Interview: Jack Parow talks music, interwebs and giving up his Nokia 3310

Zander Tyler, or as he’s better known, Jack Parow, has made a major splash online with videos like his “Jy dink jy’s cooler as ekke” going viral on the internet. We caught up with the infamous Afrikaans rapper Jack about his use of social media and discovered what “Tweeter” really means behind the “boerewors gorduin”.

MemeBurn: Has using Twitter, Facebook and your blog at Woelag.co.za changed the the way you interact with your fans and do things in general?
Jack Parow: Ja, back in the day moes ek peeps van my 3310 af sms om te tune waar ek jol, nou met tweeter en Facebook en die blog goed kan almal die latest rap kry oor waar ek optree ens.

MB: Why did you start tweeting?
JP: It looked kind of lame, but when my woelag.co.za friends set me up with tweeter, I was like new to this whole social mediyan thing, but I soon check people follow me and tune me awe, so ja, it just took off. Now I’m on like 5000 followers and growing.

MB: Why did you start your blog at woelag.co.za?
JP: Ag I checked “How I met your Mother” one day tune about blogging, so my bra JP van der Spuy suggested I start blogging. Woelag.co.za is kind of a place me and them gooi like news, updates and some funny shit!

MB: Is it hard for you to find the time to tweet with your hectic schedule, and how do you make time for your online presence?
JP: I like have a super hectic schedule, so whenever I get a chance I drop a quick tweeter or Facebook update, but it’s fokken difficult keeping up with it. Thats why the blog is called woelag, cause everything’s woelag most days!

MB: Has anything you tweeted ever got you in trouble?
JP: Ja many times! But I’ve learned how to delete my tweets, so I like got the hang now. Just the other day I gave away the link to my new site www.jackparow.com (coming soon), but I put the full preview link in that the site design guys sent me.

MB: Have any of your tweets or blog posts ever made it into the news?
JP: Not like Riaan Cruywagen news, but blogs and things, ja for sure. I do most of my releases on woelag.co.za and then tweet the stuff. From there it just spreads like fokken mal.

MB: Do you mainly tweet and post about your music, or do you tweet about your private life as well?
JP: My tunes, like, are part of me and I have little time for private life, but ja, I have learned not to tweet when I’m drunk cause I just make kak. Mostly woelag, my gigs and about my music.

MB: Is Tweeting big in the caravan park or not?
JP: Anyone who stays agter die boerewors gorduin knows a tweet as a “nipple”. Don’t know if it’s related.

MB: What do you prefer to use, iPhone or Blackberry?
JP: I like got me a new Blackberry so I can like do my shit on the road, but I still prefer a Nokia 3310.

MB: Do you write all your own tweets and posts, or do you have some peeps that help you out with it
JP: Tweeter and Facebook I do, but we are three guys blogging on woelag.co.za just to keep things on the gooi.

MB: What is your favourite twitter client?
JP: I don’t sell anything on Twitter, only chat with my fans. Most of my clients just email us for bookings.

MB: How did the name “Jack Parow” come about? Have you changed the band’s name before
JP: Being drunk as usual and watching Pirates of the Caribbean… I was like f**k Jack Sparow! The Pirate of the Caribean… I’m Jack Parow the Pirate of the Caravan Park, uit die gevaarlikke gange agter die boerwors gorduin… luckily I remembered it the next day!

MB: So, for those who don’t know, who is the real Jack Parow?
JP: Google it! I’m the original gevaarlikke afrikaanse superster rapper from the rowwe strate van die noordlikke voorstede.

MB: What are your major influences?
JP: Brandy. No, I reckon Snoop Dogg, hy’s my alles… alles wat mal is.

MB: Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs?
JP: I write all my own songs, I just like listen to next level beats and the words just flow from that. Topics? Fokkin alles… Jack Parow, Brandy, Gold Braai tongs, Zef en foto’s van jou meisie se piel op my spacecase.

MB: We have to mention the hat that has become a Jack Parow Trademark. How, where, when and why?
JP: My chommie Richard de Jager made it for me. We just wanted to exaggerate some feature… we did a few different things, but the hat just stuck. It’s lekker kief!

MB: You rap in Afrikaans, are there any plans for an English track or two in the near future, or are you sticking to your roots?
JP: I used to rap in English back in school days, so English rap is like sort of my roots, but since those days I always gooi Afrikaans… but i’ve got one or two English numbers waiting to come out, so ja… checkit!

MB: You seem to be one of the hottest topics online, like Die Antwoord. What do you foresee in the near future?
JP: “Jack Parow… Yes we can!”. I checked how things just went rof on the interwebs, so I’ve just switched from my Nokia 3310 to a Samsung. I’m flying on Tuesday to the Netherlands to do like a three-week tour performing for the German, Belguim and Dutch peeps. Also shooting a Ricky Louw music video with some kief colabs still to come. Jack Parow is just warming up!

MB: What’s the story behind your hit “Jy Dink Jy’s Cooler as Ekke”?
JP: Haha, I was just tired of all these people who think they’re cool. It’s me calling them out!

MB: So what was your big break then? How did you suddenly rise to fame? Did you start out on social media like Facebook and Twitter?
JP: I don’t really know, like, I’ve been doing it for f**king long, so I slowly built up a reputation. But then Die Heuwels Fantasties brought out their album and I think that the track that I did on there kind of led to a boom for me, and boosted me, getting my music out there to people who would have previously not listened to me. And then, well, ‘Cooler as Ekke‘ came out, the interweb went mad… caps was reached and that’s the story. I only recently started on Twitter and Facebook.