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  • RAGE AGAINST THE STREAMS:

    BUY YOUR MUSIC. DON’T STREAM IT

    Just because they’ve digitalised music, doesn’t mean it should be owned by the machine [both figuratively and literally]. It’s 2026 and it seems like the concept of buying music is now a long-lost ancient art that we get to tell our kids about as we reminisce about the old days and that’s exactly what these streaming platforms were built to do and, dare I say, “They’ve won?”. Well, the battle isn’t over until they’ve killed our hope, and the hope I have in us is strong and live so let’s fight back and Rage Against The Streams.

    It’s been 10 years since one of the three, Tidal, major music streaming platforms was launched in South Africa on February 18, 2015, which was followed by Apple Music on June 30, 2015, and finally Spotify in March 2018. Since then, we have seen the eventual and slow death of the South African music industry, especially in the Hip-Hop/R&B/Alt space. If we take a look back in history at CD sales and how they would work, it would be that artist would get about 10% off the sale of a CD. Now, this seems low but when looking at the accumulation of sales it adds up to a hefty number. There was a study done on Afrikaans singer Theuns Jordaan who made R1.7m from selling 210 000 copies of his album Vreemde Stad. From the 210 000 copies sold he approximately took R8.33 off each sale. The logistics of CD sales were that a majority go to the retail outlets for stocking and selling the CD and to the record labels, distribution, publishing, VAT etc.

    People will claim that the model of CDs was cheating the artists but really what cheats the artists is the systems that have been placed in the music industry for decades. This narrative around CDs was being pushed, I believe, to make it easier to introduce the system that really is stealing from artists. This narrative helped with the downfall of the CD, and it didn’t help that more technology was being manufactured to make the CD obsolete with cars and laptops not including cd drives in them anymore. This alone caused CD sales to start declining by 30% annually from 2012. When looking at when music streaming platforms came to South Africa research shows that in 2016 physical sales made up 39% of sales, from 52% in 2015, while downloads and streaming accounted for 33%, from 28% in 2015. It’s important to note that in this time digital sales had been available during this period but weren’t as prominent and are still available now yet the promotion of buying digital was never pushed like streaming and we will get into that as well. 

    Let us now look at what music streaming services pay by the number. First when counting what the value of a stream is, we must ask ourselves what is the value of the stream and how is it measured? To be honest only the streaming services and the major labels who are in bed with them have access to the streaming data and what value they carry. It’s said that in 2023 music streaming services had a value of $36.7 Billion and that globally the streaming industry brought in a revenue of $100 Billion in 2020. This doesn’t show us the value of a stream but just how much value they can bring in. Now, look at those numbers and let’s look at the fact that there is no clear or standardise pay out amount for  Spotify and Apple Music to artists and therefore no real way to calculate what artists are getting paid or meant to be getting paid. This means that there is no real way to track the cost and value of a stream and everyone is just going off of hearsay and rumours. There’s no real tangible way to know what the value of a stream is.

    It gets trickier because streaming numbers are so absurd they had to find a calculation to how many streams is equivalent to single release or download and the same for an album, and the maths is that 150 streams is equivalent to a single download and 1500 streams (10 singles) is equivalent to an album download. Therefore 1 000 000 streams are equivalent to 666 album sales or 6666 equivalent single sales. Even the charts have adjusted to this by crediting equivalent album sales into their systems and why album sales have now become secondary with people just more worried about how many streams you have or monthly listeners. To put it in perspective RiSA (Recording Industry of South Africa) has declared that for an album to be certified gold it needs 25000 sold copies = 30 million streams and for platinum 50000 sold copies = 60 million streams.

    Now if we compare this to digital sales on iTunes, where 30% of the slae goes to Apple as the retailer and 70% to the artist [if independent] or the label, we can do the maths and see how much money can be made. If a million streams is equivalent to 666 albums and an artist is selling an album for R100, that means they would be taking R70 of every sale and would bring the total revenue earned to R46 620. Making R46 620 off 666 albums isn’t bad money at all especially when considering that the conversion is an equivalent and not exact equal amount of how many people streamed your album. It could turnout to be that an artist has 30 000 people not just listening to the album but willing to buy the album as well and that suggests there could be a profit of R2 100 000 to be made but again because the data is not open to the public we still wouldn’t know and why it would be great practice for artists to promote the cause of digital purchases so they as well can have more accurate statistics and analysis of not just their sales but fan base as well.

    MUSICA THE LAST MUSIC RETAIL STORE CLOSED ALL ITS BRANCHES IN 2021

    I know looking at all these numbers and what they mean can get confusing, but what the numbers basically show is that it’s cheaper for the labels and streaming services to promote streaming because they get ridiculous results while not having to payout ridiculous amounts to artists. This is also why they have started pushing out more singles than albums because with more people streaming, it’s easier and more profitable to get 10 million streams on one song than try to push to make an album that will do 500 000 sales. It means less money spent on studio, production, artist development, promotion, marketing, publishing, distribution and etc. while being able to exploit the most out of a song. In the same regard this has disheartened artists from wanting to invest their time, energy, love and passion into creating albums because the payout isn’t worth it and people will stream it for a week before moving on to the next project or demanding for the artist to drop an album a year later.

    The value of a stream because it is intangible doesn’t hold that much weight on the consumer as much as the value of money does and that’s why we still hold the things we pay money for with high regard. We need the same value put back into music because we see with all this access to music with streaming services fans allow albums to come and go just like the wind and it feels like people don’t value the music and albums how they used to. Everyone is so quick to go listen to all the album drops that take place on Friday at midnight and get their opinions out within hours of listening to an album before jumping on to the next one, it makes one wonder did you even listen to it and how valuable is your opinion. I remember new CDs coming out and saving up to buy your favourite CD and sitting listening to it the whole month and taking time to see if it was worth your hard-earned money. We cared about the value it bought into our lives. We relished every minute, every lyric, every beat, kick, snare and melody. It meant something.

    Talking about money and value of albums and singles. The biggest brainwash that was achieved was making us think that music is expensive. I will say that, yes back in the day spending R160 (max) on a CD seemed a lot. Even though it was yours to keep forever, the issues of CD scratching or getting lost maybe felt like it came at a high cost but also it made us realise how much care we had to take. Making sure not to misplace your CDs or leave them on surfaces where they can get scratched and keeping them clean. The funny thing is with the introduction of digital purchase it made albums cheaper because now you didn’t have to account for the cut you had to give retail stores for distributing and stocking your album into the selling price. If you look at iTunes, you’ll see that EPs go as little as R25 and albums go as high as R150 but on average both local and international artists are being sold at R80 an album. That’s equivalent to a shot of alcohol when going outside and even cheaper than a cocktail. Plus, with digital purchases you can download them direct on to your laptop and store them on your hard drive or cloud if you want to. There’s also Bandcamp which is another great digital music store to buy from.

