The "unfuckwithable" In City Ink tattoo gang

“We’re at a point where we’re unfuckwithable …” snarls Kortez as we start the interview.
He’s part of the three-man team that started In City Ink (ICI), a professional tattoo and piercing studio neatly tucked between an internet café and an African hair salon, right next door to 012 Central in Pretoria CBD.

ICI had been interviewed on Cliff Central several days before; the buzz it gave them on social networks and the streets is louder than the tattoo gun’s humming in the studio. It’s also inflated Kortez’s ego a bit. Since holding the audio recorder, he’s spilling everything out.

“I’m not bragging, but we have the highest foot traffic of any tattoo parlour in Pretoria; our piercing standards are among the best in Africa. Currently we’re the only black-owned piercing studio that is accredited with STUDEX – the largest piercing manufacturer in the world, and we’re the only tattoo parlour in Gauteng registered to use and sell Studdex products exclusively, which is something usually done by licensed pharmacies and clinics.”

Looking at the bustling rush hour traffic and the congested sidewalks outside, it’s easy to see why there are customers visiting the store since we started talking a few minutes ago, but ICI is far from being the only tattoo parlour on this busy inner city strip. Many of the ubiquitous internet cafés and hair salons in PTA central rent out claustrophobic spaces to makeshift tattoo and piercing studios; this is also where ICI had its humble beginnings.

“The first space we rented was a small corner in an internet café in 2010, but we were forced to relocate abruptly because they had to renovate the place. Fortunately in 2011 we rented a much better space in an upstairs room in a nearby hair salon.”

The trio built their reputation from this noisy hair salon, with Kortez winning the ‘Most Ambitious Hustler of the Year’ award at the 2012 Hall of Fame Awards and ICI scooping ‘Most Influential Organisation of the Year’ in 2013. They opened this shop in 2014, which employs three full time artists, a piercer and an assistant, and schools two interns. Depending on size and detail, tattoos start at R350 while piercings go from R150, but they don’t tattoo under-18s or pierce under-16s even with adult consent.


“What sets us apart from the other studios here is that we focus on providing high quality tattoos and piercings, we have strict hygiene rules and we’re obviously the only downtown studio that’s not inside an internet café or hair salon. We also throw events, sell In City Ink clothing and are planning on opening a website for online orders.”

Though they’re the only black-owned registered parlour in an industry dominated by white artists, ICI faces similar challenges – battling negative stigmas associated with tattoos and the boredom of drawing clichéd designs like stars, birds and infinity signs. But they do possess one advantage their Caucasian counterparts in the suburbs might envy, dark-skin clientele.

“Because of our location in town, the majority of our customers are Africans, and any artist can tell you if you can tattoo dark skin you can kill any other skin. Many customers from reputable parlours have come here requesting touch-ups because the original artist thought he could tattoo black skin using the same techniques as white skin.”

While his partners Ernest and Sparks are the hard-core tattooists, Kortez specialises in piercings and even went on a rigorous six month course in Sandton where he learnt the delicate art of genital piercing. "I've completed many genital piercings without mutilating anyone. Though the vast majority are vaginal piercings, I’ve done a couple of Prince Alberts too,” says Kortez triumphantly.

We wrap up the interview so he can assist the queue of impatient customers accumulating at reception.

He’s soon stretching latex gloves over his hands, preparing to pierce a couple of excited young girls.

How do you rate In City Ink compared to other high end tattoo parlours?

Would you trust these guys to pierce your privates  if you wanted genital piercings?

Please leave your comments below, don't forget to like or share...

Where? 393 Elang House Church Street, Pretoria
Trading Hours? 9am – 5 30pm daily
Contact? Sparks 0713655359 / Ernest 0822624390 / Kortez 0724964668

Social Networks? Facebook; In City Ink Tattoos and Body Piercings, Instagram: incityink_tattoos

Originally published as You Cant Mess With In City Ink on JHBLIVE

You Snooze You Loose In Cop Capital

After years of collecting sneakers, I thought I pretty much knew everything about them. Like the best places to cop them or which brands are the coolest. Well, that’s until I stepped into Cop Capital, Pretoria’s first & only sneaker boutique, damn I got schooled!

The lesson began with the founder of Cop Capital; a 2 meter tall, hundred and something kilogram sneaker eater named Werner Olckers whom I attended the nearby Pro Arte Alphen Park High School with back in the early 2000s. He’s just as cocky as he was in high school, and talks like a no BS kind of hustler, but his business acumen and life experience gained after matric sticks out like a scuff mark on a cream white sneaker when he starts explaining why the streets shouldn’t sleep on Cop Capital.

“I founded CC in early 2015 after the band I was in released the final record for our record label.

