SHeHop Segment: The Conclusion with Lex LaFoy

Send us a textHost: Nitaterrytee Guest: Lex LaFoyIn celebrating 50 Years of Hip Hop , this is the conclusion. I would like to thank Lex for jumping on and sharing her story with hip hop. We faced a few technical difficulties and she remained as posed as she is. With this bonus episode the birth of a New Podcast was born stayed tuned for SHEHOP podcast that will showcase women in music, be on the look out. Thanks Disclaimer: There are a few technical issues but the episode ...

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to Unspoken Truth Podcast Network. This is a bonus episode celebrating 50 years of hip hop. This is the conclusion, and with me I have Lex LaFoy. Lex, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Hey Nita, I'm so good. Thank you. Thank you for having me on the show.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

That's great. It was actually such a mission for us to do this recording, and finally, we've got it right and we're excited. When I decided to do this episode, is because I didn't see a lot of podcasts hosting women celebrating 50 years of hip hop. We know it's a very male-dominant industry. The music industry itself is very male-dominant, but who speaks up for more women? I was like, let me do a bonus episode. Let me feature women in hip hop. Let's hear what they're doing, the changes they are doing within the hip-hop culture. And it's I'm really excited to have you on board. So just before we start with our questions, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Sure. So I am Lex LaFoy. I am from Durban, which is a beautiful city on the east coast of South Africa, for those who don't know. Yeah, so I grew up in Durban, and when I finished my social science degree at the University of Guazulu-Natal, I relocated to Johannesburg, where I spent seven years um growing, expanding my network, just mastering, you know, a lot of not only my rap skills, but also my business skills, you know. And then the day before COVID hit, I came back home and I've been based here ever since, and it's been amazing. I won't lie. It's also brought me to overcome a lot of my own uh false beliefs. You know, there's usually this mindset that somebody has to be in a certain place to achieve the things that they want. But I mean, look at what Jigger said. He said, put me anywhere on God's green earth. I triple my word. Mother girl. So yeah, coming to you live from Durban. And um I'm a mom, I'm a rapper, I'm a writer, I'm a creative project manager, a community development specialist. Um, as I mentioned, I have a degree in social science where I uh majored in psychology and philosophy. And last year I graduated from Business and Arts South Africa's Cultural Producers program. So yeah, the girl is busy. And uh thank you. The girl is busy, and honestly, I was just saying to somebody this morning, it is only by God's grace that I'm balancing the things I'm balancing, because like sometimes I feel like I'm caught to you know, going off the end. But um, but really it's it's all uh by God's grace and and also, you know, by keeping a dope uh small circle of support, my family, um, and and and allowing myself the space and the grace that I need to to kind of just breathe my way through everything that's happening.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

Yeah. That's great. That's really great. Um, it's just not beauty, the beauty also has brains, and the beauty is also hip-hop. I love that. I really love that. Um it's always good to see that there's so much more into a musician or an artist that people don't get to know. Yes, they see you rapping, yes, they see you looking so good, but within all those clothes and that that persona, there is somebody who really wants to change the world, not only through her lyrics, but also in the things that she does, and that's really great. So let's jump into the questions. What does hip-hop mean to you?

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Wow, so you know, factually, we know that hip hop is a genre and it's a it's a culture, and for me, it's um it's given me the platform and the space to voice myself. And at a time where, you know, when I was a teenager, and like all teenagers, we're looking for a place of belonging and we're looking for others that share passions and values. Um, when I found hip hop, I found a wider creative circle, you know, young people that were as passionate um about doing what they do, about expressing themselves, whether it was through graffiti, uh b-boying, rapping, freestyling, battling, um, yeah, what just looking at the elements of hip-hop? For me, it it gave me it gave me a space, a safe space to express and be myself and meet up with other people who were seeking the same thing.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

Yeah, it's really great. That's really great. Um, you touched on a place of belonging. So, when did you get introduced to hip hop? When did you get to that sense of belonging?

