Jack Parow- Die nag van die Lang pette

Jack Parow hit up Assembly on Thursday night with his new album and a bottle of Jaeger. There is something about Jack Parow; something that draws out the Afrikaans even in the most English of us. He just makes you want to dans, dans, dans.

Jack Parow is one of those artists who makes music he loves, simply because he enjoys it. It shows in his performance. He is not a glamorous rapper or a hard-core rocker, nor does he play the music people expect him to play. He climbed on stage in shorts and a vest and shared with us the songs he had written. It’s a community vibe, an Afrikaans band of brothers all drinking from the same bottle of Jaegermeister, being passed from stage to crowd and back again.

Jack Parow is still going strong and making better music than he ever has before. The two hour set ranged from slow acoustic numbers with the mind-shattering gevaarlik Low key Hermans on guitar to the usual electronically backed hip hop and even songs with a full band and a distinctive nu-metal influence. It was of course an album launch and what an album it is. Two discs, 32 songs and collaborations from the likes of PHFat, Francois Van Coke, Mr Cat and the Jackal, Valiant Swart and many more. It's diverse, it's zef. Keep an eye out for it and if you ever get the opportunity, I urge you to see this man live.

Charl Oosthuizen