“After the music venture, I naturally decided to open a sneaker shop in Pretoria firstly because I’ve been collecting sneakers with a passion for over 15 years and also because I love my home city. I’m from Pretoria, we’re SA’s capital city, and I wanted a place here where sneaker heads can cop rare, hout couture sneakers without venturing to Joburg or Cape Town, hence the name Cop Capital.”

He pauses to gaze around his store, pride sparkling in his blue eyes, and continues “Everything you see in the store is handpicked by my staff who are avid sneaker heads. We research and consult suppliers before buying stock. We specifically cater to the individual who doesn’t want to wear sneakers everyone else is wearing. Once a sneaker is brought here it’s gone forever so you either cop it or drop it, you snooze you lose.”

Indeed, looking around the small shop, I don’t recognise most of the 50 pairs on sale selling between R1000 and R3000, but surprisingly there aren’t any Nikes or Jordans, standard brands for any sneaker head, “In terms of the tier we’re supplying, many other competitors have the Nike market cornered and I don’t sell my clientele what everyone else is selling because we’re all about individual expression.”

The current stock is still very impressive though, “We have the only pairs of Puma’s Chris Stamp collection in Pretoria. We also have the Adidas ZX-Flux Split Packs which I haven’t seen anywhere else, most of the New Balance stock is exclusive to PTA and we also have interesting collaboration packs from Asics.”

As we’re talking, a couple walks into the store. Ziggy, the dreadlocked salesperson on duty springs from his counter to assist them, he says something to them that distracts me from Werner, “ask me about any shoe in here and I’ll tell you about it.” 

They look surprised at the challenge, so the girl points at a random shoe, but before I can hear if Ziggy can really walk the talk, my attention trails back to Werner, whose describing how travelling abroad really opened his eyes to the sneaker game.

“I visited the biggest sneaker markets overseas; from Hong Kong which arguably has the largest market in Asia, to Amsterdam and London where sneakers are more of an alternative lifestyle than a culture and New York which I believe is the sneaker capital of the world.”

Werner’s vision is to build a local industry comparable to the best out there, without necessarily selling kicks that’s the same as the rest out there. With a growing online store, it’s easy to see this vision becoming reality, “customers can also purchase sneakers online and we’ll be delivering free to major cities. We will also sort you out if you’re ordering from the smaller towns.”

Exclusivity is a recurring theme during our chat, “Our kicks are higher tier, platinum ranges which we refresh every six months.

“When you walk out of here with a pair of kicks you’ll have a spring in your step because you’ll be confident hardly anyone is wearing your shoes.”

After the interview, Werner slips back into his office and the couple who came in earlier to browse thank Ziggy for his help as they exit the boutique. They look impressed, whispering to themselves in Afrikaans, but I catch something in English I completely agree with,

“Those guys really know their sneakers!”

Do you think Cop Capital is South Africa’s leading sneaker boutique store?

What about sneaker culture in South Africa, are we on a global standard?

Please share your opinions in the comments section.

Cop Capital website:  www.copcapital.co.za

Article originally published as No Sleeping in Cop Capital on JHBLIVE.COM

The Grind Radio: What They Dont Want You to Hear

The Grind Radio’s new Arcade Empire studio is hot. Not only because at 10k unique listeners per month, they’re the biggest 100% online radio station in Pretoria, but because there’s a sweltering heatwave outside and the absence of air-conditioning in the confined studio bumps up the thermometer. 

I’m sweating like a marathon runner now. In a few minutes I’ll be interviewing station manager Jarryd Wood, but with beads of sweat slowly trickling down my forehead and dripping onto my notebook, that’s easier said than done.

Fortunately, Jarryd guides me out of the studio before I collapse from heat stroke to a better ventilated spot inside Arcade. We settle on leather couches near the pool tables where it’s considerably cooler than the studio. Once we get talking, I immediately feel his passion for online radio.

 “I started TGR with my friend Juan Venter as an alternative rock ‘n’ roll playlist blog in 2013”, he says. 

“That automatically led people to compare TGR to TUKS FM because they’re seen as the original station that played alternative, raw rock music in Pretoria.” Jarryd makes an expression, I can’t tell if he’s complimented or insulted at the comparison. 

“But I feel TUKS FM lost it and became too poppy.  It works for them but I also feel people like me who prefer indie, folk and metal are being ignored by commercial stations. TGR fills this gap.” 

With the growing popularity of the blog, Juan and Jarryd wanted to go bigger so they approached the owner of Aandklas in 2014 asking to convert his vacant back bar into a studio and he agreed. They practically had zilch radio management experience, learning as they go and Googling everything else they didn’t know. They also teamed up with angel investors Mike Bower and Divan Paxton who came aboard as TGR’s financial backers.

