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  • THE DEATH OF THE VISUALISER:

    MUSIC VIDEOS ARE ALIVE AGAIN

    It’s 2025 and most times when I hear artists speaking on music videos, I hear the worst three letters any creative could think of…ROI. ROI, short for Return On Investment, is a term that confuses me when put alongside music videos. How, why and when did we get here? Let’s try figure this out together, shall we?

    Let’s start at what a music video should be. I believe most people would say that the music video should reflect the story or theme being carried throughout the song itself. Almost like an official soundtrack to a short film/movie. One of my favourite examples to use is Busta Rhyme’s What’s It’s Gonna Be music video where he features Janet Jackson in this futuristic alien world and Busta Rhymes is a meta morphing hybrid of human and silver galactic goo that is trying to impress and attract the lovely, gorgeous, beautiful and seductive Janet Jackson.

    You probably like what the hell but in the context of the song, speaking on sexually arousing your partner and trying and exploring new things it fits perfectly with Busta Showing that no matter the body type he’s ready to shift and form into whatever pleases his lover and their adventurous nature of exploring the new, untested to find their future pleasures.

    Busta Rhymes & Janet Jackson in the What’s It’s Gonna Be Video

    Now the music video, directed by Hype Williams, cost $2.4 million making it the 8th most expensive music video at the time in 1999. It is now the 15th most expensive music video of all time with Micheal & Janet’s Jackson Scream still sitting at number 1 costing $7 million. With all these expensive videos, I don’t believe anyone ever asked what the financial return on it is but rather how big of a cultural impact and legacy it will have. These have become iconic videos that have been in conversation and been a source of inspiration for 25+ years. It was the experience valued more than the expenses.

    Today it feels as though roles have flipped and it’s the expenses over the experiences. You could say it’s the economy, labels and artists don’t want to pay videographers/writers/models/actors their rates, it’s the new age and their short attention span and so on and so on. My belief is that TV stations that were meant to be music based, spotlighting and highlighting the latest videos started turning to reality TV shows for viewer engagement and started choosing what videos get played based on the relevancy of the artist instead of the quality of the music and video.

    This caused a surge in artists to then rather post their videos up on digital platforms that did care about the quality still but that could also pay them through royalties based on the viewers and viewer engagement. Platforms such as Vevo were created and ran the YouTube streets for a mean minute. It became a cultural hub where, if you weren’t on Vevo then you just weren’t it at all.

    Youtube & Vevo Logo

    Artists & labels saw what platforms like Vevo could do for the artist and how their ad-revenue model could be used in their own favour and then started creating their own YouTube pages and channels to engage with their fans directly without a third party. From being on YouTube, I believe they saw fan pages were people were making their own videos and visuals, as well as posting the songs online themselves and that this was the canon event where both artists & labels realised that in this digital streaming age it doesn’t matter what you put out, people just want to see some cool sh*t while listening to your music.

    This births the monstrosity that is the visualiser. Instead of knowing investing, time, energy and money into creating a video and world out of your song, artists just started to shoot some cool scenes and put it on loop to their song. It even started flooding into music videos where now it’s no storyline, no story, no theme just a bunch of cool visuals, hot people and some flash of the material or gangster lifestyle. This was a painful era. I thought we had lost the art of the music video forever.

    The youth of South Africa had a different plan for me instead. I would personally say, “Since 2016.”, but speaking objectively…since 2020 South African creatives have been in the spotlight. The Covid pandemic causing us to sit inside and forced us to sit with the art we consume and think about it. The world saw that South Africa has a different hunger because we’ve always asked for our story to be told but now, we realise we never need permission just our own belief that we are big enough to tell our own stories, and our art is undeniably great. We are enriched in stories, culture and heritage that the world had and has yet to experience fully.

    Taking control of their own narrative, the youth of South Africa started investing and believing heavily in themselves which has seen a rise in all art forms and music from Hip-Hop, to R&B, to Amapiano, to Gqom. The wave is on a high tide building up to a massive tsunami that is sure to engulf the world.

