The hip-hop artist Jitsvinger, aka Quintin Goliath, is known as the face of Afrikaaps, the Afrikaans vernacular spoken in and around Cape Town. He comments on social justice issues through his music and performances and combines hip-hop with poetry, storytelling and theatre. Beyond South Africa, he has performed in Taiwan, France and the Netherlands, among other countries.

When did you first identify as an artist?

I saw myself as a creative artist in high school when classmates paid me to draw their names on A4 pages, like printing vanity plates at the age of 15. Money is a motivator; after doing this for a few semesters another talented classmate, Freddie, took on some art jobs when I couldn’t keep up with the demand.

Outside of your medium, what branch of art most stimulates you?

Visual art has always been a big stimulus since primary school. I used to make sketches inspired by something I watched on TV and later on one of my sketches was used in the exam paper. My mom still has it.  

Which artist/s in this discipline have significantly inspired you, and why?

Visual artists who inspire me include Anwar Davids, a master of the single-line technique; his Instagram account is a visual therapy experience. Also, Salvador Dali for his sheer brilliance in obscuring reality with his surrealism, Percy Maimela since he hit the scene with his public salt art and taking it beyond imagination, and Lady Skollie, who is is a force with her provocative art and stance as an individual.

Portrait of Quinton Goliath, aka ‘Jitsvinger’. (Photo: Barry Christianson)

What to you is art’s most important function?

Art is the mirror of our ever-evolving human awareness back on ourselves, and is evidence that we can — and do — determine much more of our reality than we realise.

Who are the local creatives, in any medium, that excite you?

Many local artists excite me, including Anwar Davids, Lindsey Appolis, Benjamin Jephta, Def Eff, Marvin-Lee Beukes, Aisha Williams, Dawn Fisher, Robin Fassie, Niko10Long, Bliksemstraal, Nardstar, Kanyi Mavi, Mia Arderne and Yaeesh Camphor.

What specific work do you return to again and again, and why?

Lesego Rampolokeng’s gore-movie-like portrayal of the anti-apartheid struggle-era poetry collection titled The Bavino Sermon still haunts and excites me as he walks my mind through the killing fields of Soweto amid power-drunk ruling forces and their victimised counterparts. His word porn is exquisite with an almost formless montage of rants and rondos for any palate. My favourite poem of his:

“to the thought control towers

please

let me out

I’m trapped

inside

your head”

What are your thoughts on the AI revolution?

It’s an exciting time to be alive as a child of the 1980s, having watched movies like Terminator and seeing how, in today’s reality, we’ve befriended the instrument of our own demise: the robots.

Seriously though, I think machines are the objects of human innovation and AI will rule only those who live their lives on a mundane basis devoid of meaning and substance.

A large part of our human population will ultimately consume themselves into extinction.

Any current project that you’re unveiling or wrapping up?

Jitsonova Vol. 2 is coming this year. Following the independent release of Jitsonova Vol. 1 (Compos Mentis) in 2021, during the Covid pandemic, Vol. 2 continues the sonic infotainment series through Afrikaaps rap storytelling, mind-bending rhyme schemes and wordplay. Look out for interesting guest features and album artwork that could’ve been stolen from your nearest art gallery. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R29.