Watch Ill Skillz & Camo's Cape Town Street Anthem 'Hip Hop Jones'
While still trotting on the fringes of South Africa's mainstream hip-hop scene, Cape Town hip-hop duo Ill Skillz have released another video from their 2013 album Notes From The Native Yards. “Hip Hop Jones,” the fourth video single from the album after “Ill Skillionaire” (which was released in 2011), the J-oNE-produced “To The Beat Ya'll (TTBY)," and the Hipe-produced “7's Clash,” sees the outfit take the director’s chair alongside Camo, who drops a stellar verse on the tune. The 5th Floor founding member is said to be including the Hipe-produced banger in his upcoming Shaolin Jazz EP. According to Ill Skillz' Jimmy Flexx, “[‘Hip Hop Jones’] captures the zeitgeist, the voice of the new mzabalazo (struggle), highlighting the angst many economically marginalised people experience daily. It's about the peace music can give you and finding expression through Hip Hop." A commentary on the state of Cape Town hip-hop and the city's blatant marginalisation of black folk, the song highlights that struggle while veteran Cape Town producer Hipe’s magical bass-heavy backdrop keeps neck muscles active. The video, which was shot by Ignatius Mokone, Max Mogale, and Asadair Mcculloch, features the duo kicking it in the hood and the city spliced with scenes from the 2013 edition of their annual Cape Town’s Most Wanted gig held at Trinity in Cape Town. If Ill Skillz' Jimmy Flexx and Uno July are still sticking to their word of releasing a video for every song on NFTNY, then it’s four down and fourteen to go. Watch their latest with "Hip Hop Jones" and stream Notes From The Native Yards in full below