    Filah-Lah-Lah in a Scene From Her On Air Visual Album

    In the last 5 years I’ve seen some stunning music videos been produced from our local talent. Last year Filah-Lah-Lah released a whole visual album based on her album On Air. Zulo has been exceptional in present story lined theme videos. We’ve seen directors like Lotus Sutra provide us with some of the craziest videos in the hip-hop, r&b and piano world. Same for the likes of Zigi Ndlovu and many more, where directors and producers are being booked and hired to get the best vision out of the song and artist.

    As beautiful as it has been to witness the resurgence of the music video and especially in South Africa, we still have many challenges to face. Social media is one of them with people able to rack up views through creating dance challenges to their songs and have it trending or just shooting a really dope ass visualiser. It makes rising artists with little budget think, “Why do I need to pay for a music video?”. This also leads into the conversation that because people aren’t as invested in music videos they don’t really know who the directors and producers have to go through so, once they do have the bag to pay for one they either try underpay or short change them or try go for a foreign name because they are a “bigger brand or name”.

    The world of music videos is not yet completely extinct but keeping it alive is no easy task as well. Do you think it’s worth it to try keep them alive or should we move and accept the visualiser as our new art form?

  • BIG FRAT SPEAKS TO LIZZO

    Big Frat hit the global zoom streets and fought some time zones to kick it virtually with Lizzo. Lizzo speaks on her favourite rapper, her mixtape and her southern roots. It’s a really fun chat. Check it out

  • Gunna’s Last Wun is the one

    Gunna is putting on a master class in how to shut up and work. The man just pops out, drops a fire project and hits the gym. He is looking like he doesn’t know how to make a bad project right now.

    The buzz word when putting together an album these days is cohesion and that is something Gunna has on lock. The rapper has mastered the art of having a sonic golden thread through his projects. He has found himself at the sweet spot where you can type “Gunna type beat” and you will get some respectable Gunna-esque instrumentals with that search. He’s carved and perfected his sound. The album has his signature ambient, hypnotic, swaggy trance like sound (I mean you can have the lo-fi girl on YouTube study endless to this album). The production serves as a great background for his melancholic yet motivational, ambitious and swaggy bars.

    Although he is on “shut up and work” mode, he is far from unaware. On prototype he sends an awareness bar – “n*ggas had tweeted my name must’ve had to be a typo” . This can be interpreted in many ways and may be directed to a number of people. One thing’s for sure, Wunna is watching it all play out while churning out bangers at the same time.

    Wunna has also proven to be heavily tapped in with African the music scene. From his collab with Tyla, kicking it with Foca and having fire African features on this album, it’s clear he knows where the sauce is. Wiz, Burna and Asake all have stand out moments on the project (shoutout to the saxophone on “WGFT”).

    It’s clear that Gunna has been on a mission to prove all his naysayers wrong and on the run that he has been on he is clearing succeeding. Like he says on track 23 “thought I wasn’t gon make it/ I showed them”. From his work rate to his workout regime it’s clear that the man is chasing health and wealth not clout. This is project definitely cements his sound and global reach.

  • THE NEW BASKETBALL AGE:

    HOW THE NBA FINALS EXPOSE LACK OF YOUTH IN MEDIA

    THE NEW & A FEW OLD FACES OF THE NBA

    The 2025 NBA Finals was one of my favourite NBA Finals in the last few years. It’s mainly because it was the true confirmation that the new age of basketball is here and ready to take the spotlight.

    The 2025 NBA Finals featured Oklahoma City Thunder going up against the Indiana Pacers. Both are small market teams, teams that do not generate that much money or attraction due to them being in a small town or not having a history of winning as their legacy. On top of this they both happen to be the youngest teams in the NBA showing the recent evolution of the new generation of basketball players and superstars taking over the league. Now this should be a celebration and welcoming of the new age, but it was met with some weird critique and analysis.