In June 2015 TGR moved studio to Arcade, “we wanted to become more professional and Arcade offered us better opportunities.” Whereas the Aandklas ‘studio’ was a 5mx2m bar used for storing ice, their new HQ (originally meant to be a men’s toilet) is a total of 10mx3.5m. 

“We now have a separate studio & chill area where DJs can prepare for their shows.

“We also now have a dedicated internet line plus a broadcasting mic for the main host, but getting a carpet and a sleeper couch into the studio was the best upgrade…The somewhat soundproof double pane window was the most expensive renovation.”

With TGR’s new location came new listeners. “After moving to Arcade which plays EDM & metal, we created dedicated hard-core electro shows like We Are Animals which jams underground EDM.”

Jarryd remains adamant that TGR will never sell its soul to advertisers in the future. “We started TGR with our own money, to push our passion for indie music. We want people to tune in and feel we’re genuinely doing this for the love, not for the money.”

TGRs upcoming upgrade will come as a major relief for studio guests and presenters alike though; “next up, we’re getting an air-conditioner” assures Jarryd.

Do you think independent online music and radio stations will ever overshadow the commercial giants?

Notice:I originally wrote this article for JHBLIVE

Listen to TGR here: http://www.thegrindradio.co.za/

CASSPER'S 012 CENTRAL TURN UP A TURN DOWN

I hustled tickets the moment I heard the news that SA’s biggest rapper right now, Cassper Nyovest, would be in my homecity Pretoria as part of his Refiloe national album tour and to promote the AG #Hashtag phone as part of his lucrative deal with cellphone maker AG Mobile. Since I failed to get tickets to the sold out J.Cole gig happening at The Dome in Joburg the same night, I hoped and assumed  this turn up would give J.Cole a run for his fans, boy was I wrong!

Cassper finally rocked up, after keeping the small crowd waiting for more than three hours. Photographer: Henk Steyn

The gig was hosted at live performance venue 012Central last Saturday night, but I was quite disappointed when I came through. No, not at the fact that the 1 200 people capacity venue barely had more than 200 people when I arrived more than 1 hour after the party officially started at 6pm (I suspected most heads that night preferred getting lit at J.Cole), nah, It was because they were playing friggin house music to get a hip hop party started, like wtf dudes?

As the night progressed, I was expecting more fans to fill up the place until Casspers arrival, which was supposed to be at 10pm, but surprisingly the crowd never got bigger and the boring mood strangled us until Cassper finally arrived at around 10:30pm.

Yes! No more house music, finally some hip hop we could all bump our heads to. Cassper performed songs like Tse Tswembu Tse Blind feat DJ Drama from New York and Fever feat StonBwoy which are some of my favourite tracks from Refiloe album, and even brought out incredibly sexy female rapper Nadia Nakai from his Family Tree record label to rap joints like Money Back which is receiving moderate airplay right now.  

Nadia Nakai performing her lead single Money Back. Photographer: @brightdm_

Though Cassper and his artists put everything into their performances, their raps were ravenously swallowed by the horrific sound quality. Maybe that could explain why barely 30 minutes into his performance, Cass practically gave up rapping and broke out dancing to house and kwaito instrumentals, which again is totally weird considering this is supposed to be a hip hop party, like seriously Family Tree, WTF do you take us for?!

Turn out was quite dissapointing. Maybe everyone was at J.Cole? Photographer Henk Steyn

The show barely lasted an hour, with half of it consisting of Cassper taking selfies with fans and doing impromptu interviews with bloggers such as yours truly. So I dropped some questions and it turns out he was late because he was actually at the J.Cole concert the whole night, WOW!

So let me get this straight, not only did you keep your PTA fans waiting for more than 3 and a half hours, but you tortured us with house music the whole time we waited, while ironically you were having a blast at a real hip hop party with real hip hop music? How insulting to hip hop purists!

Cassper on stage with his Family Tree artists, Gemini Major and Nadia Nakai. Photographer: Henk Steyn

What makes you a fatter hypocrite is that you posted a video on your Facebook page PTA Soundcheck at 012 central with the squad!!! begging PTA fans to show up at your show that night instead of J.Cole, while you went to support J.Cole yourself as we were waiting bored for you to show up at your own show! WTF is going on here?!

Look Cass, thanks for the interviews and we appreciate you taking time to interact with your Pretoria fans, but next time you throw a gig and keep us waiting for hours with shitty house music, I’m going to be an AKA fan! 

What do you think of Cassper's stunt?

