And the best rap album goes to...

KO Album Cover

Sipho Ramaru

#Skhanda_Republic
#Skhanda_Rap

KO aka Mr CashTime-Tsotsi-4-Life has really come a long way to be where he is today. . .

Lyrically, he has proven himself to be one of the finest in the game, arguably so. KO has always killed almost every feature he has been on from the period he started going solo.

L-Tido’s “We Rolling” was the first feature I heard KO on outside Teargas. . .and he without doubt slayed the joint!

“Le yonto se ya phuma e’fashion’ini I’m off it/ Talking money when you ain’t getting none of it/ MP’s number 1 prophet, and your crew is nothing but an NGO, non-profit/ They say women come and go, wait a minute baby maybe that’s why nami I cum and go”

The joint also built up a reputation around KO for being that rapper you wanna feature on your hooks. Then after that, he went on to be featured on “Faka iPressure”, alongside PRO and Red Button. He came through, killed the hook AGAIN, and murked his verse! I think that was the joint that certified and confirmed him as that rapper you don’t wanna mess with!

“K’phuma kim’ I’m going in back off me/ I’m back tsotsi and I’m killing these rap zombies/ / I’m heavy weight in the team, Benny McCarthy/ It’s my house, wake up and smell the black coffee”

Then Ntokozo Mdluli (real name) continued to push features as a solo artist and few years after that, he released ‘Mission Statement”. . .The first smash hit from his now #Skhanda_Republic album, which was at some point, a hood anthem. The “Run Jozi´verse? I don’t know if there’s anyone who still wanna discuss this, his first few lines just concluded the bizniz!

“And my flow is so hazardous, mfanakithi can nobody handle us/ I annihilated all my competition so there’s no further challenges/ Look, going against the authority ntwana is totally blasphemous/ in a city where having no morality is totally fabulous”

KO’s punchlines aren’t your heavy hitting, too complex kinda lines, but are the kind that’d make you go daaaamn. . .That was tight! He’s all about simplicity with a touch of self-confidence and composure in his verses.

#Skhanda_Republic is one of my favorites and in my opinion, the best album of 2014 and it deserves all the acknowledgement and acclamations it got at the South African Music Awards. The 11 track project is well produced, lyrical content is on point and it’s a respectable piece of art.

His album of the year award at the SAMA’s was well merited and he should be celebrated by his fans and his team “CashTime Tsotsi-4-Life”. . .This award is long overdue. Big ups to the hommie, that’s one significant award right there and it’s about time hip hop get some recognition around here!

LOCAL AND ORIGINAL VISIONARIES…

Image: Courtesy of Zkhiphani.com

Sipho Ramaru

This might come off as being negative or an act of a brother suppressing a sister. But it’s nothing like that.

This is just an act of someone who believes that South Africa has its own front-runners who are as capable of doing it big in our small and progressively growing hip hop scene.

Some time ago, I checked the “Flabba’s last performance” on youtube and the video that was available, is the one that has Kwesta, Ricky Rick, L-Tido and them performing “Do Like I Do Remix”. Dope joint by the way!

But the problem with the performance, the femacee on the joint. Nadia Nakai, when she first came on stage, for a moment I thought it was Nicki Minaj. The lady is like a Nicki Minaj duplicate on that one. . .

You know why female emcees like Nthabi are the most respected in the game? Because they never do their thing trying to imitate anyone, or try to be the “baddest ****” in the game (as most female rappers would say), or Americans for that matter.

See, as soon as you accept your natural-self and decide to go with that…that’s when you’ll be happy with yourself and not try hard to be someone else. And that is when your original content will be appealing to a mass audience that likes originality!

I’m not squashing anyone’s hard work or hustle. . .matter of fact, I’m a cheerleader of dreams. I’m that guy behind dreamers and hustlers, cheering “Go Get What’s Yours!”. But our local rappers need to understand that they have so many young people looking up to them, and these youngsters will go with what their idols (public figures) go with. If you depict the perception that the Americans are our trend setters and the people to look up to, that’s exactly how our youngsters will also think.

It’s very important that our public figures realize the social responsibility they retain. Just like the old days where our leaders who fought for liberation were looking up to the likes of Chris Hani and Steve Biko who believed in black-consciousness and taking pride in who you are. The youth of our country needs leaders and visionaries as well, locally and originally made!

Let’s push our own local brands and produce our own influential figures. . .America already have their own.

MOS DEF DROPS A DOPE FREESTYLE. . .POWER MOVE 1992 VIDEO


Check how the hommie use to kick it. . .He’s always been the niceeee!!!