Tumi Molekane

Who is Tumi Molekane?

Boitumelo "Tumi" Molekane is an African rapper and poet. He is the lead vocalist of Tumi and the Volume, a hip hop music ensemble that comprises the members of the Mozambican band 340ml.

Molekane was born in Tanzania while his South African parents lived in exile there. In 1992 he repatriated to South Africa and took up residence in Soweto.

In 2005, he recorded the song "Trade Winds" with Cincinnati-based rapper Main Flow. In 2006 he published his debut album, Music from My Good Eye, through his record label, Motif Records. In 2006, he was published in the American literary journal The Subterranean Quarterly.

Tumi was also involved in the Dead Prez show around late in 2000 and also took part in the Black August tour to South Africa in 2001. He has also performed with South African recording artists Blk Sonshine, Keorapetse Kgositsile, Watkin Tudor Jones, Lesego Rampolokeng. Saul Williams, Sarah Jones and Mutabaruka.

In his book Stealing Empire: P2P, Intellectual Property and Hip-hop Subversion, Professor Adam Haupt of the University of Cape Town analyzed the lyrics Molekane wrote for the Tumi and the Volume song "76", as well as others. Among Haupt's arguments are that contemporary hip hop music provides critical insights into the inheritance of violence in post-apartheid South Africa. He contends that, despite commercial and often sexist imperatives in mainstream hip hop music, South Africa has produced a number of socially conscious hip hop artists, who are reluctant to compromise their art and political views.