PRESS RELEASE#1: PETROL OR MILK SPILLAGE AT O.R TAMBO INTERNATIONAL

Bambata kiosk at O.R TAMBO International Airport, Terminal B, 3rd floor. Domestic Departures

Dope news for high flying urban fashion heads, you can now cop luxury urban clothing brands Petrol or Milk and Bamby at the new Bambata kiosk at O.R Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Following the success of its flagship boutique in the heart of downtown Pretoria; which I reviewed on this JHBLive.com article, Petrol or Milk Taking Street Style Hostage, high end street wear brand Bambata opened a kiosk at Terminal B, 3rd floor, Domestic Departures on 1 February 2016. The Bambata kiosk sells select Autumn range Bamby plus Petrol or Milk (POM) apparel not available at the main store in PTA.




POM clothing got it’s mega breakthrough after being worn by famous Cash Time Records owner and BET nominee + SAMA/MTV Award winning rapper K.O; in his highly acclaimed 2015 club killer; Caracara feat Kid X, which gained millions of  YouTube views and won Best Collaboration and Record of the Year at the 2015 SA Music Awards.




O.R Tambo store operates from 6am to 7pm, while PTA store opens up 8:30am to 8:00pm. Both stores are open Monday to Sunday including most public holidays. So remember; visit the Bambata kiosk when you touch down at O.R Tambo Airport, cop our limited edition Autumn gear, and avoid some major FOMO.

**END OF PRESS RELEASE #1**

Online orders: Inbox Bambata SA on Facebook; or Email Siya: ynoxie@yahoo.com

Wats App & Cellphone Orders: +27 74 3888 600

Please contact me for all media and publicity related queries.

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Africa's Own Evil Knievel

*This story is in the current August 2014 edition of Indwe, inflight magazine for SA Express Airways. Read the online version here

I’m interviewing ‘Sick Nick’ De Wit, world number five and Africa’s number one ranked FMX (Freestyle Motocross) champion at a coffee shop in Hatfield, Pretoria. I’m asking the 33 year old Joburger if he ever gets scared of crashing while doing summersaults on his dirt bike and ending up paralyzed or dead. His reply stings like a back hand klap across the Grim Reapers face.   

“If you’re going to die, you’re going to die, don’t let fear of death stop you from achieving your destiny.” He pauses to take a sip from his frothy coffee, locking eyes with me, as if examining if his answer unnerved me somehow…It did, and I think he noticed. “You have to be extremely cautious and have 0% fear to avoid crashes.” 

He says it annoyingly, like talking about crashing will jinx his next stunt. His tone softens while discussing his love for the sport however.

Nick grabbed his first pair of handlebars at age 13 doing motocross races and never let go, but he disliked FMX originally. “When I first saw FMX in the late 90s I thought the riders were insane and I’d never do it.”  Only after winning the FMX competition at Cape Town’s 2002 Woodstock Music Festival did he discover his FMX calling. He won every show until the competition’s liquidation in 2009. In 2003, Red Bull approached Nick with a sponsorship offer that changed his life.

Since then Nick has been stunting in exotic locations worldwide, barely having time to hose his bike before getting called to ramp it in another international venue. He’s also the first African to compete in the Red Bull X Fighters, the boss of FMX competitions. “I rode at the X-Fighters in Spain and Germany in 2009 and Cairo in 2010. I’ve also rode in Singapore, Tunisia, Columbia, Taiwan, Japan, Peru, Dubai, Germany, Namibia and Brazil.”

 He also performed at the world’s biggest action sports tour Nitro Circus at its first tour of Africa in SA this year. Other noteworthy stunts he’s accomplished include setting the world record for the highest FMX show at 3.5km above sea level in La Paz, Bolivia.

On August 23^rd, Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour will host its finale at Pretoria’s Union Buildings for the first time in Africa, and Nick loves it. “I’ll have home ground advantage, and the best thing about it is that I won’t have to sit in a plane for hours and endure jet lag.”

Preparations include tough physical training at the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre, and punishing his bike in his backyard motocross circuit, “I’m lucky to have a big piece of land I could develop into a FMX course. It’s got landings, ramps and a foam pit.”

Nick knows he will be up against the meanest FMX riders like feared Frenchman and defending champion Tom Pagès. To gain advantage Nick urges South Africans to show up and show love, “bring vuvuzela’s if you want” he says. But can spectators expect any new teeth gritting tricks? “I’m working on many new tricks. I can’t divulge my secrets but you’ll be blown away.”

With that the interview ended, and the waiter brought our bills on one receipt, I requested separate bills, but Nick politely offered to pay both tabs under one condition, “as long as you promise to come and support me at Union Buildings.” While rising to leave we bumped fists and I confirm, “Ofcourse, I’ll even bring my vuvuzela.”