    The best part about buying digital music is that it’s yours. You own it. You’re not renting it out from these streaming services. They can’t just remove songs or albums from their services and now you longer have access to that song or album. If you don’t have data you can still enjoy your music without having to pay for an extra cost to enjoy it and if you’re like me you’ve probably asked yourself what happens to all the music the day that one of these music streaming platforms crash or die? Are we then just left stranded in a music-less world because we became so reliant on these services? I do also want to say as much as fans should be buying music, artists need to start selling us their music again. They need to make it an effort to tell us where and how to buy their music and market their product for sales. This will also help fill in the gap of artist development and the recent trend of fans going to shows and not knowing the lyrics or artist not being able to sell tickets because why would I buy a ticket to your show if you can’t even sell me on the music that you’ll be performing at the show.

    I’m so passionate about this topic, I could go on and on and talk about how the streaming of music it even lends itself to the promotion and building of AI music and artists, but I believe that this is enough for now. The point has been made on the power of buying vs renting and the true value it can bring to us as fans, the artists who make the music and just the music and entertainment industry as a whole because the more money artists can make from their music, the less they can charger event organisers and promoters for booking and therefore making tickets cheaper for fans and music lovers to afford and go support. I wrote in my last article in order to be raised by the village you must be an activate villager so buy your music and participate in building the economy of the community and making it a sustainable and stable industry yet again.

  • HOME: THE BASIC NECESSITIES

    Growing up as a kid every holiday we would drive back home to both my father’s and mother’s homes in Mpunzana (a village deep within Mthatha) and Queenstown respectively, both based in the Eastern Cape, and besides the 8-10 hour drive I used to dread coming back home for several reasons including; forfeiting the pleasures of privileges of staying in the suburbs but more importantly as a kid I always felt left out or didn’t fit in because my Xhosa before in tongue and ear wasn’t strong and I was teased about it.

    Now being the kid I was I fought back by removing myself from being connected to the people but as I grew older I started to realise that they too were new to a lot of things as well and there was a common place of misunderstanding and being someone who always took pride in their culture or heritage I soon came it to just forgive them but forgive myself for feeling inferior and not good enough and that bought me closer to understand that it really does take a village and the understanding of home and the privilege of having a homeland and that’s what we’ll be diving into in this article.

    A SUBURB OF JOHANNESBURG

    When they say, “It takes a village to raise a child.”, it’s to emphasise the impact of having a community and not only how the environment around you affects your growth but as well as the people who co-inhabit with you. It’s also important to note that in order to be raised by the village you have to be part of the village and a willing, participating villager who also wants to help better and add value to the village that is meant to support you and grow you because as Isaac Newton stated, “Everything has an equal or opposite reaction.”, basically you receive what you reciprocate and vice versa. Being raised by a village means being part of something bigger than yourself and sharing in everything with everyone being good or bad. In Johannesburg we don’t even know or see our neighbours about 90% of the time where back home ezlaleni, everyone knows each other from the family clan names to the children, cousins and everyone related. You’d think there’s an unspoken of Yellow Pages everyone is issued with. For the 2000s, Yellow Pages is a phone directory where every landline was registered, and you could literally find someone’s number if you had their name and surname or registered business name. Yes, I’m that old.

    Anyways, back to my point, which is that the people in the villages are more connected not just with the land and animals but with the humans around them. You don’t just know your neighbour but their parents, grandparents, kids, grandkids, the kids’ teachers, the extended family, the dog, the neighbour 10 houses down, the drivers, store owners, basically every human being residing within that village and whoever they bring inside the village with them. It’s a great reminder that you are not alone and a beautiful experience to not just witness but live when everyone comes together to gather in celebration of your achievements or whether to be your comfort in times of sorrow. If your child has eaten, then it’s almost as if your own child hasn’t eaten and that’s the unwritten law of the villages.

    I’ve heard a lot of people in the city claiming that the spirit of Ubuntu is dead but that’s not the case and maybe it because it lives in places where we still are connected to our ancestors and living in the ways and principles of what we as a people used to hold dear and cherish. Whereas living in the city things become more westernised because of the way we are living and that also changes our mentality and perspective on things because in the city we all have the fear that someone is trying to gain ahead of us by any means necessary so it’s better to not greet and keep to yourself. It’s better to not be a part of the village but rather live adjacent to the village. This is what got me thinking that maybe being home is more about having a shift in mindset more so than a bragging right. It allows you to connect with people back at a human level because you all are living within each other, trying to survive off the land. A literal sense of touching grass and breathing fresh air. Waking up early to garden, herd, build, wash and just do the necessities of being alive with a group of people that all have the same goal and making space for each other, it brings a refreshing since of the human spirit back into one’s reality.

    Now, as great as it sounds, I don’t want to ignore the negative and uglies that are riddled within the villages as well. When I see, people are working to survive in most cases that is genuinely all that they are trying to do. Survive. In what the villages have in ubuntu and the human experience, they lack severely in the material and monetary aspect. You see it everyday in the lack of necessities that plague the villages. The lack of clean running water and pump systems with people still living off Jojo tanks and having to use water in fear of it running out and hoping for rainy days to help keep it at liveable usage. In some areas people still must go and fetch water from the rivers and filter it before being able to drink or use for cooking and washing.

    You see it in the lack of clothing for both children and adults. With little children wearing hand-me-downs that are sometimes been passed down by 4 people prior and even then, sometimes they are either too big or too small but at least it’s better than nothing. You see adults repeating the same clothes because that’s all they have and the other clothes they have are saved for days like umgidi or going to town for school or looking for work. You see people going without socks because again save them for better days or because they already have holes in them and fear of damaging them further. Those with shoes are either wearing shoes that have not just gone past their life but past their soles. The things we take for granted such as snacks and treats are bought on special occasions and seen more of a privilege than a pleasure. The fact that there are no bin or trash sites in the villages and the closest dumpsite is in town, which is 40 mins away, so litter is scattered around the land and animals because even if thrown away properly who will come to collect and transport the trash away

    I look at it and sometimes and it confuses me and pains me so much because in the same community that is so tightly bound together it feels as though the modern world has disowned them and casted them away. Where people want to be seen as useful, intelligent and apply themselves and skills to make a living aren’t even given the infrastructure let alone the opportunity to do so. People who could make a living off farming, herd, garden, maintenance, providing services like trash collection and more are just left in the dust, left in a forgotten world that only recognises their voices when it’s time for elections. Kids are going to schools with no classrooms and books. You start to see why one can lose hope and turn to the temptations of alcohol and sex to find pleasure somewhere amongst the pain they live with every day.

