BIGBANGMAG Y outh M onth E dition A unty thicky, B eauty, L iya Phania, S laviit, M ollo, P rince Tyee, V erve Stylist, D ox and many more © BIG BANG MAG 2020 Still we Rise JUNE 2020 NEW ERA FOR THE YOUTH CONTENTS Beauty : 01 - 02 Importance of Youth Month :03 Verve Stylist : 04 - 05 Liya Phania : 06 - 08 Inspiring Stories : 09 Aunty Thicky : 10 - 11 Slavvit : 12 - 13 Gender Based Violence : 14 Prince Tyee : 15 - 16 Mollo : 17 Poem : 18 Ab Moch :19 - 20 Wallie - B : 21 - 22 King Skhawi : 23 Dox DeezoL : 24 – 26 Motivational Talks : 27 All Lives matter B eauty 1 06/2020 B eauty who is known as Melanin Queen, at the age of (20) she has already broken so many barriers that block her from achieving her Goals. She is very bubbly, hardworking, God fearing, free spirited, passionate , ambitious, dedicated, driven and a focused young independent lady. Completing her second year at south African state theatre studying musical theatre. She is an advocate for young people and also a radio personality by profession at Mams radio. She s tated on her interview with Daily Sun that she is motivated by woman who had the courage to tell their stories of abuse and those who are standing strong after being violated. S he told herself i s that she is limitless and she can risk it all to achieve her goals. W hat made her take this journey of being a Media personality is the love and fun that was ignited from within . “Wake up every morning with a positive attitude & mind - set even if your situation doesn’t allow it”. Katlego Tlokana Radio personality, fitness coach, dancer, actor , mc ,model, motivational speaker and an activist for gender based violence 2 06/2020 One of the goals she set is for the industry is to be more established and she wants to see herself owning media businesses and most importantly she wants people to hear her story as she tells it through her career. Personally she feels like she has been ready for everything that life gives to her. from a very young age she has been hated and criticized by people but still she stands firm. “I mean not everyone loved JESUS who gives life, who am I to seek for everyone’s love.” Beauty is a jack of all trades, which is why she is very different from other people in her industry. The spontaneity and uniqueness in her is leading to a greater path in success . “How I discipline myself, The manner in which I present myself to other people speaks for itself.” The best advice that she can give to a young person following in her footsteps, “Is always talk to GOD about your plans, not people and always push yourself to the limit, workhand even if the situation doesn't allow you to conquer.” If you want things that you have never had, do things that will guarantee you results in the end, no one is responsible for your success nobody owes you anything , only you owe yourself a prosperous life. 3 Importance of Youth Month Reabetsoe Mohapi T he Y outh month commemorates the 1976 uprising, paying tribute to the learners who stood up against the apartheid government, Taking us back to the 16th of June 1976 , where a number of students were ambushed by the apartheid regime. We celebrate youth day to appreciate the roles they played individually, starting from the way the thought, the vows they made and the risk they took, We are very much privileged to have been under such great Leadership . Not only do we appreciate what they've done but we acknowledge the motto that drove them, "Together A s One ", Faith and P ersistence Life has never and it will never be the same after that year, W e've got our freedom and the youth of today that is inspired by these legends or rather "HEROES" are fighting so that the upcoming generation wouldn't have to struggle. They lived, they fought and stood against the apartheid government Together we say POWER to the legends who fought and died for what we call as “A better day” 06/2020 VerveStylist 4 06/2020 Sifiso Ngwena R aised in Soshanguve by loving parents who always taught him the importance of public appearance, Verve discovered his passion for fashion. At the age of 13 he started off as a D j and was so sure about it that he even wanted to study sound engineering but fashion got the better of him. Self taught tailor used to take his parents old clothes and create something completely new and stylish and judging by the way people reacted, he knew he hit the nail on the head with his designs. Uniqueness has always been his strongest point when it came to fashion, the older he grew the more he realized that fashion was his calling and that’s when he began his image consulting business in 2016 and later in 2017 began styling people. What drove his passion for making a career out of fashion were, the compliments he would get from his family and friends about his sense of style and the gap he was able to identify in the market of the clothes that he wanted to wear and the clothes that the market is currently selling, but all in all he says, “at first because I liked dressing well and looking good I figured that I could influence and motivate upcoming fashion designers just as I’ve been taught since being in the industry by others, so why not reciprocate that knowledge to others you know. What entices me is that the fashion industry is so broad with so many complexed brand collections to runways so it’s always exciting to learn and constantly be inspired by what I see.” 5 06/2020 V erve started an image consulting company called Amaratsu which translates to an undying flame in Japanese, it goes hand in hand with his undying passion for fashion. The company caters for all occasions like Gala dinners, Runway shows and many more, Verve styles all kinds of personalities like the likes of Prince kaybee , L ondie London, the list goes on. He can work on all kinds of themes including corporate wear to street urban. He believes that the fashion industry is not about competition, but it is all about the youth and veteran creatives coming together to expose their talent across all the parts of the world. Advice from Verve to upcoming designers. “ Evolve with the times , don’t copy other designers but