    THE INDIANA PACERS & OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER

    To start off with if we look at the last 5 years of the NBA Finals we have OKC (24.7) v Pacers (25.7), Boston Celtics (26.2) v Dallas Mavericks (26.3), Denver Nuggets (27.1) v Miami Heat (28), Golden State Warriors (27.8) v Boston Celtics (25.9), Milwaukee Bucks (28.1 avg age) v Phoenix Suns (26.6). In these last 5 years, we can see that the teams getting to the finals are becoming younger and younger. This goes hand-in-hand with us witnessing the superstars who started their journey in the 2000’s & 2010’s retiring and leaving the game,  more and more, because no matter how much of a winner you are, father time is undefeated.

    In the ushering out of the legends made, we see the birth of new legends to be created with superstars like Giannis, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Anthony Endwards, Shai-Gil, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis, Devin Booker, Jalen Brunson, Trae Young, Ja Morant, Jaylen Brown, Donovan Mitchell,  Sengun, Brandon Ingram, LaMelo Ball, Lonzo Ball, Tyrese Haliburton, Karl-Anthony Towns, and many more. The point I’m making is that there is a plethora of young talent in the NBA that are ready to take over for the new generation and playing excellent basketball.

    THE NEW GENERATION OF NBA SUPERSTARS

    You would not think so with how mainstream basketball media has been covering the finals and the new era. Instead of focusing on the new emerging talent and their own style of flavour and play that they are bringing; we are being distracted with the topic of old guard and who will replace or be as good as them. This is always a problem because every new generation coming never wants to replicate greatness but create their own mould and have their impact recognised in the game. Instead of giving the young kids a platform to write their own history right now they are worried about the history made by the generation before.

    The source of the problem isn’t with the players or the league but with media and the fact that we are not seeing enough youth with a voice in the media space and not just basketball alone but overall, throughout the sports, arts & culture fields. This is a problem because we all know how it goes when you’re a kid you feel like all the old people don’t get or understand your generation and the trends or art going on and then jiki-jiki one day you’re the old person sh*tting on the younger generation.

    The evolution of young rebel to old hater is an inevitable pipeline and path that about 95% of us follow in life but with us knowing that and having seen it throughout the history of media you’d think that in 2025 with all the social media platforms available and people creating their own media that somehow one of these broadcasters would have them join the team but it’s something we’ve rarely seen.

    I think the biggest case for this phenomenon might be that because growing up on the internet and social media the need for journalism and traditional media might not be a priority for most or downplay the actual impact it still carries throughout the world.  It might be that the older generation feels like the younger generation have not dedicated themselves to the art & craft of broadcasting, journalism and media, and therefore feel like they haven’t put in the 10 000 hours needed to be seen as a peer or professional.

    The cause is important because it will lead us to the solution of the cure, but I want to look at why this is a problem because I know the notion nowadays is, “It doesn’t matter we have social media create your own thing.”, oh but it does matter because of centralisation. Where on social media, yes, we have the access to any and every topic available it can feel overwhelming and honestly speaking it’s hard to know who a credible resource is and who is looking for clicks, likes and engagements. Whereas with traditional media there is a built relationship that as the audience we have built not with the personalities but the broadcasting stations. Whether it be SuperSport, ESPN, SABC, CNN etc. there is that feeling of these are trained professionals who now how to do research, investigate and report on stories accurately.

    When we only have the older generation in these positions and not training and grooming the younger generation, the voice of the younger generation ends up lost and silenced. Sticking with the NBA as our motif I can use a personal example where my baby brother’s favourite basketball player is Jayson Tatum but when you look at media coverage he is mostly spoken in comparison with Kobe and how he will never be him. This is unfair because we are not allowing the kids to live in the times of their heroes and stars but forcing them to live in our nostalgia on players, they never seen play, and instead of telling the Jayson Tatum story it uses Jayson Tatum to tell the Kobe story.

    I genuinely believe that this can be avoided if media allowed for more youth to come in and give their thoughts, opinions and perspectives on things as to try get more people to understand what motivates, inspires and drives the youth and why they look up to the stars that they do. This translates into the Micheal Jordan and LeBron James debate where when you really look at it, it’s more a debate about still of play. MJ focused on being the ultimate killer and clutch player compared to LeBron being a more focused on teamwork, uplifting players, making the right plays and being the best teammate. One could argue it shows the evolution of thinking with generations where the older generation was focused on getting the job done at any cost compared to now where mental health, community and personal development is the highest priority.

