Indaba came into existence to promote the spirit of collaboration, and to take back music for the musicians. Collaboration is a cornerstone of the musical process. It is the glue which brought the first musicians together and the stitches which hold together the fabric of the musical blanket. For, where would the world's music be without the Mighty Fistful, Lennon and McCartney, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Les Six, and Wu-Tang? Collaborative efforts have helped push the state of the art, and society is all the better for it. The online community, with its reach and widespread availability, is, of course, the next logical step in the evolution of the collaborative art, and Indaba is here to create the platform. With a growing community of 320,000+, our members are incredibly diverse, and have come together to form communities and sub-communities of like minded (and atypically grouped!) musicians, all with the drive to push the state of the art. Several group projects have been started, and recently, the Paper Cha$erz family has complied enough material to finally release their album through the Indaba platform. 

Paper Cha$erz Mixtape Vol. 1 is the first full length rap album created solely through collaboration on Indaba. This mixtape stems from the efforts of Indaba members St. Paul and Kava-1. They have released the music for the music's sake in the form of a free mixtape. These two collaborators, according to St. Paul, "were looking for a way to help artists gain exposure" and that they, "both looked at Indaba as a great opportunity to do so...Indaba was there for us at the right time". They made an extraordinary effort to pool the skills of several Indaba members together, even outside the realm of music, to help market, promote, and push the album. For example, Indaba member Yunique D., an MC from Cape Town who contributed the track "Street Life" to the mixtape, agreed to use his South African label to procure airtime on local radio stations. St. Paul notes that the most difficult part was combing through the trove of great talent on the site. He and Kava-1 searched for months to find the right blend of artists for the mixtape. The talent that they did recruit was as diverse as the music. Participants from three continents came together to collaborate on the tape (a map of all the participants can be found here), and, the music represented is drawn from all walks of the hip-hop ethos. This inter-continential effort, made simple by the use of Indaba, assuredly creates a cultural melting pot, and shows that hip-hop has become, over the past two decades, a true international musical language. 

Paper Cha$erz shows no signs of slowing down. Already, St. Paul, Kava-1and the Paper Cha$erz family have put plans into motion to release another herculean collaborative effort in the months to come, appropriately titled Paper Cha$erz Mixtape Vol. 2. MCs and vocalists wishing to be part of round two should join the session, check out the tracks, and get in touch with St. Paul. It's sure to be another collaborative Hip-Hop tour de force.