Lukae Concepts: A PE Hip Hop Thought Leader

We recently came across The HeadSpace, a new YouTube series focused on EC Hip Hop and includes interviews with some artists. We were really excited to see this as we strongly see the necessity of more independent platforms.

We decided to catchup with it’s founder, Lukae Concepts, whom we have come to learn is quite the seasoned PE hip hop thought leader.

BL: You have been active in the scene for many years now. Can you tell us what got you started and how you ended up where you are now?

Lukae Concepts: I started as fan who bought albums and attended shows etc. In 2012 I created an account on Facebook (first time on social media) and I would browse on hip hop groups just to know what I missed – be it shows or album reviews – and I saw that no one was doing it. I then decided to take the initiative and started reviewing hip hop gigs I used to attend. The best thing was that no one knew me personally; my Facebook name was Ta-Kaizer and I didn’t have have pictures of myself – just sneakers. So, I’d attend shows with no worries and write a review afterwards and publish it on The Elements of Hip Hip group. That’s why people know me as Ta-Kaizer. Yahkeem also approached me to be a writer on an online blog called earthestreets. In 2014, myself and some friends of mine started Battle Chronicles (a battle-rap league) and we used host hip hop shows etc. This year we started a YouTube channel called Lukae Concepts and a show called The HeadSpace. I have always been about EC Hip Hop.

BL: Where did the name Lukae Concepts originate from?

Lukae Concepts: My daughter’s name is Lukhangela and we call her Lukhey for short and when I decided to register a company in 2018 her name popped in my head. Lol, you know us hip hop heads, I tweaked the name and Lukae Concepts was born. The ‘Concepts’ part relates to the fact that we are planning to bring back every concept I was involved in back when I was starting to get more involved in the hip hop scene.

BL: We understand you have a huge passion for sneakers. Can you elaborate more on that?

Lukae Concepts: Ey man, the love I have for kicks I beyond words. The love started in my teens when I started school in the Northern Areas. You know how coloured people love their sneakers. My parents could only afford to cop me fakes and I remember a cousin of mine gave me his FILA Spaghetti sneakers and I treasured those pair of kicks for a long time. And I vowed that as soon as I get a job I would start my own collection. I believe that sneakers are art man. I know this may sound strange, but most times I judge a person’s character by the kicks they’re wearing 😁.

BL: You have recently launched a video series online titled The HeadSpace. Can you tell us more about it and what inspired the move?

Lukae Concepts: Last year, I took a 3 month break from social media and every time I got bored I would go on YouTube to browse. I stumbled upon Hip Hop DX and The BreakDown by Justine Hunte and I got fascinated by the concepts they have as a hip hop channel and I thought about who is doing it in SA. Obviously, we have SlikourOnLife but my concern was who was doing the same thing for EC Hip Hop, and besides The Blacksmithed there is no one and that inspired The HeadSpace. The HeadSpace is predominantly focusing on EC Hip Hop. From album reviews, interviews etc. Some other concepts will be launched when everything goes back to normal.

BL: You and I briefly spoke to each other about the importance of more independent media houses in the EC. What do you think is the biggest hurdle to starting these and how would you advise someone wanting to start something?

Lukae Concepts: Yeah man, we need to have these media houses. The biggest hurdle is fear. We fear the unknown. My only advise is to just do it. As long as you have the passion, uzophumelela.

BL: What do you believe are some of the biggest problems in the EC hip hop scene at the moment and how do you believe they can be solved in future?

Lukae Concepts: The biggest problem is that we have no scene to start with. The artists aren’t interacting with fans or even trying to convert non-fans to be supporters. This pandemic is giving artists time to actually reset and re-evaluate themselves. Another solution is that we need to create more platforms for artists to flourish. Create our own industry that will not conform to the existing commercial one. I have done the research and EC has the numbers to stand alone and be a force to be reckoned with. Jozi looks after Jozi artists and its hard for EC artists to penetrate that scene. So, I say “fuck ’em” – lets make our own dough and bake our own pie. I hope I make sense.

Lukae Concepts can be found online:

Twitter: @LukaeConcepts
Facebook: Lukae Concepts
YouTube: Lukae Concepts