    The point I’m trying to make is that every generation has their inspirations, role models, superstars, idols, heroes etc. and as the older generation it should be the duty to help them learn how to properly and professional use their voices to highlight this as wells as the issues and concerns of the younger generation to help uplift and amplify their voice instead of dismiss it and silence it. We need to get a better understanding of the youth and the only to do that is to talk and engage with them, not talk over them and enforce our legends and folklore upon them. Help raise a voice today.

  • An Important Bookmark in the Journey of Wordz: A ‘Mark My Words’ Review

    MARK MY WORDS ALBUM COVER ART

    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.

    MEMBERS OF THE WRECKING CREW BEFORE THEIR SPLIT

    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 2nd 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 2nd 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.

    WORDZ DEBUT ALBUM PRODUCT OF A PRAYING MOTHER

    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.

    WORDZ ON THE COVER OF HYP MAGAZINE IN 2023 ISSUE 34

    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.

    MARK MY WORDS TRACKLIST & BACK ART COVER

    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.

    R&B SENSATION & PRETORIA NATIVE UNA RAMS

    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.


  • MORE IRL, LESS URL:

    KEEPING TRADITION ALIVE

    Listen, watch, and buy more data so you can enjoy & stream. Weird intro but it makes sense when you sing it to the tune of the ‘Row Your Boat’ nursery rhyme but as a millennial it speaks perfectly to the transition of not just our life but the world as we know it. We grew up on analogue living and we saw the evolution technology that took us into the digital world.

    We went from playing outdoors with our friends, to meeting up at the arcade to play games, to meeting up at each other’s house to play video games, to playing video games online with each other, to now playing open world games with complete strangers over the internet. VHS to Netflix, Cassettes to Apple Music. We experienced evolution but now in 2025 we’re seeing the youth and society making callbacks to the times through art, fashion and culture yet not the same mental and analogue approach to the mindset and marketing of analogue art and media.

    I know it sounds like I’m just babbling on but to make it simple in our country of South Africa as much as we have access to internet, we’re still very much an analogue ran country. I’m not just saying and making this out of nowhere or from just solely my opinion, but I’ve done the research, studied the numbers and hit the streets just to come to this conclusion and theory of mine.

    Bar graph and pie chart showing South Africa’s population in 2024, according to four main population groups: African, coloured, Indian or Asian and white. Data sourced from Statistics South Africa’s 2024 mid-year population estimates.

    Let’s start with the population of South Africa sitting at 63.21 million where black people make 81%, coloured people 8.5%, white people 7.2% and Indian/Asian 2.6% but if we look at how the money is spread between the races is quite shocking…well not really because of Apartheid. I guess it’s more shocking how well and effective the racism and discrimination seen in Apartheid worked and is carrying on over into generations still but let’s look at the numbers.

    According to Stats SA on average white households earn the most with an income of R676375 per annum. Followed by Indian/Asian household with R417 431, Coloured with R260816 and lastly Black households with R143 632. Now the stats were released on 28 January 2025, but the research was done between November 2022 and November 2025.

    From the numbers you’ll see that the race with the highest % of population in the population has the least amount of money and the race with the lowest % of population has the most amount of money. This is very important when having the conversation of analogue vs digital in South Africa because it shows the majority of the population may not have the disposable income or spending power to afford the luxuries of streaming and social media that comes with internet access but just to be able to do the basics and necessities such as send emails, attend meetings, WhatsApp, use certain apps for work and etc.

    This brings me to look at how we use the internet as a country and people. We’ll start off with the most common use of the internet, which is social media with everyone trying to stay connected and in contact with each other. In 2024 it was found that 78.9% (50.8 million) of South Africans had access to the internet, a big improvement but how are we using it? Well, 41.9 million) of South Africans are social media users with Facebook leading usage with 26.7 million users, we can accredit this to initiatives as Facebook Lite that helps users save data. Next comes YouTube with 25.3 million users, followed by TikTok (25.3 million users, also had a lite version), LinkedIn (15 million), Instagram (7.4 million) & X (3.15 million). Being a young man, these stats are kind of crazy because when you go online, they way people talk and address each other you’d swear that it is the Union Buildings where every citizen gathers for the SONA.