SPEAKER_01 5:32

Wow, so you know it's really funny. I I feel like hip hop affected me and touched my life before I even knew about it. I a couple of years ago, I was playing this song by um by Diggable Planets, The Rebirth of Slick. And my mom turns to me and she goes, Oh, you like that song? And I go, Yeah. And she says, I used to listen to it when you're when I was pregnant with you. And I was like, Oh, damn, okay. So, you know, and and and you know, just touching on on the power and influence of of dope moms, you know. Um, just last week my younger brothers played drill and you know, UK drill, and my mother's like, what rubbish is this? If you're gonna play hip hop, play Tupac or something, you know, and I'm like, damn, I mean you hardcore, you know. So yeah, I I feel like my exposure to hip hop um was in the belly, really, if I look back at it. But but as a young person, um I I was in grade 10 and I I started listening to Lauren Hill, you know, um The Miss Education and then uh Jay-Z's Blueprint One also had a huge impact on me. Um and then in Matrix, when I was exposed to the wider hip-hop scene and other creatives uh in my home city of Durban, I was also then exposed to the underground and the conscious uh side of hip-hop, which for a lot of us uh has been the basis, you know, of what our experience of what hip-hop is, you know, always understanding from the golden era of hip-hop um that hip-hop is multifaceted and it's multi-functional, and while it's been educational, it's also been party, you know. So it's it's got it's heavy, it's light, it's got it's deep, it's it's shallow, um, but in all facets, all of it has served a purpose, you know. So yeah, I was like I was in grade 10. It was 2002. Uh, I'd say when I fell in love with hip-hop, and I just I've never looked back. And then prior to that, and prior to that, I remember listening to to you know, people like Godessa locally in South Africa on on the radio in the days of cassettes and um and recording that, you know, and just learning the lyrics, writing the lyrics down, and um, and then eventually, you know, finding my own voice.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

Yeah. While you're still just there, you know, just going back down memory lane when you're going and you grew up on this hip-hop listening to it, the cassettes, the CDs, the DVDs. Now you need to tell me if hip hop was a feeling, how best would you describe it? Just as you just go through just that memory lane, if it was a feeling, yeah, what would that feeling be?

SPEAKER_01 8:49

I'd say resonance, it's a feeling of resonance, you know, to to be caught in one's own world and hear someone rapping about their life from somewhere across the planet, you know, and feeling that resonance, like, oh okay, I feel you, I I I know what you're going through, or I I resonate, you know. So resonance, uh yeah, resonance.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

And while you're on that feeling, I like that feeling because it's so many artists out there who are great rappers. You've named a few, and you've been in this hip-hop industry for a while now. But as a female artist, how is it to be in this industry? To be in this industry that is so vast. Hip hop is everywhere, hip-hop is different. Hip hop is American, hip hop is South African, hip hop is English, hip hop is Australian. As a female in this hip-hop uh industry or this music industry, can you tell me how how is it?