    This is why it’s important to go home because you realise that maybe the world and society isn’t home, we are merely just visitors living in the house that the white man has build and kept our family out of. To get back in touch with the people of this land and hear their struggles, challenges and issues besides just what we see on TV & social media. To find your heart and reconnect with humanity because home is where the heart is and to be housed is a human right. Home is not just about the place itself but a state of mind of who we once were and the principles that make our foundation. Take care of your heart, take care of home.

  • GUNNA HAD SOME MILK AND COOKIES THEN RAN JOZI

    There’s something powerful about a global artist choosing Johannesburg as a meaningful stop on a world tour and Gunna did exactly that (because the music gods know that some artists like leaving africa out of their world and atlas). His appearance at the second edition of the Milk and Cookies fest felt intentional, well-timed, and deeply in tune with the city’s energy (plus he had a nice trial run when Heineken brought him last year). Taking place early in the year, the festival is fast becoming one of Joburg’s most exciting cultural reset points a moment where music, lifestyle, and community align to set the tone for what’s ahead.

    Big props have to go to Milk and Cookies for not just building momentum with a sophomore edition, but for anchoring it in quality experiences. The festival’s growth signals confidence and this year’s lineup, headlined by Gunna, proved they’re here to stay.

    Beyond the music, what stood out most was Gunna himself specifically his fitness journey and the discipline he’s been vocal about embracing. In an era where artists are increasingly transparent about personal growth, Gunna showing up committed to wellness felt refreshing. That commitment was brought to life in Joburg through a collaborative moment that blurred the lines between touring and local culture.

    Shoutout to the Warner Music South Africa team and Milk and Cookies for making sure Gunna didn’t just pass through the city, but moved with it, literally. Ensuring he completed his 5km run in Johannesburg alongside the Vault Strength Club was a powerful gesture. It wasn’t performative (he actually runs); it was participatory and inclusive . A global star running Joburg streets with a local run club is the kind of cultural exchange that matters health, community, and authenticity all wrapped into one moment. Of course online engagement seekers had some cute comments about participants paying to run the 5KM. However all one has to do is research on run culture and it would register that runners pay to participate in runs and races so this didn’t fall out of the scope of a runner. Plus some got to run with their favourite artist and got some Under Armour x Gunna merch too.

    Then came the performance, and Gunna delivered. The crowd erupted as soon as the opening notes of “Fukumean” rang out, turning the venue into a sea of movement and energy. “Again” also rang off with a different kind of smooth yet rage like vibe. Gunna’s ability to balance raw trap energy with melodic finesse was on full display.

    And of course, when WGFT dropped, the atmosphere shifted. The ladies went absolutely crazy , voices louder, phones higher, and the connection between artist and audience unmistakable. It was one of those moments that reminded everyone why Gunna’s music resonates the way it does: emotional, confident, and made to be felt live.

    Gunna’s Joburg stop was fire and from the reviews, it seems Jozi showed Cape Town how to rock. Milk and Cookies continues to prove its vision, Warner Music SA showed what thoughtful artist experiences look like, and Joburg showed up running shoes on, hands in the air.

    If this is how the year is starting, the city is in good hands.

  • DROP THE BACKTRACK & PICK UP THE WORK:BRING BACK REAL HIP-HOP PERFORMERS

    In 2025 it feels like the route to becoming an artist and superstar has become easier and easier but with that being the case it does make me one wonder what does it mean for the quality of artists and superstars? Yes, it might have been harder to crack the mould back in the days but that’s because the barriers to entry weren’t just an access and proximity bound but also the need for quality control and development and honestly, we need to run it back.

    I say this because I can safely say for the last 8/7 years I’ve made it my priority to watch as many local live hip-hop and r&b performances and it breaks my heart to say this but majority of the acts and artists just aren’t ready to be on stage and not because they lack the talent but they lack the work ethic and passion it takes to be a great performer. This may come off harsh but it’s just the truth and a part of me sympathises with the artists.

    In this digital and social media age artists and performers have been seduced into focusing on growing their online presence and “brand” more than their actual work and product. Creating trends and dances to their songs so that they can be popular trends and spread around social media. I mean it’s gotten to the point where you can hear a song just through social media without ever actually looking it up and going to search for it, which has presented a separate problem for artist but in true Fratpacked World fashion, “That’s a topic for another day.”. This leading to the prioritisation of perception over practice. The impact of social media and how there’s been a new emphasised importance of it in the overall art & entertainment space has shifted things and some for the better, but it feels like it’s been more for the worse.

    I say that it has been for the worst because social media is a short-term goal, lifespan and experience for everyone involved. It is common to be viral today and gone tomorrow. Labels and fans have started centring the conversation around numbers and views, and we know most of those come from being a personality, recreating trends, building your brand, becoming viral, all the things that have nothing to do with music. I know being born in 1993 I’m an Unc and come from ancient times but I remember when superstars were created by developing the talent and building the personality around it and not how we do it today where superstars are created by developing the personality and building the talent around it.

    More time and thought is put into look the part instead of being the part. Artists need to look at themselves like they are athletes or sport professionals. You have to practice your craft every day and as much as possible, so you’re always prepared for the big game day, instead of learning and making mistakes on the field when it’s time to perform and fans are expecting you to be at your best. It’s mental and physical preparation at the same time. Understanding how hard you have to work and push yourself to be a great perform and especially if you want to be a global superstar.

    Coming from a generation where we were exposed to the fact that talent wasn’t enough, but you needed hard to be the best, it really did elevate the musicians of our time. You see your Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Usher, Breda Fassie, AKA and more you see years of hard work, rehearsal, vocal training, singing coaches, dance lessons, choreography, watching and rewatching your favourite music videos, listening to songs over and over again until you can sing the melody off by heart, learning and memorising lyrics to the point that you can recite them from heart without any instrumental or beat, running making sure that you can work on your fitness for your breath control, reading books to help better your writing, standing in front of the mirror seeing yourself on stage in front of thousands of fans as the spotlight hits you and it’s your time to shine. I could go on and on about all the ways, techniques, strategies, methods and more on how to develop this but ultimately none of it matters unless the passion is there.

