“ There is so much hurt in the world . So much frustration , destitution , and oppression . So much being done against citizens that compels them to leave what they know as home and be foreigners in places where the first port of entry lets them know just how much you are not wanted . And in a world of such hate and such deprivation , all that one has sometimes is just but their voice . But there is too much noise out there . Noise that tends to drown out the voices of the nobodies . The everyday people . The immigrants . Second class citizens . Citizens with no ids , with hidden identities . The destitute voices . Voices longing to be heard . And music and poetry for me is that volume . My speaker phone . An outlet for my venting .
These are the words of the Polokwane based Poet , emcee and writer , XtremeSanity ( also identified by the government name , Mercy Dhliwayo ). Also a law graduate and a MA in creative writing student with Rhodes University , Xtreme is a firm believer in the liberating nature of music and words . She describes her writing as activism and exorcism . Her literary works have been published in , among others ; Femrite- Uganda Women Writers ' Association ' s fiction anthology , Nothing to see here ; the Africa Book club ' s fiction anthology The Bundle of Joy and Other Stories from Africa ; East Jasmine Review ; and three of Poetry Potion ' s Quarterly Prints themed , Infinite Wonders , Love Potion , and On Being Human . Her poetry has also been translated into Swedish and published in the Swedish magazine Karavan . In addition to this , Xtreme has featured on a number of musical compilations such the United Nations World Trade Organisation 2013 Mixtape ( A collaboration between Zimbabwean and Zambian Artist ; the 2013African FemMc ' s Vol 1 Mixtape ( a mixtape featuring various female rappers from various African countries ); Slang Audio Record ' s Words from her ( an album that features female spoken word , hip-hop and soul artists based in South Africa ); as well as Shindig Awe ' s “ Have we put out the fire ”( a compilation album featuring various artists based in the Limpopo
www . megaartists . co . za Aug-Sep 2016 Page 5