SPEAKER_01 10:06

Yeah, you know, um the last thing I'd want to do for a young girl or young woman listening is paint an idealistic picture. Um, so I feel it's my responsibility to offer her the light and the dark sides, you know, uh the good and the bad. So on the one hand, it's been amazing, you know, it's been beautiful coming into my own as a woman, um, embracing my femininity parallel with my own personal journey of self-discovery, self-knowledge, growth, you know. Um, and on the other hand, it's been a jungle. It's been it's been cutthroats, it's been um, you know, when when people, especially artists, when artists find themselves in depression or um, you know, heavily burdened with with mental health issues or some even taking their lives, we can understand, we can understand that for an artist, putting your feelings out there is putting yourself out there, and nobody teaches you that your value is intrinsically determined. Nobody teaches you that no matter what people say, it's how you view yourself at the end of the day that's gonna get you through, you know. Um, so yo, there've been many, many times where I've been broken. There have been many, many times where my expectations were not met, um, where I've been disappointed. And I guess for me, what I'd keep on coming back to, Nita, is why am I doing this? You know, did I want to do this because of somebody else? And the answer is no. I've been doing this from a child, you know, writing lyrics, writing poetry, writing songs from the moment I became literate. And whenever I'd find myself questioning the why, why I'm doing what I'm doing, I'd have to remind myself that this is not about anybody else. This is not about another person determining my value or my worth or my place in the industry. This is about me fulfilling my journey and self-actualizing, you know. Um, so if anything, it's taught me how to be a stronger human being. It's taught me how to be resilient, it's taught me that nobody can determine your value except for yourself. Um, you know, it's definitely been hard, especially like you said, with the power dynamics, you know, amongst genders, uh, growing up with the majority of men running studios, uh, producing, things like that. And I think from the from the abuse, I learned to become wiser, you know, to become wiser. And so I'm very intentional in working with more females. I work with an all-female band. Whenever I perform, I work with a female DJ because I want to be in a space that is emotionally and psychologically and physically safe for me, you know. And it's especially difficult in South Africa with the amount of psychological trauma that South Africans, especially South African males, carry and are unaware that they carry, you know. Um, and of course, that's tipped over to women too. And now we've got these gender wars where everyone's blaming everybody, and no one wants to just sit down at the table and say, whoa, uh, you know, what systematic plans and devices have brought us to where we are? How can we find ourselves building our black families in order to rebuild a strong country? You know, these are things that when broken down, this is what early hip hop was telling us. Early hip-hop was was always socially conscious and socially aware. It was always about self-knowledge, you know, it was always about the community and the collective. And of course, over time the messaging has changed, you know, the agendas have changed. We can probably talk about that a bit a bit later. But I mean, for me, at the end of the day, it's it's really about responsibility of self, self-responsibility. And hip hop has taught me that, you know, it's taught me that the connection between what we desire and what we as individuals are doing on the daily to reach that. Because it's no use, you know, constantly complaining, for example, about underrepresentation of women in the industry and not doing anything about it as a woman, you know. So really, absolutely, so really it's about responsibility. People can, you know, people can see themselves as as artists for the fame and for the hype, but really, what are we given these voices for? We're looking at artists that have half a mil to a couple of million followers, and at the end of the day, my question is, what are you doing with it? You know, what are you what are you doing to to make our society better? What are you doing to help youth who are feeling lost? You know, there's always been the ignorant fun side of hip-hop, which you know everyone, everyone loves, but at the end of the day, you can't ignore the purposeful side of hip-hop. So of everything else.

SPEAKER_02 16:01

It's also of everything, literally everything else in this world that we live in within our purpose. It's really understanding what are you doing and giving back, you know, into society, into Mother Earth. Um, because I like when you touch on that because you are right, you can have a million followers, but you're doing nothing to help the next person, you're not doing better, you're not giving back, you're not being inspirational, you're not uplifting the next girl child or boy child. You're just doing it for the fame. And rather have, and and that's how I feel when even when it comes to my podcast. I when I started in 2020, I said even if one person was listening, that means I'm making the difference. You know, and if I grow, that means it's a bonus. A lot of people are listening, and I want people to, I always want people to feel better after listening to my podcast. I want people to question, I want people to be more educated, to be more awake on who am I? How do like it's literally just questioning the little things in life, you know? So let's not get into that. I'll have you on the next time, Windzy, um, a seco when we tackle bigger topics and I love men. We'll have you on that topic. Let's continue with this hip-hop. Okay. We all know that the history of hip hop, right? We know the history of hip hop. If you could create history, would there be anything you could you would change in the history of hip hop? If you could not you don't really have to go back to the past, but right now we know the history, we know the right now. Is there anything that you would change?

SPEAKER_01 17:40

Yes, I would change that flip that happened um in between the golden era and the new age era, where investors realized the power of the hip hop voice and started using it for distraction. I would change that moment.

