What is MaxNormal.tv? I hear you ask. Many of you will be familiar with the live hip hop act
Max Normal from the early 00’s and their wildly charismatic front man Waddy Jones. They burst onto the South African music scene in 2001 with their debut and only album,
Songs From The Mall. This received varied reviews but was a seminal record that did wonders for grounding the SA hip hop scene.
In the 6 years that followed Max Normal morphed into a variety of ensembles with varying success; The Constuctus Corporation were the next logical step, they released a beautifully designed and packaged ‘cyber fairytale’ album called The Ziggurat. A collaboration with Sibot, formally of Max Normal, under the name Watkin Tudor Jones Feat DJ F*ck witnessed the release of the hugely popular dance floor draw card Super Evil Me and in 2005 The Fantastic Kill, which featured DJ’s Neon Demon, Jakobson and Mr Sakitumi, as well as fellow rapper Spoek Mathambo, hit the well trodden streets of Cape Town with its electronic hip hop. Now, in 2007, as the electro indie scene invades every bar and club in the city Waddy launches MaxNormal.tv.
Upon visiting www.maxnormal.tv you might feel like you’ve stumbled across a real life South African soap opera as opposed to a bands website. This is exactly what you’re supposed to think. The whole site has a corporate air to it; the bands profiles and the MaxNormal.tv story are written candidly with tongue firmly in cheek. Each member of the “world famous hip-hop crew” has his/her own character, back story and, to some degree, issues. Waddy has always told stories through his music, but with this latest incarnation he’s creating characters, scenarios and a world in which they can perform.
“When MaxNormal and his dynamic team aren't flying around the globe educating and entertaining the masses, you will find them hard at work inside Maxcorp headquarters, preparing the next phase of their mission.”
Max is described as a ‘deeply religious man…as a leader and a guide’. He has helped many people with his motivational and inspirational music but he can’t seem to help his own wife. It transpires that all the members of Maxcorp have intertwining intricate lives and we’re given glimpses of each of these in their music. Max has marriage problems, Yolandi has a jealous boyfriend, Justin feels there is an ominous force building inside of him and is very worried what might happen if it’s released, Jakob is an insecure ladies man who still lives with his mother and Brad is on a mission from God.
By creating such interesting characters another dimension is added to both their live performance and the band as a concept and music making entity. In today’s fiercely contested music scene it’s important to create the right amount of hype for when you hit the clubs. In using the already established moniker of Max Normal one could view .tv as a bit of a copout and blame Waddy for riding the wave of his prior successes. In an interview on their website entitled ‘Return of the King a feature by Waddy Jones on Max Normal’ Waddy explains his reasons for using the name: "How's it going with Max Normal?" someone asked for the nine hundred and sixty-seven thousandth time. It was only then that I received the light. Maybe I should call myself Max Normal again. Cause, no matter what Waddy Jones does, he'll never be as large as Max Normal.”
There is a certain amount of irony in MaxNormal.tv, Waddy seems to have approached this project in a business like manor, with specific ideas and plans to grab people’s attention, to shock the audience and make sure they pay attention. His conscious decision to use the established name of Max Normal is testament to this. The outcome is a hip hop parody of a corporate power point presentation that’s enthralling to watch and audibly stimulating.
The Armchair Theatre was jam packed, and this performance, their second, was eagerly anticipated. Dj’s Drop The Chop (Armchair) and Fletcher (African Dope) were spinning a combination of electro beats, dance hall and hip hop and by the time MaxNormal.tv hit the stage the dance floor was bubbling. Justin DeNobrega and Jakob Basson create the beats and Yolandi Visser operates the power point presentation that accompanies the lyrics. Waddy’s personal, no holds barred, approach affords his performance a very endearing element, his particular and peculiar brand of hip hop gives him a wonderful opportunity to engage his audience like few of his contemporaries can. The MaxNormal.tv show takes this to the next level
the band arrives on stage dressed in suits, wearing serious corporate faces and moving with intent and composure. The scene that ensues could easily be confused with a board meeting or business presentation; black draped tables adorned with laptops, bottled water, glasses and a projection screen with the MaxNormal.tv crest broadcast onto it.
Their motto or mantra; "CONCEIVE, BELIEVE, ACHIEVE" plays as an anchor for the “high-energy hip-hop power point presentation” performance. Accompanied by his faithful assistant Yolandi, Max and his colleagues bust into an electro hip hop ménage of motivational speakeresq rap. Waddy plays this role exceptionally well, commanding everyone’s attention and rapping with eloquence and poise. As the show progresses the audience are drawn into the production, which creates a similar effect to that of interactive theatre. MaxNormal cleverly manipulates his audience into feeling like they actually work for Maxcorp. His father-like story telling is very engaging and gives him the platform to convey his message; a counter-culture lecture on social pressures and the need for originality.
‘Always expect the unexpected’ isn’t a bad adage to live your life by and on Saturday night it was particularly pertinent. Moving swiftly from the sing-a-long power point projections, courtesy of Miss Visser, we were greeted with Destructo, MaxNormal’s self professed rave band. The stage lights blacked out, a familiar hiss of the smoke machine broke the silence and a surging electronic beat filled the room. The whole band donned black hoody’s and the strobe lights lit up the stage with epileptic eeriness. The music itself was a vast departure from MaxNormal.tv; high tempo trance like licks reminiscent of Joy Division and Cape Town’s very own fledgling electro indie kids, She.Man:Lion.
The contrast between MaxNormal.tv and Destructo was quite something and it certainly had novelty value, but if they’re to continue pulling big crowds they are going to need a few hits or board rooms of variation… something which I don’t think Waddy will have trouble finding.
Words & Photographs: Alexander Wilson
the band arrives on stage dressed in suits, wearing serious corporate faces and moving with intent and composure. The scene that ensues could easily be confused with a board meeting or business presentation; black draped tables adorned with laptops, bottled water, glasses and a projection screen with the MaxNormal.tv crest broadcast onto it. 
