Emile Jansen, better known as Emile YX?, has been awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in silver, for his contribution in the field of arts and hip hop culture in South Africa.
Mr Jansen, 55, received the prestigious award in Pretoria on April 30.
The Order of Ikhamanga is a South African civilian honour that recognises achievements in arts, culture, literature, music, journalism, and sports.
Mr Jansen, who is the founder of NPO Heal The Hood Project and South Africa’s oldest active hip-hop crew, Black Noise, said he hopes this award will inspire others from the hip hop culture and his broader community to see if it is possible for them to achieve the same.
Mr Jansen was raised in Grassy Park and is currently living in Atlanta, in the USA.
“I am deeply honoured and share this award with every break-dancer, hip hop practitioner, educator and activist from my generation to the current one, as it represents the history of struggle of my country and even more so because recognition for people from our community empowers others to achieve and know that they can do the same. I accept it not just for me but for all those that helped me on my journey and the journey of the many teachings and sharing throughout our country,” said Mr Jansen.
According to Shaquile Southgate, senior coordinator of the Heal The Hood project, “Black Noise started off as a popping crew, a dance style which then ventured into break-dancing which evolved into hip hop (with all elements including BBoy, MC, DJ, graffiti, and knowledge of self).”
The crew hailing from the Cape Flats gained street popularity after they chose to reach out to youth from these areas.
Mr Southgate said the crew, along with Prophets of Da City (POC), is credited with being a pioneer of Cape Town’s “conscious” hip hop scene in the late 80s and early 90s.
The crew’s line-up has changed significantly since the early 90s but Mr Jansen has been the crew’s mainstay.
Mr Jansen has been instrumental in employing Black Noise for youth development initiatives, such as workshops for township youth.
The crew has conducted workshops and performed extensively in South Africa as well as in a number of European countries.
Mr Jansen and Black Noise have also launched a number of albums, DVDs, poetry anthologies – including the work of school pupils and established hip-hop artists – and books.
Mr Southgate said Mr Jansen started break-dancing in 1982, making him one of the first South African BBoys. Six years after that, in 1986, he made it to the regional finals of the Shell Road to Fame with “the Chill Convention”, which later that year became Black Noise.
Mr Jansen qualified as a teacher and started teaching at Battswood Primary.
In 1989, the group won the Mayor’s Award for Greening the City.
Mr Southgate said Black Noise helped with voter education before South Africa’s first democratic election campaign in 1994.
At the Inauguration of Nelson Mandela, Black Noise performed in Cape Town to support the democratisation process of South Africa. In the same year, Mr Jansen attended Universal Zulu (Hip Hop) Nation Anniversary in New York to spread the ideas of South African hip hop. Two members, Warro Brooks and Ernestine Deane, left the group before the 3rd Album Black Facts was released in St Louis, Missouri.
Mr Jansen said he hopes winning the Order of Ikhamanga will help in building the Heal The Hood Creative Wellness Centre in Grassy Park and spread creative solutions nationally.
His message to the youth is to: “Love and dream big, while taking small steps to make the dream a reality. The journey should be the goal, enjoy it and create as much as you can, including iconic solutions through your art.”
