2016 was a big year for EC Hiphop with the artist being the MVP’s of the season. Continuing with our count down of the top moves in EC Hiphop, part 2 covers from the 5th spot to our number 1. Leggo!
5. Jus Bangz Video On Trace

You can plan the picnic but you can’t predict the weather. Similarly you can shoot a high budget video but you will never know if “they” (the so called gatekeepers) will play it. We salute Jus Bangz for getting his ‘Uzobuphi’ music video on to Trace and in turn showing us just how far we can take this EC hiphop thing. Here’s to new spaces!

Souce: Facebook/JusBangzTheFuture
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4. Lil G Getting Signed To Asanda Records

First time we heard Lil G was after he dropped his ‘Sky Scapper’ mixtape, back in 2015, we have been following him since. There was no shock waking up one morning to hear he got signed, I mean, did you hear ‘Young Gawd’ (Prod. By VI Bitts)? I lie, the sighing came from nowhere and we were very happy to hear the news. The EC is full of talent, we have been saying this from the start and we won’t stop spreading the gospel until everyone is signed.
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3. Mikkie SomaQhuzu On Morning Live

Source: Facebook//MikkieEC
‘Mikkie SomaQhuzu on Morning Live’ if you had to ask how we would tell you, “We don’t know how Mikkie does it?” Straight out of Umtata but you can expect him to pop up anywhere in the country. Mikkie really shook us when we heard he would be performing on Morning Live. We expect that platform to host the who’s who of the SA music… Maybe we’ve all been sleeping on Mikkie, maybe he really is the who’s who of the SA music seen. Whatever it is, when it comes to Morning Live, Mikkie SomaQhuzu has been there, done that and got the T-Shirt.
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2. Slogan’s Run In December

We from the Dirty East, the one place that is known to put on for everybody accept their own. If you can make it here you can make it anywhere! What do we mean by this…? It’s not uncommon to go to an event in EC that has no EC acts on it. You can be a really good artist but still not be booked around here. Slogan’s run in December was very impressive and consistent. He started on the 3rd of December with Cruel Summer and went on to perform at a total of 10 events in one month. He performed alongside SA’s biggest acts including AKA, Okmalumkoolkat, Dream Team and Tall Ass Mo just to name a few. Our question to Slogan would be “Where to from here?” We know his working on he’s tape titled ‘He Fell Off’ so we definitely watching this space!

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1. Isaac Wilson – Levitation

Source: Facebook/IceOnTheMic
We always knew that Isaac’s tape would do the most but we were never ready. A testimony to just how much ‘Levitation’ did would later be recorded in The Blacksmithed music site. 31st of October 2016 has the highest amount of visits to the site in a single day, higher than the day we re-launched the website. Levitation is partly the reason why the new site has download tracker, we felt the need to know exactly how many unique downloads an artist gets. Now, if your moves are changing the way things are done then you are doing the most! The one move we really didn’t understand is why Isaac would later remove the tape off the internet completely? This man is cut from a different cloth.
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Honourary Mentions
Kid Tini

Source: Facebook/KidTini
Kid Tini probably did the most in 2016. It was truly the year for his footprint to be made in industry. Despite residing in Gauteng, this dude managed to do so much in the national industry and still rocks the EC brand loud and proud on his chest. His tape ‘Coming Of Age’ had such sonic soundliness that it actually sounded like an album. And it’s reach went far and wide. He also landed himself most notably on the official remix to DJ Switch’s #NowOrNever joint which took the country by storm. And we cannot forget the crazy music video to Preach, which was just too groundbreaking. He also had numerous features, including working with Gigi Lamayne, J Smallz and numerous others. He also did the liberty of dropping a #SoSo16 with us.
2017 has already gotten to a great start for him, having just dropped a crazy single with PdotO and Kid X titled Lawd HamMercy. This is truly his year, as he has branded it his own #20SevenTini.
All in all, the homie still reps Butterworth and we’re glad to see him make the most in the industry. We pushing for him 200%!
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LaveshDNA

Growing up I use to visit Musica often just to look through the Hiphop racks. I would see everyone from Ludacris to Busta Bust, Prokid, Proverb and never did I think a Hiphop act from the Bay would make it to those shelfs. Anything is possible; Lavesh proved that when he announced via social media “#MakeMeFamousEP available on all digital platforms and Musica stores, get your copy. New music coming soon.”
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That raps our up our Top 10 moves for 2016 list and with the above documented we can close this chapter and start afresh. We looking forward to seeing which artist will be making serious move in 2017 and just how far we can take EC Hiphop! Again, who do you think made the biggest moves in 2016 in terms of EC Hiphop. Do you agree with our list? did we leave someone off? Let us know your thoughts on this matter.