East New York-meets-South Africa through this experimental “travelogue” of rapper Elucid‘s trip to Johannesburg and Cape Town last summer.

The Valley of Grace EP is a self-produced project which showcases Elucid’s uncanny ability to deliver stunning rhymes and fit lyrical patterns over unconventional, stuttering beats.

http://www.okayafrica.com/audio/songs-need-hear-week-10/

US Customs agent: Where are you arriving from?
Me: Johannesburg, South Africa

US Customs agent: And what was the purpose of your visit?
Me: Love

Maboneng smelled of burning. There werent many trees in this district. The wine was plentiful and cheap. Which really helped cause its cold in July there. I wore the same army fatigue jacket and black jeans every day. 7 am. Waking with the sun. I’d go to the store in Timberland boots and no socks for sausage to make with eggs that were smaller but creamier than ones I got back home. I settled into my mornings with a spliff, a latte from a fancy coffee spot where white folk spoke Afrikaans and a fatcake from a local spot packed with black city workers in neon green vests speaking Xhosa and Zulu.

“So, did you come to South Africa to find your roots?” he asked with a con mans grin. “Nah, my peoples are from the Carolinas”
I answered. I didn’t come in search of anything, really. But I found a few things I didn’t know I needed. I am proud to present Valley of Grace, a self written and produced audio/visual travelogue to my summer of 2016 spent in Johannesburg and Capetown South Africa.

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