‘Slikour: The Life Story of a Hip-Hop Pioneer’ by Siya Metane with Helen Herimbi-Moremi

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The easiest way for a young black person to limit themselves is to only gravitate towards and work with other young black people  who share their interests. It’s human nature to want to stick with people who are like us. There is power and protection in a tribe. But there is also the danger of being stunted by it. I wasn’t swayed  to stay in a place because of a tribe. I was always driven by the  energy that came from feeling. For example, the CBR guys were  strangers to me, but I signed a monumental deal with them based  on a feeling. I trusted my gut. 

To me, it doesn’t matter if we are the same gender, race, age or  whatever, you just need to have the ability to see, place and receive  energy. You must be able to feel it. That’s what attracts the people  who need to come along on your journey. That creates connection. Energy is big for me because it’s how I know I am being  myself. It’s how I stay open to giving as well as receiving. Sometimes, what you receive in life is betrayal, but you have to be open  enough to risk being played. That’s challenging. I accepted a long  time ago that I start each day at zero and I only become something when I actively seek or give out something positive. I am  diminished when I seek or give out negative energy. Who wants  to be less than zero?   

In some ways, when you have nothing, it’s easy to be positive.  It’s when you have been blessed with a lot that it gets tricky.  There have been times in my journey when I have felt more  powerful when the stakes were lower or the scale of an operation  was smaller, like when it was just me, Loyiso and Thandow run ning SlikourOnLife from my small apartment, compared to when  I was running an award-winning company with many employees.

I know this may sound strange, but I believe that you have to  have empathy for very successful people. Think about what it  took for them to become successful and the lengths they are  going to go to to protect that success. And although it goes without saying, you also have to have empathy for people who aren’t  successful. Empathy is also an energy, an energy that connects  the dots. When you straddle the middle, you become empathetic  to both sides and are able to see how to be a bridge that brings  those two worlds together. That’s my definition of energy. I was  that bridge when I brought Skwatta Kamp to the mainstream, and  I did it with the many careers I helped start through Ventilation  and Buttabing. I am still doing that with SlikourOnLife.

When I started working on my memoir, I didn’t know that I  would eventually figure out how to describe what SlikourOnLife  does. Put simply, we are a culture agency. We bridge brands and  the culture. We don’t know everything, but if there’s a question  that needs answering, we always know someone who can answer  it. And if we don’t, we go out and find them. We’ve been connecting ing culture for many years now.

It’s human nature to want to stick with people, but I also had  to realise when it was time to buy CBR out of my company. Like every relationship or activity I’ve been involved in so far, we  became too familiar and I felt I was becoming stunted. There was  an exclusivity clause in the partnership, so I traded my freedom  for growth. I could’ve swapped one partner for another, but I  felt like I would be losing who I was by selling shares to another  company.

To be a black-owned street company in conversation with  established agencies and wealthy people who want to buy the  company is gratifying. But it’s external validation. It’s not who  you are. And there’s no price on that. I focused my efforts on  buying back my shares. In doing so, I was buying the skills I  learnt from them, along with my energy to connect anyone in  any way. The energy is pure. On 3 June 2020 – see, there’s that  number three again – I became the sole owner of the business I  started. I would otherwise have lost who I am. SlikourOnLife is  now a 100 percent black-owned business.

The business has challenged me to find my place in this world  and consistently do good with an open heart, with love, with consideration, with care and with politeness. It’s important to learn  how to stay that way in environments that don’t have any of  those five things. 

I had to bet on myself because I understood the impact that  I had on people’s lives. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the  world, it hit my business too. I had to cut back on salaries and, in  some instances, let go of staff. It would’ve been tougher had I not  owned the company outright. The pandemic helped to highlight  the people whose energy was complementary to the business and  forced me to be a more focused leader. I could do that because I’ve learnt how to find the power in myself and cultivate my  energy, give it to others and encourage them to foster their own  energies, despite what’s going on around us.

In an instant-gratification world, we’re told the only way to  survive unscathed is to know your authentic self. Who are you?  I got to that answer by making mistakes and by writing. I accepted  my quirks and allowed them to lead me to what felt right. I had  to learn how to package my energy – the energy of being a bridge  – for good. Your energy may be different. But how do you find  it, and, in turn, find out who you are?

Step 1: When you receive other people’s energy, discern which  ideas resonate with you and which ideas make you  uncomfortable. 

Step 2: Consistently curate the ideas that make you feel  happiest.

Step 3: Improve upon those ideas – they create a unique  position for you in the world. 

Step 4: Understand how people label your unique position,  then get the best out of the label from those people.

Step 5: Once you’ve got the best out of the label, give it a name  that is unique to you.

Step 6: Live up to that name. Consistently. 

That is your energy and the service you provide. Service isn’t  charity. It’s how you give back in a way that is unique to you  and to the world. That becomes your brand. It’s what Henry Ford  was doing when he created a car despite the automobile industry not existing. It’s what I am doing with SlikourOnLife. That’s  energy, and it’s fucking powerful. We’re born with abilities specific to us, and part of our path  includes discovering them. I have been a bridge since the day I  saw Shugasmakx playing M. Bison in an arcade game, but it’s  only now, in my forties, that I’m figuring out that’s been my  specific energy. I wonder where that energy will take me next.