    As I mentioned when I started this article, I’ve been attending our South African live shows, from the smallest underground shows to the biggest mainstream festivals, and one thing I’ve noticed is that people have more passion for the fame, glory and lights and less for the actual art and craft. I’ve the smallest and biggest names come on stage and commit the most heinous live performance crime and cardinal sin by performing with a back track. Now, if you’re going to have your adlibs and back-up vocals on the back track to add to your performance, cool but the whole song, what are we doing?

    Backtracking ruins the performance for everyone. Firstly, as the performer you lose track of your lyrics and timing because now, you’re focused on trying to keep up or hear yourself on the track and either stumble or miss your lyrics but the sad part is that most cases backtracks are used because people haven’t rehearsed enough to know their lyrics. Secondly, it ruins it for the fan because we can hear the backtrack louder than your mic and that the timing is off, you’re getting your lyrics wrong and frankly if I wanted to just hear the song, I would have played it off the speaker at home and saved myself some money which is always a bonus in Cyril’s economy.

    It’s not just the backtracking but even just the performance overall. I don’t see people putting emphasis on the choreography and you don’t have to be Michael Jackson but just know what small movements go along to your lyrics or the beat. Knowing how and where you going to move on stage is important because you get to move the people along with you. Production factor and especially on these big stages that have the option of having LED screens with your visuals on it. Don’t just get some cool graphic design or artwork. Put together a showreel of your moments and videos so that people can watch your experiences and journey while you perform so that they can build a bond with you. Even if it’s there first time listening to you, they can appreciate what you’ve had to go through to get to this stage (excuse the pun) in your life.

    What I advise people on, instead of using a back track, get a hype-man. When last did you see someone on stage with a hype-man? They are so important. I’ve been too many shows where I see the artists trying to do some crowd engagement and control, but it fails on flat ears because they aren’t that confident in themselves as of yet and then hearing a cold reply is even more disheartening and that’s where the hype-man comes into play. They are your energy guide for the crowd so that they set the tone for how the crowd should react and respond to you. They add the extra spice to every adlib or rhyme and even sing or rap along when necessary. When you want to do a back and forth they are the first respondent and the crowd follows after. They are your partner in crime and need to be in the trenches with you from rehearsal to till the lights switch off and the mic cuts.

    There’s so much I can say and dive into because I just really want us to live up to the potential of being the best and greatest artists and performers in the world but it won’t happen unless we put the blood, sweat, tears and soul into it. Don’t just go and looking to have a moment or go viral but go looking to provide memories and life changing experiences for the fans, your team and yourself as well. It’s bigger than just a live performance, it’s a spiritual connection and we can tell when the soul is missing.

  • YOUNG JONN LIGHTS UP THE BLUE DISCO

    Young Jonn is in a great space of  becoming. This is that rare space where personal evolution meets artistic elevation, and suddenly the music starts to sound deeper than the dancefloors it’s built for. His recent interviews and music have that energy. He is still jiggy, still hit-heavy, but also fully aware that life has pressed him, bruised him, matured him  and sharpened him.

    When he speaks about grief and the loss of his mom, he doesn’t romanticize it. He frames it like a recalibration. Losing people, losing pieces of himself, grieving chapters that can’t reopen all of that forced him to sit still and look at his life with uncomfortable clarity. And somehow, instead of closing up, he opened up creatively.

    We are watching transformation in real time with him. There’s a beautiful duality to Young Jonn’s journey. For years he was the architect in the background crafting beats that shaped an era. Now, with the spotlight fully on him, he’s learning how to inhabit the center stage without losing the producer mind that built his reputation.

    He has spoken on how he has learnt to strike a balance and has found the sweet spot of how to achieve virality without being consumed by it. How to stay true to his sound while still feeding the algorithm. How to build hits without losing heart.

    This brings us to his chart topping new album, Blue Disco.
    raising his voice. For years, he lived in the shadows of artists he helped build — a quiet sniper with a production tag that guaranteed chaos on any dancefloor. But Blue Disco, his newest album, is where everything finally clicks. It’s the moment he stops being “the wicked producer who can sing” and becomes something bigger: a global-minded, emotionally layered artist who’s done playing small. It seems as though Jiggy Forever was him testing the waters, Blue Disco is him diving straight into the deep end confident, calculated, and fully aware that the world is now watching.

    The album lives at the intersection of two energies The coolness and infectious vibe of Lagos at night and the glitter of an international dancefloor. It’s Afrobeats with a jiggy twist, shiny synths and sprinkles of log drums in the right places.

    He’s not abandoning his core as he doesn’t stray away from his signature sound but there is a progressive sonic evolution to it songs like 2Factor are an indication off this (Shout out to Asake and Fopcalistic for the fire contributions). To give a brief vibe summary, one can say that there’s bounce, but there’s reflection. There’s shine, but there’s story. There’s groove, but there’s growth. It’s the duality that makes Blue Disco feel like a turning point.

    What hits immediately is the ambition. Twenty-plus tracks is no small statement especially for a sophomore album. It’s evident that used the space to experiment. You can feel the producer brain at work, shaping transitions, sculpting textures, making sure every song is its own universe. The disco influence is subtle but intentional: glossy basslines, shimmery pads, electronic sparkles, and an atmospheric cool that lifts the project beyond Lagos. It’s Afrobeats for the global ear not trying to imitate anything, just expanding the palette.

    The collaborations are strategic. Not overcrowding the record, but sharpening its edges.
    Every feature feels like an accent, not a distraction. Each feature shines, from Foca and Asake in log drum heaven to Shenseea on the dancehall coded “Accelerate” and of course Wiz Kid gives that lavish feel on Cashflow.

    This is someone who understands range without losing identity. Blue Disco carries emotion and its positively charged. A song like “Strika” showcases this as he spells out love in the jiggiest way. It’s by no means a sad album.

    Young Jonn doesn’t force vulnerability; he weaves it into melodies, into chord choices, into the quiet corners of the project. It’s an album with a lot of light, its indeed a blue afro disco. Like he says on the outro “in the wreckage where we found our glow, all becomes light at the blue disco.

  • FRAT’S RnB CORNER: KEHLANI KEEPS FOLDING THE RULES

    R&B’s never been short of heartbreak anthems, but few artists have grown with the genre the way Kehlani has. From the days of You Should Be Here and SweetSexySavage, she’s evolved from the Bay’s restless soulchild into one of R&B’s most emotionally fluent narrators. Each era, she’s sharpened her pen, peeled back another layer of self, and blurred that line between pain and peace. Kehlani has mastered the craft of creating emotional ecosystems with her music and collaborations.