instead learn what is relevant and incorporate that into your collections but expressing your personality throughout your designs .” “Dress however you feel comfortable, and be consistent at that . DO NOT repeat outfits.” With that being said it’s safe to say that for our oh so suave Verve, seeing people happy in their fits, feeling comfortable and confident is one of his key principles in styling because like he said “clothing has an ability to lift ones self esteem.” So do check out his work out and try by any means necessary to link with him to fix any wardrobe malfunctions you think you have. Liya Phania 6 23 year old Media Practices and Advertising Honours graduate is a full powerhouse when we talk beauty and brains, fashion is her art, modelling is her sport and God is her everything. Just like many students she started modelling in 2016 while doing her first year at Boston Media House in Pretoria but the dream of being a model started way before that while she was in high school, she had visions of walking down the streets and having top notch designers like David Tlale or Gert - J Coetzee stop her and ask her to be part of their shows. Youthful and ambitious model finds peace in knowing that fashion has the ability to change lives which is one of the main reasons why she loves it so much “ I like how I can transform and be something super artistic while doing it, that’s why I call myself the precious art.” Inspired by Priyanka Chopra, Liya lives by her idols famous words “I am fierce, fearless and flawed!”. She is very much comfortable with being uncomfortable. “Growth is a lifestyle for me” she says. Liya Sithole 06/2020 7 “ My greatest strengths as a model has to be my confidence and passion I have for this industry. These are the two things that drive me anyways. Nothing makes me feel more alive like being on stage doing this thing or standing in front of a camera posing for a photo. Oh and another one of my strengths has to be Speech. I always been a good public speaker so it makes it easy for me to compete in Beauty pageants My weakness? Can it be modelling it self? (Chuckles) because I can have my schedule full with things to do in one day and just decide with ease that whatever that is related with modelling is what should be done first you know but okay on the real my weakness has to be my skin. I've been battling with acne so I end up having to use so much make up. And competition is high in the industry, so to avoid being side - lined in gigs I make sure I show up and kill the poses .” “ I have done fashion shows, Beauty pageants and photo shoots. I have also organized a Beauty pageant called Mr and Ms Villa for the residence that I used to live at for the 3 years I lived in Pretoria. I was in charge of training the models, organizing the event and hosting the event on the day of the event. I did all of that with the help of the management team of the building. I love all the aspects of modelling but the one that stands out for me is beauty pageants, because you get to help people while doing what you love. 2016 I became Miss Confidence, then focused on photoshoots more and grooming other models. I can say my passion for modelling is contagious because I have mentored more than 50 models and out of that number managed to create 27 winners – and I myself am currently Miss Photogenic and the 2nd princess of Face of Emalahleni 2019.” 06/2020 8 A dvice from Liya to upcoming models ? “ Well there is a LOT of pressure in this industry. And the Criticism is something else, but there is nothing more amazing like knowing who you are and what you have to offer. In this industry you have to expect that for some gigs you will be told that you to fat or to slim. To tall or to short. To this or to that. I just always tell myself that what's mine will be mine as long as I keep working on myself to one day be a self standing brand and an asset in the industry.” last words? “I am not afraid of a no. But I am afraid of a premature yes. Miss South Africa ? Definitely...then straight to Miss Universe .” She is a Miss South Africa 2020 entrant , even if she never made it to the top 35 she is still working her way to the top regardless of any obstacles she faces. Watch her space. 06/2020 9 Bill gates is one of the world’s most wealthiest individual, but he didn’t accumulate all his wealth overnight, Gates entered the entrepreneurial scene with a company called Traf - O - Date, which aimed to process and analyse data from traffic tapes (think of it like an early version of big data). He tried to sell the idea, but the product barely even worked. It was a great disaster however failure did not hold him back from exploring new opportunities, a few years later he created his first Microsoft product, and forged a new path to success. He took a basic idea and turned it into what we all use till this day, Microsoft is globally known. Which shows you that you can archieve whatever you put your mind on regardless of your background. Don’t compare yourself to anyone in this world... if you do so you are insulting yourself - Bill Gates 06/2020 Inspiring Stories Bill Gates Aunty thicky 10 06/2020 Mpho Mashilwane A unty Thicky has always been into music, hip hop/rap to be specific starting from a very young age she would always rap along to artists like Eminem and Nicki Minaj and imitate them. But as time went on she realised she could spit a couple raps of her own and decided to drop her first single titled “ Ginky ” in 2018 What keeps her going is her hunger for success, deep passion for music and how she wants to be heard, she believes that “You can do anything you put your mind too” hence she has invested her entire life into her music career and is ready to take the world by storm. She is currently working on a couple of features which will be released soon, and she will only be releasing singles this year due to her wanting to focus on her last year in school but she will definitely be releasing an E.P next year Aunty Thicky states “The internet plays a big role in the music business” especially during this Corona Virus phase because that is where