to the interest and rise of the "coolness" phenomena in Afrikaans culture brought on by the many popular South African music groups, he now pursues performing as his full-time career. Parow founded his own music label, Parowphernalia, performs voice over work, appears at various sponsored events and is also an actor, most recently appearing in the 2013 Ster Kinekor comedy film Babalas as Neef alongside Ian Roberts, Norman Anstey, Fats Bookholane and Tammy-Anne Fortuin.
Jack first started rapping in English, but he soon decided that he preferred Afrikaans.
| “ | I rapped in English for long and then I did this song. I was with Juda from Brasse Vannie Kaap and MC Dread and everyone was rapping English cause at the time there wasn't really an Afrikaans rap market, but we did this one track called Hard Headed Hobo, where they were the Hobos and I was tuning them as an Afrikaans Boer. It went so easy and sounded so nice, I thought: why haven’t I been rapping in Afrikaans before? | ” |
Popularity
Jack Parow's growing popularity is a result of the ever-changing South African sub-culture known locally as Zef which roughly translates to common in English. In an interview on Gamestate, Parow aptly describes the movement:
| “ | It's kind of like Posh, but the opposite of Posh. | ” |
| — Interview with Jack Parow[3] | ||
Despite his decision to avoid intentional political and religious material in his performances, in May 2012 the Afrikaans-language newspaper Beeld reported that annoyed concert goers had attempted to attack Parow during his set at a music festival in the town of Newcastle in the KwaZulu-Natal province. A small group of middle-aged men took offence to Parow swearing during his performances, which they deemed to be "blasphemous". When Parow was 45 minutes into his set, the festival organisers took to the stage and removed the microphone due to security concerns.[4]
Discography
Jack Parow's first release was the Cooler as ekke EP in December 2009. It was released as a limited edition of 600 USB flash drives in the shape of an ice-cream-cone and featured 10 songs and 6 music videos.
Jack Parow (2010)
Parow's first full-length album, the self-titled Jack Parow, was released in April 2010. This album reached gold sales status (500,000 copies) within two weeks of its release and platinum sales status (1,000,000 copies) less than one year later in February 2011. Collaborations with other artists on this release included Francois van Coke (Fokofpolisiekar & Van Coke Kartel), Die Heuwels Fantasties, rapper JR and others.
Eksie Ou (2011)
Parow's second full-length album, Eksie Ou was released in November 2011 under his own newly created music label, Parowphernalia and produced by Justin de Nobrega. This album reached gold sales status (500,000 copies) within 4 months of its release. The first single from the album, "Hosh Tokolosh" featuring Gazelle and DJ INVIZABLE became the first Afrikaans-language single to ever reach number 1 on the 5FM radio station's Top 40 list in South Africa. The title track, "Eksie Ou" later became the second number 1 single from this album on the 5FM Top 40.
Eksie Ou Special Edition (2012)
The Special Edition version of the Eksie Ou album includes six additional bonus tracks including "Merry Xmas", a drinking game with included dice, a twelve page comic book and also features unique Special Edition packaging.
In addition to the Eksie Ou and Eksie Ou Special Edition albums, Parow also released a line of signature head wear and Parow Braaisous, a sauce he created for the traditional South African Braai style of preparing meats and other foods over an open fire.
Nag Van Die Lang Pette (2014)
Released 7 February 2014
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/432/42102.html Retrieved on 2 April 2010
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://blog.servusversus.com/index.php/2010/03/25/jack-parow-the-afrikaans-rapper-of-note/ Retrieved 2 April 2010
- ↑ http://www.zoopy.com/video/3byh/celebrity-co-op-jack-parow Retrieved on 4 March 2010
- ↑ http://www.beeld.com/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Jack-vs-die-ooms-20120501[]