Flêtse Maniere encapsulates a moment in time. It’s a play by play account of Jaak’s formative years growing up in the flêtse of Paarl. The direct translation of ‘Flêtse Maniere’ from Afrikaans is ‘housing project manners’, but more loosely it means ‘Cape Flats behaviour’.

The album delves deep into Jaak’s stormy years as a teenager growing up on the wrong side of the tracks (or in this case, the wrong side of the Berg River) in Paarl. Expect tales of epic adventures induced by drugs and alcohol, colourful narrations of violence and the everyday struggles unique to Paarl. Expect also to experience the beauty of a place called home.

What are the struggles unique to Paarl you may ask? How about the mass consumption of cheap alcohol bought at the smokkelhuis (shebeen or informal drinking spot) – just bring your own jar. How about kids picking up old bones to sell at the bone meal mill? How about just the fact that farm people are housed en masse in these urban structures – should be a struggle in itself, right?

These struggles may be unique to Paarl but, at the same time, are common to the ‘brown’ ghetto experience anywhere in the world. There’s a distinct humanity to Flêtse Maniere as Jaak portrays himself as well as the different characters who inhabit his ghetto. Social commentary is achieved with the ‘genius’ and ‘simple-mindedness’ of everyday people. This characteristic duality will resonate with hip hop heads as well as the everyday people. Clubbing, girls and cars are also subjects touched upon as they played a huge part in the ‘stormy years’ setting. This aspect my seem mundane or run of the mill but, when viewed in its totality, these common subject matters play an integral part in supporting the concept.

Flêtse Maniere truly is theatre of the mind, a vivid account of growing up in a ghetto as unique as Paarl. A city which is also a farm.