everything happens from music videos to interviews and business deals etc , the impact that the internet has as of now via the music business has its pros and cons. 11 Artists can’t really perform as of now but can use the fact that everyone is at home and on their phones to their advantage for example artists can reach out to a bigger audience viapromotions on Instagram and many more. THE AIM IS NOT TO SWEAT “ T A I N T S ” Unlike the rest Aunty Thicky has a very unique unapologetic sound which sets her apart from a lot of artists and not just female artists but male artists too, her sound can be described as a very “Aggressive ” yet “Sexy ” sound, she’s bringing a whole new ball game to the music industry “ I WANNA BE HEARD ” 06/2020 12 06/2020 Simamkele Fikizolo 20 - year - old multitalented event organiser, digital marketer, mc, artist, public figure, entrepreneur, and online store owner who goes by the name Slaviit from Betrams , a small suburb on the eastern of Johannesburg is an aspiring entertainment mogul. This young mixed Xhosa/Zulu go getter started his career back in 2013 with music and rapping, his outgoing nature played a role in his grooming of being this multitalented young man he is today. Inspired by his peers who were doing what he does years ago, he has made it his goal to work on his craft to the best of his ability. Humble Slaviit says “everybody’s time to shine is different, and I am still waiting on my time ...’’ his goal is to inspire the culture and wave. 13 We asked Slaviit what was next for him : “I was supposed to host a Slaviit & Friends Tour on the 6th of June but due to the pandemic it had to be postponed, but worry not because I am onto bigger and better things... I have a mad crazy surprise for everyone as soon as level 2 lockdown ends . I’ll be unlocking a date, a venue and some crazy things that I’ve been working on.” Closing off this interview we asked Slaviit what his motto in life is and he said his motto is simply “We move.” With everything that happens, it happens for a reason and he is very accepting of that. Elaborated further he explains that “Anything and everything that happens in my scene, good or bad I just pick myself up, dust myself and keep moving. – We move.” And with that being said, I think its best we stay tuned into what Simamkele aka Slaviit has in store for us! 06/2020 14 Gender - based violence is a profound and widespread problem in South Africa, impacting on almost every aspect of life . it disproportionately affects women and girls. South Africa has the most shocking rape statistics in the world. As one of the New voices in South African popular culture, Big Bang Mag has the influence to fuel real change . Spreading the word about the traumatic experiences women go through in our country and also raising awareness about these tragic incidents women and young girls face. From Social media threads to school/campus conversations, and even in our own homes, a culture of victim blaming thrives harder and harder in South Africa. It’s the main reason why only a minimum number of sexual crimes are reported, and it is also why victims often feel so alone. It’s why perpetrators feel so safe, and why they so often get away with their crimes. Blaming the survivor of a sexual crime is toxic, destructive and downright absurd IT NEEDS TO END NOW. AND IT STARTS WITH ALL OF US WE CAN ALL BE THE CHANGE WE WISH TO SEE, REFRAME YOUR OWN ATTITUDE. CHANGE THE CONVERSATION. REACH OUT.CREATE SAFE SPACES. BECOME A BETTER LISTENER. BE A PILLAR OF SUPPORT REPORT ABUSE If your life is in danger or you know of someone who is in danger, please contact the (GBV) help line and they will assist you immediately. CALL NOW 0800 428 428 for members of deaf community SMS ‘help’ to 31531 for persons with disability. 06/2020 Gender based violence Prince T yee 15 06/2020 Tshepo Molemane T shepo Molemane known as Prince Tyee , Is a fashion enthusiast, Indie Singer and songwriter, also founder of the Fountain’s Hills Party, he is inspired mostly by people around him, “where I’m from and where I’m heading” he states, he fell in love with the sound of “R&B” when he was very young, whereas his father used to play music from artists like “ Celine Dion, Dolly Parton, Luther Vandross and many more. Just after the passing of his father and Lil sister, he decided to be more serious about his music. He best describes his sound as his diary where he mentions the pain he’s been through, losing some important people in his life and having to meet up with new people who come in and out of his life leaving nothing but tears and lessons, his style is something that highlights the diversity of the genre while experimenting with different styles and coming up with new ideas, he does more of R&B acoustics, Trap Soul and soothing feel good experiences that the audience can relate to, “He can write songs that will hit that sweet spot making you feel good whilst breaking your heart”. 16 Through his journey he got really lucky and met up with a few people who helped him a lot in the music industry ( Mac Lopez, AB Moch , Treviyon ) and the others that inspire him (Bryson tiller, Justin Bieber and more), Wouldn’t be more happier than meeting My super talented producer “AB Moch” who now produces for the Lean Team which consists of Ecco, Mellow and the award winning artist Flame and many more. “I’m definitely open to any Talented artists out there for collaborations as it also helps a lot on growing our audience and by being versatile and getting to try out different sound”. Tyee is also a final year student who is studying for a Bsc IT (Degree) ,“As they say sometimes Plan B should be made to make Plan A work”. “I Wouldn’t say the industry is an easy thing to try to get into , it takes a lot of sleepless nights, sacrifices and could even cause a lot of Anxiety , Heartbreaks”. This industry makes you stronger, it also makes you to be open about yourself because it’s really easy telling your story through music .“ Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn. ”As they only say ‘There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you” 06/2020