    The problem is that because social media has connected us with the world and even just people in different provinces or cities it feels like the whole world is logged in but it’s not and even with being logged in, it’s not that all active users log in at the same time. You might find dips where it’s only hundreds of thousands of people logged in at once.  I look at these numbers and start thinking that the main people on these platforms especially the higher data consuming ones must be those privileged enough to afford the luxuries of it and that leads to are we really speak to the people of South Africa or just the people who can afford to listen?

    Now let’s compare this to radio where 75% of South Africans aged 15 and above tune into radio weekly. That’s 47 250 000 million people…WEEKLY. This is important because in the age of streaming Spotify is the most popular used Digital Streaming Platform (DSP) in South Africa and yet only boasts a 1 million and some change users. It is followed by YouTube Music and then Apple Music. This just shows you the power radio has in South Africa. I do believe we get blinded by the global popularity and influence of streaming, but we must focus on where our feet are and not where our head is. We have to focus on taking steps that will advance us in our own environment and the reality of it instead of focusing on what we dream it could be and where we think it is.

    Looking at all these numbers and statistics it’s clear to me that in South Africa analogue communications and interactions should be a priority over digital engagement, especially as an artist. Now, yes, radio is difficult to get on, we all know Payola and knowing the right people play a big role in it but with that said it’s also important artists are registered with SAMRO & RiSA so that your songs meet all requirements and can be played on radio.

    Traditional communications are not just limited to the radio though and here are some thoughts and ideas I’ve shared with a few artists in conversation and think would make a difference.

    Firstly, one goes outside and touches the people. As an artist your job doesn’t just end at creating, you must go into the outside world where you’ll find the communities that can help you build and grow. If you’re a vocalist go to other shows and listening sessions to meet your peers, industry figures and fans. Talk to them, make connections and create bonds because word of mouth is great but people being able to hear the words come from your mouth directly elevates the impact of it. Go to other artists events and show support, show them you’re in the scene and watching so that they can see you and start watching you as well cause you can like an Instagram post, but you can’t talk to it…well you can but then maybe I’m not the therapist you should be talking to. This also includes going to events early so you can meet the promoters before they get busy and have a discussion with them.


    Secondly, build something real. I say this as a guide to all artists. One of the best things you can do is build something real. Instead of going out to ask people to put you on their platforms build your own. Host your own shows and book yourself. Is it expensive? Yes. Will you see a profit the first few times? No. Will you have a space where you can practice and improve your marketing skills? Will you have a space where people can come see and interact with you in real time? Will you be able to collect data on your community to better sell yourself to brands? Will you have a portfolio that shows promoters and booking agents that you can pull a crowd and have actual impact on people to make them want to engage and participate in your art? Will you have an actual footprint that people can follow? Yes, and that makes up for all the challenges that come with building something real. It becomes a home for your art to live in the real world.

    Thirdly & lastly, to be a household name you must be in the household. You can’t expect to become a known face and name in people’s homes if you’re not in their homes consistently, that’s why when he was alive, you’d see AKA performing every and anywhere because he knew that the people of Mzansi aren’t all connected on the internet and there’s a market wanting to be fed. It might not be as easy nowadays with the recession, the economy and that making it difficult to find venues to host you but there are many other ways to do it. One way that I always think about is if artists would print out A3-A1 sized posters of themselves or album art, that they can sign and hand-out to fans at shows and once it becomes known you’re doing this, you can start selling the posters to fans who can’t make your show. The same applies to making T-shirts specifically for a show so that at the end of the night a fan can take a piece of you home with them. CDs may be obsolete, but USBs aren’t and there are so many ways to utilize a USB. You could fill a USB with exclusive content from making your project, unreleased songs and videos, documentaries and some exclusives that you protect-lock and can sell to your fans or even just a USB with your music that you give to DJs for them to play at their sets.

