Taxijam :: Jack Parow

Some refer to him as the Bob Dylan of the northern suburbs but to those who share a taxi with him on the way to work, he’s just the sweaty guy in the brown vest. Jack Parow is a resident of Belleville, a ghetto located 12 miles from the centre of Cape Town. “That’s four miles further than Eminem has to commute from his trailer park to the city,” says the rapper. Parow is currently spearheading a hip hop movement characterised by the use of his regional Afrikaans patois. “We avoid the word pidgin,” he explains, “owing to its unfortunate association with the rats of the sky.” Moreover, Parow’s sharp tongue has earned him critical acclaim. “Parrow’s indignation concerning snake tattoos on breasts,” says university professor Bo Locke, “represents a rejection of crude phallic imagery in favour of poetic discourse that interrogates the social politics of superiority.” The professor insists that Jeremy De Tolly of the Dirty Skirts is only a symbol of rock star vanity, adding, “He’s probably a nice guy in real life.” As regards the two-foot peak cap, “Purely functional,” says the professor. “Owing to the even topography of the neighbouring Cape Flats, Belleville residents require longer brims to keep the morning sun out of their eyes.”

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