    What makes Kehlani so captivating is how she’s turned self-work into sound. Her catalog reads like a timeline of therapy sessions set to neo-soul chords. She went from asking questions in It Was Good Until It Wasn’t to offering answers in blue water road. The growth comes through in her sonic treatment it’s intentional, grounded, and confident. She’s the rare R&B act that leads with vulnerability yet moves like a boss.

    I am saying this to double back on “Folded” — a record that feels like Kehlani’s entire journey folding back into one song. It’s spacious, clean, and soaked in that late-night honesty that made us fall for her in the first place. The track floats somewhere between heartbreak and healing, carried by her feather-light vocals and that vintage-meets-modern production.

    The writing is razor-sharp: she’s reflecting, forgiving, and releasing all in one verse. Sonically, it’s a masterclass in balance. The drums knock just enough to move, while her tone glides through layers of synth and silence. It’s R&B stripped of all gimmicks just feeling, clarity, and Kehlani’s golden voice.

    And because she’s Kehlani  she didn’t stop there. After the song caught fire and everyone with a voice tried their hand at interpreting the song in their way, Kehlani did something super cool. She dropped a short project titled “Folded (homage pack)”, a lush re-imagining of Folded that doubles as a love letter to the genre itself. The project feels like walking through a gallery of R&B’s eras with each remix. She enlisted  legendary voices such as Toni Braxton, Brandy, Tank and more to give their spin on what is possibly the song of the year from the RnB genre. This was a beautiful way to pay homage to fellow RnB artists.

    What’s special about Kehlani right now is that she’s not chasing the mainstream but redefining it from within. While others sprint for chart positions and stream watching, she’s building a home for emotional transparency and sonic integrity. Folded is proof that pure vulnerable RnB resonates with audiences and artists alike.

    The creative  way in which Kehlani paid homage , is an example of how one breathes more life into the art through strategic collaboration that hands wins to creators and consumers. The song’s title may be folded but RnB definitely won’t.

  • DIVERSITY:

    THE CURSE & BLESSING OF SOUTH AFRICA:

    It’s October 2025 as I write this and it’s that time of year that three words get to steal the spotlight and shine to the fullest. Those three words being year-end fatigue.  Now the reason why I mention year-end fatigue is because 10 years ago around this time we saw what was known as the ‘Fees Must Fall’ protests and strikes that sent thousands of students out on to the streets fighting the government for reduced university fees and being a student at the time and involved in the movement it made me think that was one of the last times a group of South Africans all came together no matter their background but also reminder of how many South Africans thought it wasn’t a worthy cause or energy that should have been redirected to different causes and led me to a question I’ve always had which is; if South Africa is a rainbow nation and there are 7 colours, which piece do we eat first off the plate and what do we leave for last?

    I’ll start at community. Now they would tell you that the word community originates from Latin and so forth, but I would imagine that it comes from having a COMMON goal that UNITES us and therefore making us a COMMUNITY. Having a shared goal or vision really does make it easier for a group of people to move and stick together because even if we may have different approaches, reasoning or strategy on how things should be done to achieve this goal, the fact we all have the same goal allows for us to listen to one another, trust in one another and come together to take from each other to build our ideal world. When we are not united in a common goal it creates a separation of state within that specific community or group of people. Allowing for miscommunication, disconnection, lack of support, lack of respect and internal fighting so instead of fighting for a cause or goal, you end up fighting each other.

    When we look at our beautiful country of South Africa, we do have a strong community in which we all believe that everyone has a voice and space within this country to be themselves. We have a culture of not just tolerance but acceptance as well. Having different cultural ethnicities like Xhosa, Zulu, Tswana, Sotho, Venda, Tsonga, Coloured, Afrikaans and more. Each having their own unique practices, foods and beverages, music and languages. As a country we’ve found a way to create space for all of us to integrate with each other and share these beliefs, traditions and various aspects of the different cultures with each other and create new experiences and memories. It’s more common to be multilingual in South Africa just because that’s how much we believe in being one as a nation and people and trying to make space for everyone.

    The Different Cultures of South Africa

    Now as much as we are united now, we can’t not forget about our segregated and horrific history. With Jan Van Reibeeck landing on the shores of Cape Town in 1652 with the mission of establishing a permanent settlement and fort for the Dutch East India Company. This started a continuous terror of colonisation by foreigners placed upon the natives and black people of South Africa with the British following and then trying to implement their own system and fighting with the Dutch, all while both trying to take over the land from the indigenous people of South Africa. This back and forth kept happening while they were fighting for political and governmental control of South Africa. In 1948 the National Party were the ruling party and introduced a new system of segregation known as Apartheid, that had placed inhumane laws and rules that were meant to disempower, belittle and take advantage of black people and people of colour until 1994, when due to the sacrifices and courage of our legendary freedom fighters and parties fought against this tyranny and gained us our freedom and independence from the racists state and government.

    The only way we as a country were able to defeat and rise above Apartheid was that we had to come together as a people for one goal, one mission as one mind, body and collective. This is when we saw true unity as a country and what built us to become a nation that can be united even through our vast diversity. All cultures and groups had to come together to overthrow and bring down the government and systems of Apartheid. Now no one wants to be united because of tyranny rule but having a common enemy does provide as a foundation to unite people in having a common cause to fight for.

    Looking at our past and where we are today, it sometimes feels like maybe that was truly the last time we were united as a country and that’s where the cure of being so diverse comes in. As much as we boast in pride about our diversity it can also be our flaw because with having so many different voices and every voice needing to be heard, the question then becomes, “Are we speaking the same language?”, not literally but figuratively. Do we all have the same goal? Even within our own history as indigenous people if we really exam the story of Shaka Zulu, was he a hero or a villain? To the Zulu culture and nation, he can be seen as a great king who was trying to create unity and one nation by bringing everyone into the Zulu nation. To the other cultures in South Africa, it feels more like he was a villain trying to colonise other cultures only to expand his power and reign over the Zulul nation.

    A Drawing of Shaka Zulu

    In trying to create one nation and common goal Shaka was extinguishing and killing the voices and heritage of the different cultures and people. His intention may have been pure, but the execution was far from it. I look at this past because it makes me question, “How do we unite such a diverse country and people?”. Throughout history in the world, we have seen time and time again that strength in numbers is a real thing and that the more people can come together for the same desired outcome the better the chance you have of fighting and winning to see that result happen. How do you do that in a country that has various groups of cultures and ethnicities?