    What I’m trying to illustrate is that there are many ways in which you can use the digital influence to create ana analogue experience for your fans and especially the people of South Africa where large communities are still disadvantaged and disenfranchised, and they need to be catered for. There are wide open gaps in the market for the new generation of artists to attack and build a household name for themselves.

    Before I end this, I know probably a lot of people are thinking about the profits or return on interest and I’m here to let everyone know that marketing is an expense and always will be but like any expense it’s for the improvement of your brand and business. Invest in making yourself available in households and you are sure to become a household name.

  • BIG FRAT SPEAKS TO RAVYN LENAE

    We not going to write much here. Big Frat got to kick it digitally with Ravyn Lenae. They chopped it up about her album “Bird’s Eye” as well as the success of her single “Love me not”. Do the right thing and check the conversation out, also don’t judge Frat on his zoom background haha.

  • Bathu Bantu:

    The South African Shoe Culture

    South Africa has always been a place of culture, arts, music and fashion, and it’s always been recognised globally as well as locally. One thing that has never received the same love and attention is our love and culture for shoes.

    When I think about it maybe it has to do with the fact that naturally and traditionally, we just never were ones to rock shoes, starting all the way from the Khoisan to Shaka Zulu and his warriors. Maybe it has to do with the fact that we are a spiritual people and having our feet to the ground gives us a greater sense of connection to the earth. Honestly, I just believe it’s because everyone takes the sneakerhead culture and community in South Africa for granted.

    When people say sneakerhead or show culture, the stereotypical image that comes to mind is hip-hop, air forces, stan smiths, basketball shoes etc. but sneaker culture doesn’t have one look. Now hip-hop may have popularised sneaker culture and elevating the sneaker as a fashion statement but shoes and sneakers play a huge role in our own South African sub-cultures and styles.

    To start let’s look at the Pantsula culture and their deep ties with canvas-based shoes. Now what’s the relation between Pantsula’s and canvas shoes. I don’t know to be honest but when I think about it the fact that a canvas shoe is literally that…a canvas that can be painted on decorated making something out of nothing most have been how most black people in the 1970’s most have felt. Trying to paint their own pictures, tell their own narratives and walk their own paths. Maybe the Pantsula’s of the 70’s felt like rebels but artistic rebels and wanted to paint the streets with their style and flavour everywhere they walked. This theory would explain their love for Converse All-Stars, Jack Purcells & Dickies.

    THE ICONIC LOW-CUT CONVERSE ALL-STARS

    Keeping to Kasi Culture, the next shoe phenomenon that has had a deep impact in South African culture is the Italian culture and style, mainly the famous and popular Carvela. The paradox of a formal dress shoe been worn in township areas that are painted brown from the dust in the streets and devoid of colour from the lack of trees and greenery; boy they really cooked with that Apartheid; the Skhothane culture brought colour and high-end fashion to the streets of the culture.

    RED SUEDE CARVELA

    Draped in bright colours of Italian suits, shirts, pants and the centre piece being the Carvela. The Carvela is what made or break you. Seen as the echelon of high-end footwear because of their traditional hand-crafted shoes, mainly their leather and suede coming in a variety of colours with starting price of R2600. I believe this was done with the intention to make a statement that the townships are more than the perceived reality of being devoid of riches, culture, art and style. Has it grown out of control and doing more damage than harm? That’s a topic for a different article so let’s keep stepping.

    The final culture we’ll look at, before we walk away into the sunset, is The Culture. You guessed it…Hip-Hop. Now, I did state that Hip-Hop popularised the sneaker culture around the world from; Adidas Stan Smiths, Jordans, Nike Air Forces, Reebok Classics and many more. Starting in Cape Town with the legendary Jack Lemkus store.  A family-owned business established in 1935, they were the first in South Africa to import brands like Adidas, Ascis, Air Jordans and Airmax’s. Becoming a cultural hub for sneakerheads and resellers, cementing the sneakerhead culture in South Africa.

    THE JACK LEMKUS STORE IN CAPE TOWN.

