Julian Du Plessis (born 13 March 1977 in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

), known by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

s Snazz D or Snazz the Dictator, is a South African underground

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

and

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Early life

Julian Du Plessis was born in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. He grew up in

Gugulethu Gugulethu is a township in Western Cape, South Africa and is around 20km from Cape Town. Its name is a contraction of ''igugu lethu'', which is Xhosa for ''our pride / our hope.'' The area was the third township to be established in Cape Town, a ...

a South African township on the Cape Flats, before moving to

Mitchells Plain Mitchells Plain is a large census designated sub-place located within the City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa and situated about from the Cape Town city centre. It is one of South Africa's largest residential areas and contains multi ...

another township on the Flats. Inspired by the hip-hop movement and culture developing on the Cape Flats at the height of Apartheid, with groups such as Prophets of Da City and Black Noise emerging, he began rhyming as a young teenager in the early nineties under the moniker Snazzy D. In 1993 he relocated to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, where his reputation grew. His first group was called Dark Seed together with rapper Fee and producer Iko. Their first single "Mic Device" was featured on "The Muthaload: A Cube Collective" released on Tusk Music in 1996; The first hip-hop compilation album to be released in South Africa. The record also featured debut songs by Amu, Metamo Forces, Ramesh, Shorty & Loko. The group Dark Seed disbanded shortly thereafter.

Career

1996–1999: Audio Visual, GroundWorks & Cashless Society

In 1996, Snazz formed the now cult-crew Audio Visual, together with Krook'd tha Warmonger (Isaac Chokwe) and Ben Sharpa (Kgotso Semela). He became the host MC at the now legendary Saturday matinee sessions at 'Le Club' downtown Johannesburg with DJ Blaze and DJ Bionic. In 1998 he co-founded the group

Cashless Society In a cashless society, financial transactions are not conducted with physical banknotes or coins, but instead with digital information (usually an electronic representation of money). Cashless societies have existed from the time when human soc ...

, together with Draztik (Dave Balsher), Fat Free (Salim Mosidinyane), Black Intellect (Jerry Kai Lewis), X-Amount (Kwezi Ngcakani), Criminal (Alfred Chirwa), Tizeye (Tyrone Phillips) & Gemini (Thabiso Mofokeng). The group boasted members from South Africa, Botswana, Sierra Leone and Malawi all based out of Johannesburg and

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

at the time forming their own Independent 'Unreleased Records' imprint.

2000–2001: Work in Germany & Fondle 'Em Records

In 1999, Snazz travelled to

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

where he worked with the likes of

Metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

, Laygwan Sharkie, Remarkable and

Clueso Thomas Hübner (born 9 April 1980), better known by his stage name Clueso (), is a German singer, rapper, songwriter, and producer. His first album, ''Text und Ton'', was released in 2001. Since then, he has released seven more albums, of which ...

, making guest appearances on various recordings including the debut album of Clueso "Text und Ton" on

Four Music Four Music (''Four Music Productions GmbH'') is a German record label founded by hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier in 1996. It was originally located in Stuttgart, but has moved to Kreuzberg, Berlin. In 2004, Max Herre's debut album, as wel ...

during his three-month visit. The following year

Bobbito Garcia Robert "Bobbito" Garcia (born September 25, 1966), also known as DJ Cucumber Slice and Kool Bob Love, is an American DJ, radio host, author, and member of the Rock Steady Crew. He is known as a former co-host of hip hop radio show ''The Stretch ...

Mr. Len Mr. Len (Leonard "Lenny" Smythe) is a hip hop music, hip hop Disc jockey#Hip hop DJs, DJ born in the Bronx, New York. He moved to Hillside, NJ when he was 12 years old. He was a member, with Bigg Jus and El-P, of the underground hip hop trio Com ...

and

Jean Grae Tsidi Ibrahim (born November 26, 1976), known professionally as Jean Grae, is a multidisciplinary artist and writer. She emerged in New York City's underground hip-hop scene and developed an international following. Throughout her music career, ...

traveled to South Africa from New York to perform in South Africa for the first time. Bobbito then released the split-12" single of

"Blaze tha Breaks" b/w

Mizchif Hechichamunorwa Mount Zion Kwenda (23 June 1976 – 4 September 2014), better known as Mizchif, was a South African based Zimbabwean rapper. He was allegedly 'the first to independently release a solo hip hop album in South Africa,' and the firs ...