    Now, let’s look at it in modern terms and besides that culture and ethnicities we are now dealing with political, religious, social, mental, gender, sexual, financial, emotional, schooling, living and so many more beliefs and opinions that we face every day and must confront. We must first figure out individually what we believe on each of these topics and try figure out what they mean for us before even being able to then try and find the community of people who have the same views as you. It’s even more difficult now with the capitalist systems that we live in where we see huge gaps in terms of those with wealth financially and those who are poverty-stricken.

    I look at this poverty gap and how just because of it, it creates a barrier to unite for a common cause. As someone who has been privileged to grow-up in a middle-class lifestyle but still be in-touch with my parents’ roots; having to visit my dad’s village [Mpunzana found in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape] and having to live and witness the lifestyle they were living, I’ve seen the vast difference between the two lifestyles. You don’t even have to go all the way to the villages to experience this when we have townships like Alexandra, Soweto, Khayalitsha, Guglethu, Umlazi, Kwamashu and many more scattered through-out the country that are still poverty-stricken and disempowered because of Apartheid. You go to these areas, and you see that the people in those communities are focused on surviving. Trying to figure out where their next meal is coming from, having a roof to sleep under, clothes to wear, water to drink and wash with, just the necessity to live and feel like an actual human-being. Then I live in my reality of middle class where we have internet and social media and people are fighting for things such as sexism, gender politics, politics, public figures, and many topics that can be labelled as first world products.

    When I look at these two different lifestyles and analyse them, I always question, “Do you think the person having to wake-up at 3am to go fetch water from the river that they still need to filter so that it can be safe for washing and consumption. You think that person is worried about Twitter topics such as pro-noun identification?”.

    South Africa The United Rainbow Nation


    I believe it’s important to ask ourselves these questions because we must try understanding each other and the challenges we are facing to try and get to a common point. Right, now we are in a country and state where we are all divided by the issues we face, and we all want to have a voice and be heard but not only that have our voices prioritised. The sad truth is that for us to come to a common goal that some of us are going to have to put our issues and cries on the back burner and put the others above so that we can have a focused and united front. The main issue here is that how do we agree upon what should be prioritised and ensure that is to the benefit of the majority (75%+) of the country and people. Where, when and how do we have and hold this conversation with and within each other without causing offence and conflicts that separates us more?

    This article wasn’t written having answers in mind and a way forward but to bring the conversation to the table so that we can dissect and discuss it amongst each other instead of ignoring the elephant in the room that creates a quiet hostility and divide amongst us as people. Yes, we are united in acceptance and diversity as a people, but that same diversity makes it harder for us to come together for a common goal, vision and fight. I pray we find the answers and find ourselves before we lose ourselves and the battle.

  • Frat’s RnB Corner: Ty Dolla $ign Is The Quiet Tycoon of Modern R&B

    In a world that celebrates noise, Ty Dolla $ign’s genius has always been found in his restraint. He’s the quiet hum underneath a generation’s soundtrack; the man who gave R&B its groove back while hip-hop flirted with melody and pop leaned into bass. His music doesn’t scream; it glides. And with the arrival of Tycoon, Ty finally steps into full mogul mode not just as a hitmaker, but as a visionary architect of modern soul.

    Let’s get into some history on Ty (Chappies Did you Know style). Born Tyrone Griffin Jr. in South Central Los Angeles, Ty grew up surrounded by instruments and gospel harmonies. His father, a member of the funk band Lakeside (“Fantastic Voyage”), exposed him early to arrangement, musicianship, and the discipline of groove. Unlike many of his peers, Ty’s musical education was formal he learned bass, keys, drums, and guitar before Auto-Tune ever entered the conversation. This explains the musicality in his music, even on his ratchet bops.

    This grounding informs a lot of Ty’s sound. His records, from “Paranoid” to “Blasé,” may live in hip-hop clubs, but they’re built like soul compositions ; carefully layered, melodically intricate, harmonically rich. The church is in his chords, even when the lyrics are pure vice.

    Over the past decade, R&B has shapeshifted blending into trap, dissolving into mood, and finding new homes in pop and Afro-fusion. Through it all, Ty Dolla $ign has quietly been one of its key engineers. His vocals have anchored records for Fifth Harmony, SZA, Post Malone, and Kanye West. His songwriting has redefined how emotion sits over 808s.

    If Frank Ocean made introspection cool and The Weeknd made darkness marketable, Ty made musicianship mainstream again. His harmonies aren’t just stacked, they’re orchestrated. Listen to “Or Nah,” “Ex,” or even his features on Skrillex and Nicki Minaj joints: he finds spaces in production that most artists never hear. From pure crooning with the likes of Sevyn Streeter, to trap melody battles with Future, Ty’s range knows no bounds.

    Ty’s sound bridges eras something like a descendant of Nate Dogg’s West Coast soul but also a student of D’Angelo and Roger Troutman. He’s both analog and algorithmic; his music can fill a church or a strip club with equal legitimacy.

    His eye for talent is also something worth mentioning. When Ty launched EZMNY Records, it wasn’t just a side hustle; it was his declaration of independence. After years of building for everyone else, he wanted to build with others artists who understood that melody and musicianship could still move the culture. His signing of Leon Thomas was a masterful play. Leon, a multi-instrumentalist, actor, and songwriter (known for work with Ariana Grande and Giveon), mirrors Ty’s own hybrid artistry. Together, they’ve been crafting a modern blueprint for artist development. One based on collaboration, composition, and longevity rather than streams and virality.

    EZMNY isn’t a placebo label that’s for profile boosting and chasing social media clicks; it’s about craft. It’s Ty’s way of giving R&B its infrastructure back and showing that soul can scale without losing its essence.

    However, before the mogul hat, Ty wore a Taylor Gang hoodie. His bond with Wiz Khalifa was one of those cultural moments that felt organic like the green they grow. Two L.A. and Pittsburgh spirits united by smoke, sonics, and sincerity. Taylor Gang gave Ty the space to experiment. The early 2010s mixtape era Beach House, Sign Language, Free TC became a masterclass in melodic trap-soul. Wiz had the spotlight; Ty was building the blueprint.

    That friendship also represented something bigger: a merging of lifestyle and sound. Wiz and Ty helped usher in the age of the cool-stoner musical chilled guy; a generation of artists who could make chart-toppers while staying authentic, independent, and true to the craft.

    When Ty Dolla $ign teamed up with Kanye West for the Vultures project, it wasn’t a random collaboration as they have had multiple collabs together on different projects. This was two sonic philosophers meeting at the intersection of gospel, trap, and avant-garde.

