Jethro Louw
Country: South Africa
coffeebeansroutes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80&Itemid=100
www.andulela.com/english/article_poetry_cape_town
Biography:
Jethro is a poet from Cape Town, born in Beaufort West in the Eastern
Cape. He lives in a township. And he is a
poet. He is a ghetto poet, largely considered to be the godfather of
spoken word in Cape Town. And alongside poets such as Lesego
Rampolokeng, Mzwakhe Mbuli and Mzwandile Matiwana, he ranks as one of
the nation's key voices, a noteable "word-bomber". Jethro uses the power of his
words to bring back to life the discontinued heritage of his culture.
His work revitalises the legacy of stories and the wealth of
storytellers of the KhoiSan people. For centuries, the members of this
community have been silenced by the gun and the bullet and the wall.
The results are a lack of formal skills and access to infrastructure to
turn those skills into income, subsequently a lack of identity and
self esteem.
Jethro Louw's compositions and performances feature on Volume One of the Coffeebeans Routes' Bootleg Series, by the Khoi Khollektif, in collaboration with several Cape Town acts. The tracks are all live recordings from shows in Cape Town between 2004 and 2007. Jethro also features on the Goemarati compilation, with his track In a Third World, a collaboration with Black Rose.
