Page 2 - Dj Les News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> 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. that's what i dreamt about. >> anthony: he spins records and promotes acts and events in nightclubs. we meet in his favorite spot -- sympathy's restaurant. what's good? what do you like? well, that looks good. is that fried chicken? >> dj les: i love -- there's the fried c...

>> 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 here. they come here with one intention. making a living, making money. black kids, black cars they...

>> 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 don't always go according to what you plan. but this is where i live. this is where my life is. yeah, we go down here. i'll show you. [ yelling ] >> 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 there...

Black-owned legitimate businesses have gained a real foothold. there are new revitalization projects like farmer's 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: there's 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. that's what i dreamt about. >> anthony: he spins records and promotes acts and events in nightclubs. we meet in his favorite spot -- sympathy's restaurant. what's good? what do you like? well, that looks good. is that fried chicken? >> dj les: i love -- there's the fried chicken. >> anthony: the place is heavy with the smell of frying chicken, stewing greens. walk right up...