    Ty’s contributions went far beyond features he co-sculpted the album’s vocal DNA and if the interviews are anything’s to by, he donated a lot of his own gems for the Vultures cause. You can hear his influence in the way the harmonies rise, the way the synths breathe, the way the emotion feels human even when the production feels futuristic.

    The partnership also positioned Ty as a creative equal to one of music’s most daring minds. Plus he delivered a number one album independently. Where Kanye seeks to push boundaries through experimentation, Ty finds it through musicality. Together, they made theology out of distortion.

    Now comes Tycoon  the culmination of everything Ty’s been building (you can see with how active he’s been interview wise). The title itself feels deliberate: not artist, not player, but power. The project threads every phase of his career the gospel upbringing, the Taylor Gang hustle, the Kanye experimentation, the EZMNY entrepreneurialism into one statement piece.

    The single with YG and Kodak Black reasserts his California roots: a hard-hitting yet melodic anthem that feels like both a street bedroom love jam and a radio hit. The album is laced with fire collabs from 2Chainz, Tory Lanez, Destroy Lonely and EZMNY’s own Leon Thomas.

    Every track feels like a masterclass in sonic balance 808s against Rhodes chords, gritty verses against velvet hooks. Ty has a way of merging love jams with strip club and street anthems, a abalance that not many can achieve. It’s West Coast luxury, but with vocal depth. It’s Ty speaking in full sentences after years of being quoted in features.

    In an era where producers are the new songwriters and AI threatens to flatten the human touch, Ty Dolla $ign remains defiantly musical. He plays. He arranges. He directs choirs. He still treats a session like a sermon. That’s why artists trust him because he understands the emotional frequency of sound. He can make a record hit the charts and still make it feel alive. There’s a school that TY is from, with a lot of traditionalism and purism in it, however he isn’t elitist about it and it’s evident in how he fuses sounds.

    With Tycoon, Ty Dolla $ign is entering his Quincy Jones era, not in age, but in intention. He’s mentoring, producing, collaborating, and building infrastructure. His empire isn’t about money; it’s about stewardship. If Free TC was for his brother, Vultures for the vision, then Tycoon is for the future ,for the kids in Crenshaw studios with keyboards and big dreams, who see in Ty a reminder that R&B can still be art and business, street and symphony.

    Ty is showing us that he is not just part of the genre’s construction, he is one of the architects. He’s shaping its next chapter. The quiet tycoon of R&B finally has his name on the building. Shout out to the Tycoon era.

  • FRAT’S RNB CORNER: JOSH LEVI’S HYDRAULIC

    R&B has been moving through a strange time warp half-frozen in mood-board minimalism, half-trapped in trap-soul fog. For the past few years, the genre has lived between playlists and nostalgia, unsure whether to chase algorithmic love or emotional truth. Then Josh Levi pulled up with HYDRAULIC, a 15-track debut that feels like a lowrider gliding through a 2001 sunset. It’s glossy, groovy, and super musical the kind of record that reminds you why R&B once ruled radio and hearts.

    Before the world hit play, Levi had already made waves as a Spotify Artist to Watch and Billboard Rookie of the Month, earning co-signs that positioned him as one of R&B’s brightest new architects. Signed under Issa Rae’s Raedio imprint, Levi doesn’t just make music, he curates worlds (what else do you expect from a writer, dancer and actor). Issa’s influence is felt throughout the album’s cinematic polish. Josh states that she had notes for almost every song. She even lends her voice as the navigation system inside the “Hydraulic” car in the album trailer. Judging by how she scores her content and the sound of this album, she definitely has a great ear for music.

    From the first kick, you can hear some Darkchild influence on the album; those minor-key chords, rubbery baselines, and hi-hats that dance just off the grid. It’s If You Had My Love meets Say My Name energy, but updated for Bluetooth subs and algorithmic playlists. It really takes you back to the year 2000 and expensive videos directed by Hype Williams.

    Produced by London on da Track, Poo Bear, BEAM, and MNEK, HYDRAULIC feels intentional: a world built on bounce, not necessarily nostalgia (even though its still invoked ). Every track fits together like chrome and leather. It’s crafted, cohesive, and full of movement the sound of an artist who understands rhythm and blues have a bounce to them.

    The title HYDRAULIC is more than a stylistic flex it’s a metaphor. Hydraulics are about motion, elevation, and control the power to rise, drop, and pivot under pressure. For Levi, that’s both sonic and emotional. The album mirrors that rhythm: the highs of confidence, the lows of heartbreak, and the tension in between.

    The sequencing reflects that motion perfectly songs like “CRASH OUT” and “RODEO” surge with kinetic confidence, while “CARE 4 ME” and “HOW IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE” slow the tempo, dipping into intimacy and doubt. The result is a project that moves like a ride through a city at dusk up, down, and always in motion, powered by feeling as much as machinery.

    Levi’s voice is built for storytelling. It’s got range, restraint, and swag. On “CARE 4 ME,” he floats; on “HOLD ON,” he pleads; and on “SAY IT,” he commands. Every harmony stack feels engineered, every falsetto flip lands like punctuation. You can tell he’s a singer’s singer someone who studied the mechanics of control and the emotion behind it.

    Where many R&B newcomers lean on mood and toxicity , Levi leans on craft. He treats vocals like architecture balancing tension and release, structure and soul. “I CAN’T GO OUTSIDE” plays like an internal dialogue, while “HOW IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE” lands as closure; a final cap the journey.

    From the jump, HYDRAULIC announces itself with “RODEO,” a confident ignition that hums like the start of a late-night cruise with the bass low, windows down and energy rising. Tracks like “DON’T GO” and “CARE 4 ME” balance groove with sincerity, showing Levi’s ability to modernize the slow jam without falling into autopilot. The FLO-assisted “CRASH OUT” is pure fireworks: glossy, self-assured, and ready for both R&B playlists and bedroom mirrors. Toward the end, “I CAN’T GO OUTSIDE” and “HOW IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE” turn inward, closing the album with cinematic introspection. Together, they give the record emotional altitude. This is proof that Levi can both soar and sink gracefully within his own sound.

    R&B in 2025 sits in a delicate place caught between vibe and virtuosity. On one end are the minimalists, whispering through moody trap chords; on the other are the pop-leaning crooners chasing chart formulas. Somewhere in the middle, artists like SZA, Victoria Monét, Brent Faiyaz, and Coco Jones are reminding the world what full-bodied R&B feels like.