"Place For A Wife" on his own Independent

Fondle 'Em Records Fondle 'Em Records was a hip hop record label founded and owned by Bobbito Garcia from 1995 to 2001, based in New York City. Garcia formed the label after realizing that the many unsigned rappers making guest appearances on ''The Stretch Armstr ...

in 2000 upon their return to the States. The single was released in Southern Africa on Unreleased Records the following year, and it was also featured on the "

Farewell Fondle 'Em ''Farewell Fondle 'Em'' is a compilation album that marked the ending of Fondle 'Em Records. It was released on Definitive Jux on October 30, 2001. Critical reception Nathan Rabin of ''The A.V. Club'' viewed ''Farewell Fondle 'Em'' as an "homage ...

" compilation released on

Definitive Jux Definitive Jux was a record label based in New York City. It was co-founded in 1999 by El-P and Amaechi Uzoigwe. History Definitive Jux was initially known as Def Jux. However, popular hip hop label Def Jam Recordings sued Def Jux over the name ...

as well.

2002–2006: ''Demolition'' and ''African Raw Material''

In 2002 GroundWorks released their debut album "Demolition: The MeStory" on Concentration Camp Records with Snazz self-produced 'Copaesthetic Phenomenology'. GroundWorks were a collective of artists from the Johannesburg and Cape Town scenes including members of Audio Visual, Cashless Society and BaseMental Platform. Members of the group include Ben Sharpa, Krook'd tha Warmonga, Forekast, Gemini, Hueman, Non-Depiction, Bonafide, and S.E.L.F. The next year Concentration Camp Records released the compilation album "Pavement Special Volume 1" which featured songs 'Show Me Yours' and 'The Epitaph' by Audio Visual as well as his solo song 'The Work'. In 2003 Cashless Society released their debut album " African Raw Material volume one" on Unreleased Records. The album featured hit singles 'Hottentot Hop (Bantu 1, 2)' and 'Taxi Wars' with guest appearances by

Tumi Tumi ( ''Quechua'' for 'Knife', ''variants'': 'Tome', 'Tume'), is a generic term encompassing the many kinds of sharp tools utilized in pre- and post-colonial eras of the Central Andes region, Tumis were employed for a diverse set of purposes ...

and Masauko of

Blk Sonshine Blk Sonshine is a jazz duo featuring Malawian-born Masauko Chipembere and the South African Neo Muyanga. The group was formed when Chipembere, who had been raised in the United States, traveled to South Africa to explore its jazz traditions, unitin ...

. Distribution was handled by BMG Africa with the album earning three SAMA awards for best hip-hop album, best single and best music video, while winning four awards at the South African "Hiphop Indaba Awards" as well. The third single off of the album '8-3-1 (I Love You)', a dedication to Johannesburg, was featured on the Soundtrack of "Yizo Yizo 3". The group was then photographed for the cover of the first issue of HYPE magazine, the first national hip-hop publication in South Africa. In 2005 he appeared on the "Imbizo Street Mixtapes Vol. 1" on Unreleased Records with the single '2 Sides to every story' which featured Kilani Rich. The song was later featured on HYPE magazine's "Hype Sessions Vol. 15: Story Time " mixed by DJ Raiko. He also starred in the first hip-hop commercial for

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

Inside Africa together with rapper Young Nations. The following year saw the single 'Best of both Worlds' a collaboration with Sub Z featured on the "Drudge Dialect Vol. 1" compilation album which was released on Pioneer Unit Records. The song would later be featured on DJ Sarasa's "KWANZAA!" Mix-CD released on DJ Honda Recordings in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

2007–2009: ''Dangerous'' and ''Emcee Africa''

In 2007, he released the "Dangerous Mix-CD" on FIRE-Ent. which featured the Ca$hless Family, the extended family of the group

. The CD featured the single "Stick-U" which saw Snazz rapping in a mix of English and

Tsotsitaal Tsotsitaal is a South African vernacular dialect derived from a variety of mixed languages mainly spoken in the townships of Gauteng province (such as Soweto, Soshanguve, Tembisa), but also in other agglomerations all over South Africa. ''Tso ...

, a South African street language with elements of different Southern African languages. That same year he participated in the Channel O Sprite Emcee Africa competition. A continental freestyle battle competition which included challenges in

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. Snazz won the South African leg of the battle defeating Adamiz in the final, then making it to the final of the continental battle where he beat Ghanaian rapper J-Town, earning him $10,000,- in prize money, and a track with

Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ...

, one of the judges in the competition.Africanhiphop.com :: African Rap :: 10 years online
/ref> He also featured on the 'Battle Chronicles (Emcee Africa)' single and video alongside DJ Black, Rage, Yung D, J-Town, Modenine,

Professor Jay Joseph Haule (born December 29, 1975), popularly known by his stage name Professor Jay, is a Tanzanian hip hop recording artist, politician and former member of the Tanzanian parliament for Mikumi constituency. He is one of the prominent represent ...

and Nazizi which served to promote the competition, bringing together performers from the different countries that were hosting the competition.