    It doesn’t end there. Through the years we’ve seen brands collaborate with cultural figures within South Africa. It begins with the legend, Kabelo ‘Bouga Luv’ Mabalane. Former member of popular South African kwaito group, TKZee. In 2005 he became the first artist outside of the USA to have their own footwear line, with Reebok’s RBk campaign. They created the Bouga Luv sneaker. The same campaign endorsed Jay-Z and 50 Cent giving us the Sean Carter and G-Unit collections, respectively.

    KABELO WEARING THE BOUGA LUV REEBOKS

    In 2019 Reebok reignited their relationship with South African artists, collaborating with the late [R.I.P] Kiernan Forbes, or more famously known as AKA, on the Reebok Classics to bring us the SneAKA. The collaboration was a limited edition with only 600 pairs being available for purchase and all 600 selling out within 10 minutes. Tragically AKA was murdered on February13th of 2023 in Durban.

    THE SNEAKA 1.0

    In honour of his name his family and Reebok decided to make the SneAKA 2.0 and this time it featured the South Africa flag on it. This was a historic moment not just for his family and fans because we all knew how much he loved our country and its people but also because you need special permission from the South African government to print the flag on any type of clothing let alone for retail selling rights. The SneAKA also featured theartist’s signature and only 1000 pairs were released for purchase on the 19th of October 2024.

    THE SNEAKA 2.0 INCLUDING SA FLAG & AKA’S SIGNATURE

    In 2021 we saw sneaker collaborations with artists grow to a whole new level when Nike teamed up with illustrator & graphic designer Karabo Poppy on the Air Force 1. The shoe had her iconic trademark illustrations, and her name stitched on the heel of the shoe. The collaboration wasn’t that surprising with Nike having had her design Air Forces for one of their campaigns in 2019 with it doing so well that basketball superstar LeBron James was seen wearing them.

    KARABO POPPY’S AIR FORCE 1 COLLAB WITH NIKE

    In 2025 we’ve seen brands like Adidas and Puma work and collaborate with artists and creatives around South Africa on campaigns, reviews and shoe launches, showing that the sneaker culture in South Africa has grown from its infancy crawling and slowly fining its feet within the footprints and DNA of the South African People. It was fun kicking it with you and I pray you stay fly in the freshest kicks. I mean you if we have to leave shoes to fill for the youth then it’s like they say,” Life is temporary. Drip is forever.”.

  • Lizzo’s My Face Hurts From Smiling Is Her Pettiest, Rawest, Most Necessary Work Yet

    Lizzo has always walked the line between self-love and self-defense. But on her surprise mixtape, My Face Hurts From Smiling, she takes off the glitter and lets the brass knuckles show. This isn’t a bubbly pop record. This isn’t a TED Talk in song form. This is Lizzo unfiltered, unhinged, and — for better or worse — unapologetically back in her rap bag.

    No promo. No warning. Just 13 tracks of scorched-earth energy recorded in just a few days. And the result? A mixtape that feels more like a cathartic outburst than a career move — and that’s exactly why it hits.

    “My face hurts from smiling” sounds cute until you realize it’s sarcasm. The title isn’t a flex. It’s a confession — that she’s done with the fake smiles for picture perfect moments. Lizzo’s not here to make you comfortable anymore. She’s here to show you that she’s not here to play around — loudly, messily, and in full trap drums.

    From the first track, she ditches her polished pop persona for something more primal. She’s rapping — for real. There’s no Top 40 sugarcoating here. It’s full-throttle braggadocio, playful threats, and petty punches in all the right places.

    Standouts like “Just 4 Fun” and “Gotcho Bitch” are aggressive, funny, and designed to shut the critics up (plus she gives here fellow lady rappers a shout out on this cut). She’s airing out insecurities, fake friends, and bad exes, all while dancing on their reputations. The flows are clean, the bars are sharp, and the energy is pure fire.

    Lizzo doesn’t overcrowd the tape with guest verses. She just brings in two juggernaut women in music — and they deliver. Doja Cat pulls up on “Still Can’t Fuh”, and it’s the collab we didn’t know we needed (the sample with the thumping beat is pure flames!). Doja brings her signature blend of wild humour or and razor-sharp wordplay, while Liz matches her blow for blow. The track is wildly fun — easily a standout. SZA joins on “IRL”, which flips the tempo completely. It’s a Jersey-club-inspired mid-tempo joint about real-life, an anti online fame banger. They both flex the fact that really living hot in real life and there is no algorithm  or AI to their vibe. Their chemistry is natural, the hook is sticky, and SZA’s verse adds harmonies to the attitude of the track.