SPEAKER_02 18:07

Um yeah, I'm not I don't even want to say anything after that. I wouldn't want to say, I would do not want to literally damage that. That is very powerful, and I hope everybody who gets to hear that, they just need to pause for a bit, just right there. That's very powerful. So we're changing, right? You know what you want to change in in in in the hip hop history in the now. So who inspired you? The artist that made you realize you could do this, the one who said lex, the one who made you stand in front of a mirror and say, Do you know what? I've got this, I can do this, and I can maybe do it two times better, ten times better. But who inspired you?

SPEAKER_01 18:58

As a female, I'd say Lauren Hill, and on the masculine energy, I'd say Jay-Z. And you know, um, I was very blessed to meet uh Jay-Z and Beyoncé when they they had their Global Citizen um event in December 2018. And by the grace of God and divine alignment, the girl was the hostess at their private after party. And like that moment where Jigger's standing like five feet from me, and he's at the bar, and I realize this is my moment, this is my moment, this is my moment, and I knew that it's his birthday in two days, and I go, and I just say there's like one moment where I go, Happy birthday for tomorrow. Because already it's 3 a.m. You know, the next day I'm like, happy birthday for tomorrow. And he goes, Thank you. And he proceeds to get his Don Julio shots in tequila, you know, but like definitely Lauren Hill and Jay-Z, I'd say for me, have been the biggest influences um at that young age, you know. Uh also Missy Elliott, you know, I'd close the door and I'd be making up my own dance routines to Missy Songs, you know. She's that girl, we all went through that. I had a whole dance crew, y'all. Yeah, and and then locally, um, you know, there were so many local artists um that just influenced me in a way that it brought it home. You know, listening to Godessa and Rasa Fanikap on the radio, uh online, um, listening to to the Cape of Good Dope. Uh, they were they were pushing a lot of good alternative um and electro uh hip-hop at a time where electro hip hop wasn't even a thing, you know. Um also in Durban, there's there's a number of dope artists that um that were just doing their thing. So so yeah, it's it's been it's been awesome. And of course, more recently, seeing some of the the female and and male, you know, seeing some of the the dope artists that come up um you know more recently also just keeps that inspiration flowing, you know. Um yeah, although I I try not to take too much inspiration from what is current because you don't want to be regurgitating what is out there. Um, so I do try to stay extremely focused on the things that I'm focused on. But when I do come across, you know, certain dope music videos or fashion and styling, um, or even lyrics, you know, wordplay, it it always helps me to to kind of just yeah, to just just stay at it and realize that you know this thing is global, it's bigger than me, and it's a game we're all playing. And it's fun.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

I like that. I just have to quote Coleman here when he says forever begins just because I thought about it. You know, um, it's it's it's it's a forever thing. And once you're in it, you know, because you thought about it, it's where ever and ever. Let's keep on going. Take me down memory lane on your very first performance, right? Very first performance from that very day. What is it that you vouched that you never do again? So I want I'm taking you back to your very first performance, and you're like, I will never do this again.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

What is that one thing? My very first performance on a stage was in 2004. I was doing my trick and I discovered the Bad Center hip hop uh sessions, and I went on stage, it was myself, Zulu boy, um, a couple of others, and and it's so funny because I I missed my cues to come in and turn around and I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, still again, still again, and there's a crowd, and it's just like you know, and and and the DJ bless his soul. He started the song again, and I went in and I was fine. So in that moment, you know, in that moment, I felt like a regular artist, and I got some will it's will it selector, you know. So yeah, I think from then on, I just I told myself, um, I I'd actually like to fuse it. I'd like to fuse it with another uh early performance that kind of uh taught me something, you know, because this is a big lesson, especially for professionalism in in being an artist, right? I think about a year later or a couple of months later, there was a gig we'd gone to in Durban. Still, I was still very new, you know, and um that gig was delayed. And it was delayed by a couple of hours. So, what do artists do? They get lit, you know, they drink, they smoke, and you know, the girl is there, the girl is there because the show's later, and I get on stage and I forget my goddamn lyrics. Oh my god. So from that moment, this was the biggest lesson. From that moment, I tell myself, this was in 2005, I will never drink or get high before a performance. And I've I've remained, I've remained because I've learned that you know, everyone is different. Some people get on stage and they love being lit, but for me personally, what works for me is I work I love reward systems, you know. I love reward systems, I work the entire day, push, push, push, push, and I want to reward myself, you know, at the end of that day. And I think for me, the performance is like that, you know. The performance for me is let me reward myself when I'm done, have a couple of shots, get a blunt, you know, whatever it is. Um, but I learned from that day onwards that I will never, I will not, I will never do that again.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

