Dj Les News Today

Chicken, stewing greens. walk right up, place your order, and be sure to get some millipop, heaped on a plate with beets and coleslaw, its a nice, heavy base. so tell me about the neighborhood. >> dj les: when i first came, eh, it was rough, my friend. >> anthony: before 92, it was like white business district, residential district? >> dj les: back then, it used to be cool, it used to be clean, it used to be respected. >> anthony: once, hillbrow was an elite, whites-only center of town. but when...

>> anthony: we walk down the street, and one of the many enterprises doing business on corners and in doorways around us, becomes alarmed at the sight of our cameras. soon theres a mob of very angry people coming our way. we do not turn around our cameras for obvious reasons. these days, things are slowly, slowly improving. >> dj les: but before, you wouldnt walk this freely. now we are free. >> anthony: theres actual law enforcement going on in fits and starts. and thats making a difference. bl...

>> sanza: cause food, i knew that food is a way to engage. you got to put something in your mouth to get your ears open, right? ♪ >> anthony: across town, another pioneer of sorts, an urban settler in a very different neighborhood. this is hillbrow, a notoriously dangerous district. and this is dj les. >> dj les: when i came here, i only dreamt of being a musician. imagined myself singing in front of a huge crowd, you know, making money in the process. thats what i dreamt about. >> anthony: he...

Black kids, black cars they start coming in. the white cars -- >> anthony: white landlords and tenants simply walked away from their property. the disenfranchised who moved in legally, semi-legally, illegally or just squatting, an influx of gangs and criminal organizations, the area soon slipped into anarchy. >> dj les: they say around here, okay? that this buildings been hijacked. >> anthony: entire buildings were seized to become superstores for illicit drug operations. everything that could g...

>> anthony: before 92, it was like white business district, residential district? >> dj les: back then, it used to be cool, it used to be clean, it used to be respected. >> anthony: once, hillbrow was an elite, whites-only center of town. but when things started to change, so did hillbrow, becoming one of the first gray areas where whites and blacks mixed. hillbrow became aspirational. a symbol of everything black africans had long been denied, but was now accessible. people poured in in large n...

>> anthony: across town, another pioneer of sorts, an urban settler in a very different neighborhood. this is hillbrow, a notoriously dangerous district. and this is dj les. >> dj les: when i came here, i only dreamt of being a musician. imagined myself singing in front of a huge crowd, you know, making money in the process. thats what i dreamt about. >> anthony: he spins records and promotes acts and events in nightclubs. we meet in his favorite spot -- sympathys restaurant. whats good? what do...

>> dj les: back then, it used to be cool, it used to be clean, it used to be respected. >> anthony: once, hillbrow was an elite, whites-only center of town. but when things started to change, so did hillbrow, becoming one of the first gray areas where whites and blacks mixed. hillbrow became aspirational. a symbol of everything black africans had long been denied, but was now accessible. people poured in in large numbers. many of them squatters from all over the continent. >> dj les: people come...

>> anthony: entire buildings were seized to become superstores for illicit drug operations. everything that could go wrong, did. >> dj les: people make a living from different things. some, they rob people to make a orome, they sell their bodies. sometimes, things are -- they dont always go according to what you plan. but this is where i live. this is where my life is. yeah, we go down here. ill show you. [ yelling ] >> anthony: we walk down the street, and one of the many enterprises doing busi...

Black-owned legitimate businesses have gained a real foothold. there are new revitalization projects like farmers markets springing up. >> young boy: hello, tony! >> anthony: buildings are being reclaimed and people here hope that hillbrow is past the bad old days. >> dj les: theres no fear now. we have to relax, nothing will happen to you.

This is hillbrow, a notoriously dangerous district. and this is dj les. >> dj les: when i came here, i only dreamt of being a musician. imagined myself singing in front of a huge crowd, you know, making money in the process. thats what i dreamt about. >> anthony: he spins records and promotes acts and events in nightclubs. we meet in his favorite spot -- sympathys restaurant. whats good? what do you like? well, that looks good. is that fried chicken? >> dj les: i love -- theres the fried chicken...