    This isn’t an album aiming for awards or playlists. It’s a mixtape. A purge. Some tracks feel rough around the edges. The beats are in your face giving us that southern bounce throughout. After a few years of public pressure, lawsuits, and online dogpiling, this project feels like her first deep breath. It’s loud, aggressive and fun.

    My Face Hurts From Smiling isn’t a return to form — it’s a full reset. It’s Lizzo choosing herself over the algorithm. It’s catharsis in 808s. And while it might not be for everyone, it doesn’t need to be. Her monologue on Ditto sums up the whole tone of the project, she definitely feeding the kids with this.

  • GET YOUR ENGINES READY, THE F1 ALBUM IS THE BEST MARRIAGE BETWEEN MUSIC AND MOVIES IN 2025

    Let’s be real – movie soundtracks don’t always hit the way they used to. But every once in a while, something loud, fast, and full of flavor pulls up to remind us just how fun vibing to a movie album can be. And this year, that something is the F1: The Album soundtrack.

    Built around the adrenaline-fueled world of Formula 1 racing, this album doesn’t just match the energy of the film – it amplifies it. Think turbo-charged production, genre-blending collabs, and a lineup that reads like a global streaming chart. If the film is the engine, this soundtrack is the NOS (yes I’m going to have a lot car references here, its fun).

    Roddy Ricch glides onto the track with what might be the highlight of the album. His song, “Take Control,” is all speed, and soul. There’s a moody piano loop sitting beneath slick drums, and Roddy floats on the beat like he’s weaving through traffic on the Monaco circuit. It’s cinematic without being corny – the kind of track you throw on during a late-night drive and instantly feel like you’re in your own high-stakes car chase. It’s signature Roddy, but with a bigger scope, built for wide screens and surround sound.

    Then there’s Don Toliver, who brings his signature psychedelic slickness to the pit lane. His track, “RPM,” feels like it was recorded at 200km/h under neon lights. He’s crooning in autotuned layers over a warped synthscape, like Travis Scott’s Astroworld met Tokyo Drift. There’s a strange comfort in how futuristic it sounds – like you’re not just watching F1, you’re inside the cockpit.

    No global soundtrack is complete without an African powerhouse-and Burna Boy shows up with “Lights Out,” a percussive banger that brings a whole new rhythm to the race. There’s something wild about hearing Burna’s deep vocals drift over an uptempo beat designed to mimic the chaos of pit stops and power-ups. It’s a dance record. It’s a flex anthem. It’s Burna in full control – and the only thing more exciting than the song is imagining it blasting during a race scene while sparks fly from the back of a Ferrari (shout out to Lewis Hamilton).

    The Album doesn’t feel like an afterthought. It feels like a true companion to the film – like someone actually cared about how these songs make you feel while watching the action unfold. From track one, you’re dropped into a soundscape that mirrors the thrill of the circuit: speed, risk, precision, and style.

    But here’s the secret sauce: even if you never watch the movie, the album slaps on its own. You can run it at a party, throw it on for a gym session, or loop it on a long drive. It’s not just background noise – it’s front and center.

    And honestly, in an era where playlists dominate, it’s kind of refreshing to vibe out to a full-blown movie soundtrack again. It brings back that feeling of discovery. That, “wait, who’s this?” moment. The soundtrack era is back (hopefully) – and F1 is waving the flag.

    In a world of recycled samples and TikTok bait singles, the Album does something rare – it moves with purpose. It brings artists from different lanes onto the same track and lets them race. It’s high-octane, high-style, and unapologetically fun.

    So throw on your headphones, hit play, and start your own race ( you know go karting, video game racing, remember you are not lewis Hamilton on public roads). You can walk and dance to this album too. Whether you’re pedestrian or driver this album is fire.