Kuils River rapper, Marvin van Wyk, aka Cream Machine, released his much anticipated single Raak Taatie earlier this month.
Well-known in the community for spitting rhymes, the 30-year-old rapper was just 11 years old when he took to the stage at Irista Primary School in Sarepta and was asked to perform at carnivals and talent shows.
Back in the early 1990s, Marvin created his own musical group at Sarepta High School called the Bruinstormaz.
While many rappers make a name for themselves through projecting bad behaviour, Marvin said his music is a reflection of his life, just like the Raak Taatie song, for which the video was shot in Dahlia Street, Sarepta.
“The song is the story of how people in my community can have a good time, with the little amounts they’ve got.
“I try to paint a picture of my roots so if you listen to the song or watch the music video, there’s no fancy cars, expensive alcohol or money thrown around. This is what makes me different.”
Since the video dropped on YouTube on October 11, more than 50 000 views and comments have come streaming in. Marvin hopes to increase the numbers and reach people who don’t know this lifestyle. Comments have welcomed the rapper “back into the industry” and he told Northern News that having a nine-to-five job and a music career has been tough.
The Bruinstormaz did their first recording in a home studio and then later worked with Hyperdelic Productions on their album “bruinbrood”.
Two of the songs on the album released in 2014, Stamina and Capeflats, featured on the local movie Four Corners, starring Irshad Ally and Brendan Daniels.
“I also have a song called Stilwaters, which tells the story of a young girl who sells herself to make ends meet – things that happen in our poor communities. Some other songs speak about gangsterism and everything I see in my community.”
His advice to other rappers is to make a song sound “lekker” so that people can be drawn to it and then hear that there is a deeper message in the song.
His ultimate dream is that when people put on their television sets and see him, they must relate to him.