2010–2012: ''Bad For Business'' and ''Street Dictatorship''

In 2010 Snazz released his solo debut album together with producer Albert Iron titled "Bad For Business" on the Independent Afrocentric Artz label published by African Dope Publishing. The album featured appearances by Zubz, Point Blank and Samela and featured the single 'Spellbound'. He followed up his album with the release of "Street Dictatorship Vol. 1" and "Street Dictatorship Vol. 2" together with producer Master Hu on his own Independent Dictatio Records. In 2012 he participated in the freestyle battle series "SCRAMBLES4MONEY - Talk Is Cheap" in Johannesburg where he lost to Fungus the Mutated Lung in the opening round of the competition.

Personal life

Snazz is a

Cape coloured Cape Coloureds () are a South African group of Coloured people who are from the Cape region in South Africa which consists of the Western Cape, Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape. Their ancestry comes from the interracial mixing between th ...

, an

ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

composed primarily of people of

mixed race The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mul ...

. He is the father of one daughter and a son.

Discography

Solo career

;Albums * ''Bad For Business'' - Snazz D and Albert Iron. Afrocentric Artz (AFROCD001-3668) (2010) * "Coup De Tat" - Snazz Tha Dictator. Play N Pay Records (2017) ;Singles * ''Time Will Reveal'' - Snazz D featuring

, Octave Couplet (2008) * ''You Know The Name'' - Snazz D, Iapetus Records (2012) ;Mixtapes * ''Street Dictatorship Vol. 1'' - Snazz D. Dictatio Records (2013) * ''Street Dictatorship Vol. 2'' - Snazz D and Master Hu. Dictatio Records (2014)

Collaborations

;With GroundWorks * ''Demolition: The MeStory'' - GroundWorks, Concentration Camp (CC001) (2002) ;With Cashless Society * ''The World Iz A Ghetto'' - The Hard Cashless Society, Unreleased Records (MCUR 001) (2000) * ''Blaze Tha Breaks'' - Cashless Society b/w "Place For A Wife" -

(FE-SA1) (2000) * ''Blaze Tha Breaks'' - Cashless Society, Unreleased Records (CDUR 001) (2001) * '' African Raw Material volume one'' - Cashless Society, Unreleased Records (CDUR 1000) (2003) ;With The Ca$hless Family * ''Dangerous! The Mix-CD'' - Snazz-D & The Ca$hless Family, FIRE-Ent. (2007)

Guest appearances

* "Grid Locked" (featuring Remark,

& Snazz) by DJ Chestnut on ''Doo My Thing...'' - DJ Redoo, 10vor10 (2000) * "What You Wanna Doo?" by

, Wasu & Snazz on ''Doo My Thing...'' - DJ Redoo, 10vor10 (2000) * "Grid Locked" (featuring Snaz & Remarkable) on ''Text und Ton'' -

(FOR 503052) (2001) * "Well" (featuring Snazz the Dictator) on ''Error Era'' - Tha Hymphatic Thabs, Taste Buds (BUDS001) (2001) * "Cry For My Beloved" by DJ Bionic, Snazz & Blaze on ''Heal The Hood Vol. 3'' - Various Artists, Cape Flats Uprising (2003) * "The Work" by Snazz tha Dictator on ''Pavement Special Vol.1'' - Various Artists, Concentration Camp (CC002) (2003) * "Posse Cut" (featuring Snazz D & Gemini) on ''Attention to Detail'' - Fifth Floor, Seamless (SEAMCD01) (2004) * "Khumbul'ekhaya" (featuring Snazz D) on ''Peace Of Mind'' - MXO,

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

(CDEPC 8296) (2004) * "Get Rowdy" (featuring Snazz D) on ''Writers Club'' - Zubz, Outrageous Records (2005) * "2 Sides to every story" by Snazz D & Kilani Rich on ''Imbizo Street Mixtapes Vol. 1'' - Various Artists, Unreleased Records (CDURIDBE 1000) (2005) * "Grid Locked" by SubzZ,

