FRATPACKER WORLD.

The year is 2018 in South Africa and new hip-hop collective, The Wrecking Crew, is taking over the hip-hop underground and mainstream. 3-4 years later, due to internal and personal disputes, collective decides to split ways causing discussion amongst their fans about who would have the best and most successful solo career. Most people had A-Reece, Flvme, Mashbeatz, Ecco & Ex-Global as the front runners but in 2025 a name most fans didn’t think that Wordz would be as impactful as he currently is.

Let’s look at the history and journey of Wordz as an artist before we get into his latest release, Mark My Wordz. Starting with The Wrecking Crew, Wordz was said to be the 2^nd best lyricist and rapper out of the crew, after A-Reece. This was shown in the verses he had on various songs such as ‘Off-White’, ‘Masquerade Party’, ‘The 5 Year Plan’. Even though he was concerned 2^nd when it came to a lyrical aspect most people had Ecco or Ex-Global as the next stars to come out of the collective due to their popularity and having had more verses and singles out. In 2019 Wordz released his EP, ‘Death B4 Dishonour’.

Now after the split of TWC and Wordz’ having only released one project under the collective’s banner, most people didn’t think that he would have a successful ‘mainstream’ career but in the past 4 years he’s proven a lot of people wrong with the projects he has dropped. In 2021 he surprised everyone with his, ‘Product of a Praying Mother’, album followed up by his sophomore album, ‘People Forget to be People’ in 2023. Then last year, 2025, he dropped a collaboration project with friend and producer Mashbeatz, titled ‘Only for the Brave.’. Through these projects he became a name to be respected and his talent to be recognised by the South African hip-hop community.

Now as much as he was getting the acclaim for his work and work ethic, he was getting as much criticism with people talking about, “how he needs to rap more in Spitori [slang spoken by the residents of Pretoria].”, or how, “He needs to drop more boom bap records.”, or how, “He needs to involve more local elements in his music.”. For any artist this can all be confusing and have you second guessing your direction and art, especially as an emerging artist and I believe this what Wordz was going through when making his last project, Mark My Wordz.

My first impression when listening to, what I would describe as a mixtape just because of the length and the build of it sonically, is that it was everywhere sonically but in a good way. What I mean is that it sounds like Wordz was doing and playing around with the sounds and genres that he likes and enjoys listening to himself. I say this because as you start off the tape you’re introduced to the badmon Wordz with ‘Dream In Blue’  where we hear more of a reggae on hip-hop take from Wordz and that switches up in the second track, ‘Gang Faith’, which goes into a more soulful hip-hop sample where Wordz vocals and lyricism is the highlight of the song.

In the third track, ‘OG’ ft Thato Saul & Mochen, we hear another jump in transition of songs when we go into the Pheli style of hip-hop and rap, that was popularised into the mainstream due to the influence 25K. At this point of the project, you think you have a feeling of what this project being a hip-hop heavily influenced project especially with the next song, ‘Fresher Than Yall’, which is a trap heavy track. At this point of the album, I thought that this was just an EP that was put together using loose singles that weren’t being used for anything else but then I’m met with surprise with track 5, ‘Talk to Me’ ft Ch’cco & Una Rams.

This is the first introduction into a world where Wordz is on a Amapiano inspired song. Yes, you read right. Amapiano. Now, I know the connotation is that when rappers in South Africa aren’t doing well they just ran to Amapiano but this was different. Using features such as Ch’cco who has the hip-hop melody and cadence, from when he started in music as a hip-hop artist, and in R&B singing sensation Una Rams. Mixing these worlds it’s almost as if he’s trying to discover a new sound that can meet both communities at a musical level.

Once I had heard it, my first thought was that Wordz has been listening to what the fans and social media has been saying and is trying to prove a point but then I started listening to the lyrics and throughout the project there’s this motif Wordz keeps bringing up of how now he’s the man and the one in the leader position not just in terms of his place in South African hip-hop amongst his peers but at home, his friends and within the business of it all. It starts to sound as if he’s found his footing and ready to take on the responsibility and accountability for his choices and how he wants to move within this industry.

It feels as those Wordz has had awakening in his own life and now he’s at the point where he no longer cares about what people have to say about him and the music, he makes but rather that he cares more about getting his message and vision out there in a way that he can be proud of and loves.

The diversity of the project begins to make sense as you realise that these are all the different parts of him that he would like to use to express himself and that have influenced him and he’s not going to tip-toe and walk on eggshells about it anymore. It sounds as though he’s found himself and in that he’s looking for the sounds that can rightfully depict this new-born Wordz for us.

I believe my theory is proven correct as you listen on through the rest of the project where it almost falls into the same pattern of kwaito influenced, hip-hop influenced, trap influenced, Pheli influenced and Amapiano influenced songs. One of the notable songs being ‘Amahloni’ ft Blue Pappi, K.Keed & Una Rams. This was a standout track for me because Blue Pappi is known for his melodic approach to the music and K.Keed has also been pushing the boundaries of Amapiano and R&B on her album, Bite The Bullet, which she released on the 28th of February.

This variety and experimentation made me appreciate the title of the project even more. Mark My Wordz, this is usually a phrase you hear in movies when the underdog has been beaten, kicked down and no one believes them. They say this as a reminder to all those who doubt that one day when they are on top this will be the moment you remember, and you’ll be shocked at how far they’ve come and what they’ve become.

That is exactly what this project feels like to me and as someone who has always felt as an experimental underdog, it hit and hit like crack…well the message of it that is. With it being experimental there is still much left to be desired such as the flow of the project. As I said the jump of genres in the songs without it being properly tailored to flow seamlessly into each other can sometimes take you out of the experience and make you must readjust to the new song that is being played. Part of experimentation is also finding what combinations work the best. I must say I really am loving the Wordz and Una Rams collaborations and I believe once they can lockdown the mix of Amapiano meets R&B, we might get one of the best hip-hop love songs to come. With some of the instrumentals they could be suited better for the verses or the verses for the beat but I’m sure Wordz is in the studio figuring and calculating all this out.

Overall, I would say this is a great listen in terms of wanting to hear more experimentation from our artists and that they should not be discouraged when experimenting but rather take the results and cook up a better product just as scientists do. If anyone were to ask me, “Is it be worth a listening to?”, my answer is a definite yes. It’s a great example to show people what the process of being an artist and, discovering your artistry looks and sounds like. The fact I found it to be an experimental mixtape and trying to see where Wordz is mentally in his journey, I would rate it a solid 6.5/10 and I leave you with this. Wordz is on a path to unlocking something special…mark my words.