Like Lauren would say, you might win some, but you just lost one. So uh let's let's continue. So we we've heard about you, we know what you like, uh, we know what you're about. So let's flip it a little bit. Besides your own music, who are your top three all-time rappers, right? I know we've got Jay-Z, we know we've got Lauren. We already have those two, and we had VC. You already mentioned those, so let's flip it. And then you also gave us locker ones. I'm gonna flip it and say, right now, right now, on any playlist that you have on your Spotify, who are your top three rappers? I'm not gonna say of all time because now it's we because we already know of this. So, right now in your playlist, top three, who are they? Local or international? It's okay.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

Kanye. Definitely Kanye West. Um, definitely Kanye West. I cannot make that list without Kanye West. Um, Kanye West, and I'm listening to Brent Fires. Brent Fires is not hip-hop, he's RB, but my life is so much better since he exists. So, you know, I mean I read one of the comments the other day, and and and the comment said, Brent, you sing to my soul. And I was like, Yeah, actually, that's exactly what he does. Sing to my soul, you know. So um, I'm gonna include him because although he's RB, he's lyrical, he's as lyrical as hip-hop, you know. Yeah, so I'd say Kanye West, Brent Fayez. Um, who else? I'm trying to think. I have been listening to some some old school Mary J. Blige, uh, good for the soul. Um who else? Who else? I want to say myself in my top five, definitely. And um gosh, the last one. I want okay, there's quite a few, but let me say Celestial Mike. Because we've already spoken about Jay-Z. We we know that they have an indelible place in my journey. Um, but locally, Celestial Mike is also really, really dope. He's he's from Durban, he's a rapper, also Gemini, and um that's so he's he's really really fire.

SPEAKER_02 28:01

He's you're for the stars. Also Gemini. So you are Gemini, you're for the stars. Clearly, for the stars. We'll have a topic on that on another day, on another recording. Um, okay, cool. So we're celebrating 50 years of hip hop. Hip hop's birthday was on the 11th of August, and you are obviously officially the conclusion of this bonus um episode, right? Um, what would you want to see change? What is it that you want to see change? Hip hop has gone through different stages up to its 50th birthday. 50 years to come, what would you want to see change?

SPEAKER_01 28:45

Sure. Um, the first thing I'd love to see is gifted, talented artists taking themselves and their business more seriously. Um, because sometimes less talented people end up further just because their business acumen is dope, you know, and then we end up looking at who's on the lineups and who's in the top five, and get upset at the loss of quality um just because the doper ones kind of, you know, uh take their skill for granted. So the first thing, I'd love to see more gifted rappers, more gifted MCs learning the business side of the industry and equipping and educating themselves to the level of professionalism that they want. Because people need to remember that you can't be making corporate money without corporate ethics, you know. Uh secondly, I'd want to see more ownership, more black ownership of content, not just um, you know, the way things currently are, where uh you know that there's a lot of let me say inequality when it comes to the real power and the real money. I'd want to see more black artists and black creative leaders in spaces of real power, making decisions that are good for our people, our artists and our communities, not just using our content and our culture for commercial benefits. And then thirdly, um, yeah, I I just I feel especially in South Africa, we need the growth of a secondary or an alternative uh industry because at this point our industry is still very young, whereas in the UK and the US, the industry is large enough for a you know, A-level and B level artists for commercial and alternative artists to thrive. And what we as South Africans really need to do is we have to break these barriers, you know. We have to um, whether it's through private uh investment and support and funding, uh, we have to keep backing and investing into our arts and our music. We can't keep relying on governments and and labels to do the things for us. So in order for us to have a bigger, more functional, more thriving industry, we need to open the gates. You know, gatekeeping doesn't serve anyone. Um, it definitely doesn't serve our industry. And yeah, to to other event organizers, to other promoters, people who have the power, the decision-making power to book people. I just say book more new artists, book more new faces. We can't have the same faces and names on the lineups all the time because we're stifling our own industry. We need growth. So, yeah, those are the three things I want to see happening over the next 50 years.