    Josh Levi joins that lineage but with a different mission: to make groove bouncy again. HYDRAULIC is a statement of balance: modern production that honors melody, and storytelling that values texture and gloss. Levi is translating R&B essence for a generation raised on playlists instead of radio.

    Most R&B today sits between vulnerability and vibe. HYDRAULIC reclaims the middle ground where energy meets emotion. It’s romantic but assertive, polished but lived-in. Levi doesn’t borrow from the past in a lazy way, his references are well thought and executed. With Issa Rae’s creative guidance and his own vocal command, he’s turned nostalgia into vibe portal.

    This debut is a beautiful addition to the world’s R&B catalogue. It provides fun musicianship in an era of drowned out presets, and honesty in an era of sad boy aesthetics. This is R&B with hydraulics. Smooth when it wants to be, strong when it needs to be and impossible to ignore once it starts moving.

  • WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REAL:

    FORGET THE AI LET’S GET BACK TO THE PEOPLE

    A topic that has been a big one since the introduction of the technological tool or weapon of mass creative destruction, depending how you look at it, and Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) is still causing chaos as it splits the creative world into two sides. Some creatives see it as a tool to evolve oneself the limits of what our imagination can do. While others see it as a weapon used to destroy jobs for creatives and kills imagination in us because we are no longer forced to train our brains to think and create using what’s in front of us or creating and building what’s not here. Now, I’m not here to tell you what’s right or wrong but just how I feel and perceive the whole situation.

    With technology since the creation of the computer it has always been said, feared and prophesied that A.I. would be coming sooner or later into our world and would eventually take over the world and humans. We see this concept in movies like Terminator, I Robot and various Sci-Fi films and books. The main problem in every case study is that as humans we become lazy and start relying on the machines to think for us and so in term the more the machines think the smarter, they become and start to gain conscious while we as humans start to live unconsciously as if everything is meant to happen or take place automatically with no action or thinking required on our side.

    Now as much as technology can be helpful in the creative industry with fields such as animation and making it faster and less expensive to create or digital illustrations. Even in movies we saw how the upgrade of CGI elevated the movie experience as well as the quality of effects that could be added and experienced in the movie to bring it closer to real life and give the audience and immersive sensory experience. If we look at movies such as Transformers or Avatar, we can see how far we’ve come in terms of technology in the creative field.

    The difference with the forementioned technology and A.I. is that it still requires you to think, strategize and figure out how best to use it and implement the technology into your art and work process. With A.I. the point is for it to provide you with the solutions or answers that you either don’t have the time or energy to figure out or easily give you the skills that one may not have time to acquire or just weren’t meant for them. For example, if one needs to design a poster and has a brief but no idea or inspiration to come up with an idea, they can use A.I. to render some ideas and options for them removing the task of having to create or generate an idea. Or it could be that one is looking to have a poster designed but to try and save money they use A.I. to create a poster instead of paying or hiring a graphic designer for their services.

    Now while both help and can make life easier for an individual you can also see how it steals from the art of creation and the pockets of creatives. Not only that it steals the experience of human interaction. Being able to share ideas, thoughts, experiences, emotions and perspectives that can help shape and add on to your character and outlook as a person. As tiring as it is the acts of brainstorming and reverts in the creative process build us and force us to think not just outside the box but outside ourselves as well.

    Another thing people don’t consider when looking at new technology is that the laws around technology are always reactive and never preventive. It’s like when websites first started and there were no safety checks on the web and the dark web thrived in the shadows. We didn’t know what could or would come from chatrooms and all the nasty that can go on. The laws are always reactive to how people use the technology and what can be done with it. The same goes for A.I. where now in the music world people have been using A.I. for posthumous albums or verse but now it’s worse with A.I. artists existing and now the common fan using A.I. to make songs that sound like your favourite popular artist and real but are from it. What are the implications there and how do we have a check against A.I. generated material and creations.

    With the whole world in a frenzy over A.I. I genuinely had the belief and thought that as the cultural country we are filled with a history of art and creation. A country that prides itself on Ubuntu and connecting with one another as humans. That we as South Africans stood strong against A.I. and especially in the hip-hop community. I mean the international hip-hop community as a whole is still angry at legendary producer Timberland creating and endorsing his own A.I. artist so it leaves me lost for words when South African hip-hop festival, Back To The City [the largest hip-hop festival in South Africa], chose to use A.I. in their promotion of the festival.

    It really hurt me, and I believe majority of the South African hip-hop community because it feels like the biggest violation ever. Firstly, let’s look at the culture of hip-hop and how it’s supposed to be a celebration of one being able to look at nothing or something of old and be able to use that as inspiration to build and create something new out of it. It’s more of an homage to the art and creatives that have come before when producers sample or make flips and mashups or performing artists find new ways to re-imagine or re-use lyrics to bring something new to life. Hip-hop is celebrated for its originality with artists who have ghost writers not necessarily frowned upon but not seen in the same light as thought who create their own. A.I. goes against this whole philosophy. A.I. is the ghost-writer in the situation and they shameless put it out there thinking as hip-hop that would be it but I ask you what happened to the real? This is adding to the cries of South African is either dead or dying.

    The second point is that hip-hop has always pushed and encourage entrepreneurship especially for black people and the youth. With the A.I. creations they are taking away what could have been a job opportunity for a young creative wanting to learn or sharpen their skills or to give the graphic designers, strategists and creatives who have put in the 10000 hours a chance and opportunity to show that all their time, effort and hard work has finally paid off and being recognised. This feels like a pie in the face.

    Thirdly and lastly, hip-hop has never been shy of labelling something as whack and calling it out and the use of A.I. in especially in this regard is just whack and nothing more about it needs to be said. From our leaders and people who have been pillars of the hip-hop community this one was heart-breaking to witness and experience.

    Taking away that home emotion from what has been known as a festival that connects creatives and humans of all walks of life together to celebrate an artform and culture that is based off the people and using your creativity to the fullest to not just making a living but make means of expressing yourself just feels as though we have been short changed, Luckily though we are all still human and we are all allowed to make mistakes but as well redeem ourselves for our past mistakes. Back To The City has always been a pillar and foundation for the growth of South African hip-hop and even though they might have fumbled the ball with this one we still thank them for all the service they do for putting us on the map and always shining a spotlight on all fields of creatives in the hip-hop and giving young artists the opportunity to perform on the big stage in front of 10 000+ people. As a community let’s close our laptops and let the A.I. die; I mean it was Jay-Z who told us death of autotune, and open our hearts, minds and soul so that the real can rise again because it never died.