& Snazz D on ''Perigo Minas Volume One'' - Various Artists, Landmynz Entertainment (2006) * "Pump Action" by Snazz D on ''Perigo Minas Volume One'' - Various Artists, Landmynz Entertainment (2006) * "Best of Both Worlds" by Sub Z & Snazz D on ''Drudge Dialect Vol. 1'' - Various Artists, Pioneer Unit Records (2006) * "Two Sides to every story" by Snazz D & Kilani Rich on ''Hype Sessions Vol. 15: Story Time'' - Raiko, HYPE Magazine (2006) * "On My Own 2" by Snazz D on ''Nokia Hype Sessions Vol. 9'' - Various Artists, HYPE Magazine (2006) * "Supa-Tite" (featuring Snazz D) on ''Gutter Butter Vol. 1'' - Qba, getBread Entertainment (2007) * "I Know" by Snazz D on ''The Street Cred Compilation Vol. 1'' - Various Artists, Liber8 Records (2008) * "Battle Chronicles (Emcee Africa)" by DJ Black, Rage, Yung D, J-Town,

Mode 9 Babatunde Olusegun Adewale (born June 14, 1975), popularly known by his stage name Modenine, is an English-born Nigerian rapper. He is a seven times Headies lyricist on the roll winner and he is widely regarded by industry heads as one of the g ...

, Snazz, Professor J & Nazizi on ''Hype Sessions Vol. 21: Jazzworx FM The Album'' - Various Artists, HYPE Magazine (2008) * "Best of Both Worlds" by Sub Z & Snazz D on ''KWANZAA!'' - DJ Sarasa a.k.a. Silverboombox, DJ Honda Recordings (SRS-002) (2011) * "The Reunion" (featuring Infadizle, Ramesh, Biance, Menzi Wamanzi, Jay-Stash, Towdeemac, Spijo, Mr. Selwyn, Snazz D, N. Dubble, Hilton Tebzangwana, JR, Litha,

, Omen the Chef, Hoodlum, Ms. Supa, Prof Sobukwe & Amu) on ''Abomrapper 2'' - Fortune, Leboda Media (2015) * "Elephant Projektah" (featuring Lil' Stack & Snazz-D) on ''Asylum Trybe Mixtape - Reality Bites Vol. 2'' - Asylum Trybe, ATM (2023) * "Body Bagz" (featuring Snazz-D, Burgz & Rogan) on ''Asylum Trybe Mixtape - Reality Bites Vol. 2'' - Asylum Trybe, ATM (2023) ;With Dark Seed * "Mic Device" by Dark Seed on ''The Muthaload: A Cube Collective'' - Various Artists, Tusk Music (WOND143) (1996) ;With Audio Visual * "Not Sayin'" by Audio Visual on ''Maximum Sentence Vol. 1 - Built On Steel Bars'' - Various Artists, Outrageous Records (OUT (WA) 004) (2003) * "Show Me Yours" by Audio Visual on ''Pavement Special Vol.1'' - Various Artists, Concentration Camp (CC002) (2003) * "The Epitaph" by Audio Visual on ''Pavement Special Vol.1'' - Various Artists, Concentration Camp (CC002) (2003) ;With GroundWorks * "Dungeon Keepers" by GroundWorks on ''Heal The Hood Vol. 3'' - Various Artists, Cape Flats Uprising (2003) ;With Cashless Society * "Blaze Tha Breaks" by

on ''Sweet Sixteen: Vol. 16'' - DJ MK, MK Enterprizes (MK-16) (2000) * "Blaze Tha Breaks" (featuring Snazz D, Black Intellect & X-Amount) by Cashless Society on ''

'' - V.A.,

(DJX-19) (2001) * "Hottentot Hop (Bantu 1, 2)" by Cashless Society on ''Silvertab Harambe Dope Sessions'' - Various Artists, DIY Records (2003) * "Hottentot Hop (Bantu 1, 2)" by Cashless Society on ''Rhyme 'N Reason'' - Various Artists, Ready Rolled Records (RRRCD 009) (2004) * "8-3-1 (I Love You)" by Cashless Society on ''Yizo Yizo 3'' - Various Artists, CCP Record Company (CDYIZO (WL) 3) (2004) * "Dolly Partin'" by Cashless Society on ''Smirnoff Spin Hype Sessions Vol. 1'' - Various Artists, HYPE Magazine (2005) * "Taxi Wars" by Cashless Society on ''Afrolution Vol. 1 - The Original African Hip Hop Collection'' - Various Artists, Afrolution Records (afrolution001) (2005) * "Hottentot Hop (Bantu 1, 2)" by Cashless Society on ''African Grooves Volume 13'' - Various Artists, Blue Pie (2008) * "Blaze Tha Breaks" by Cashless Society on ''Life's A 50/50 (Deadly Darts)'' - DJ Mond & DJ Blueberry, Astro Records (ASTR-0001) (2010)

References

External links

Snazz da Dictator
on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snazz D Hip-hop record producers South African male rappers South African record producers 1977 births Living people Cape Coloureds Musicians from Cape Town English-language singers from South Africa