SPEAKER_02 32:09

That's really great, and that's very powerful. Thank you for that. And I hope people get to hear this that they do have to open, you know, more channels for people to perform. And um, I mean, even with my podcast, I've seen such incredible women in hip hop, others that I never knew, others that I've just learnt along the way, and you guys are incredible, and you do need the chance, and you do need the visibility, and it's only fair to have that visibility. So, um, what message do you have for hip hop? Just a short message. It could be happy birthday.

SPEAKER_01 32:49

Hip hop, I love you. That's it.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

Yeah, hip hop, I love you, hip hop, I love you, hip hop, we love you.

SPEAKER_01 32:58

Okay, I think those are the words of of comment. Yeah, yeah, hip-hop. I love you, you know. Um I I I appreciate hip-hop so much, Mita. Hip hop has introduced me to some of the dopest human beings. Um, it's created a family outside of my family for me. I have lifelong uh friends and colleagues and collaborators that I would not have met if it wasn't for hip-hop. There is a ton of knowledge and education that I've learned outside of schooling, and I wouldn't have learned that if it wasn't for hip-hop. Um, yeah, even my mom, being the rebellious hip-hop lover she is, I'm so grateful for her, you know. Uh for her being the courageous human being she is, loud and proud enough to be herself, um, and and just align with the beautiful message and ethos that is hip-hop, you know, more freedom of expression, more people being themselves, more self-actualization, more appreciation for the culture and not just using it for what it gives corporates, but appreciation of the actual culture. And the hip hop culture for me will always be rooted in community. And I don't think we should ever forget that.

SPEAKER_02 34:29

I love that. So thank you for joining us. This is the end of our episode, and it was incredible. And like Menzi said, I'll thank him later. So thank you, Menziko, for making me meet this wonderful Lex LaFoy. So, just before you go, I've got I need you to tell people where they find your music, where they find you, and one last thing, one big favor on the youngest listener to my podcast who loves you so much. Her name is Mateo, and I'd love you to give her a shout out, she will die.

SPEAKER_01 35:08

Is her name Mateo?

SPEAKER_02 35:10

Mateo.

SPEAKER_01 35:12

Mateo. Oh, okay, okay. Uh, yeah, people can find me at Lex LaFoy, that's L-E-X, and my surname L-A-F-O-Y, anywhere and everywhere. Mateo. I hope I pronounce your name right, girl. Mateo. Mateo, sending you so much love. Uh, be kind to yourself, keep loving yourself. Thank you for the love that you show me and my music. May you grow into being an amazing, great, powerful, well-balanced, successful, fruitful human being. You and keep listening to Lex the Boy. Keep listening. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 35:58

Thank you so much, Lex, for jumping on. Thank you for being a part of it. I'm really grateful to you and for Menzi because I feel like he is right. We needed to hear this, we needed to hear your voice. And I hope that this is not the first and the last time we get to have you on spoken truth. I would love to have you on something different, a different topic when time permits and time differences are not so bad. I hope we can jump on again. But thank you so much. I appreciate it. And may you grow successful in who you are, may you vibrate higher, may you be always the better version of yourself. May God, who is a her, I believe God is a her, may she gracefully bless you with all your hard desires, and may your baby, I don't know if it's a boy or girl, you know, just gain from the knowledge you have and may you pass it down for generations to generations. So take care of yourself. I appreciate you. And I'll keep on listening to your music. Your music is already on my playlist, so people must check it out on Spotify, celebrating 50 years of hip hop, just females. I'm pushing female agenda because the future is female. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00 37:10

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