Meet The Muffin Man, Youngsta’s Performance DJ Since 2010
by Sabelo Mkhabela
Midway through his performance, be it at Rocking The Daisies, the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, or some show at The Assembly, the rapper Youngsta will pause for a few seconds. His performance deejay, a petite figure behind him, whose face is shadowed by a baseball cap, will tap the pads of his MPC drum machine robustly. Beat heads, and music connoisseurs will catch the Holy Ghost.
“Ladies and gentleman,” Youngsta will say to the crowd, “this is The Muffin Man. The beat you just heard now, he made on the spot. He is freestyling.” The rapper will then tell people in the crowd to lift up some objects, and he will bust a freestyle about them.
Youngsta and The Muffin Man have come a long way, since meeting in 2009 in an event in Ottery, in the southern suburbs of Cape Town. “I had my first mixtape with me – it featured various artists. I played him the CD, and two days after, we started recording,” says The Muffin Man, in a soft baritone. He has a few minutes to spare and chat with me, as the producer Arsenic is setting up the sound system at SAE in Woodstock. DJ Switch is chatting to Youngsta about the deejay’s latest rappity rap single “Now Or Never”. The guys are here to rehearse for Youngsta’s upcoming Skyroom Live performance.
The Muffin Man, real name Brandon Court, is an ordinary 25-year-old from Landsdowne. He says one of the reasons he got into music production was to help guys in his ‘hood who were “going through things.” “Not everyone plays sport,” he says, “so the music was an alternative outlet.”
Youngsta had no “things” to deal with, however – just a hunger to rap. The Muffin Man was the very first engineer to record him. They recorded about 18 songs in the nine hours they spent at his studio, on their first session. His equipment at the time wasn’t up to standard – he tells me they recorded some of Youngsta’s material with a karaoke microphone.
Youngsta's work ethic and hunger was outstanding. “At the time, he was doing verses in one take,” says The Muffin Man. “I could see this was what he wanted to do – he’s gonna die a rapper. There was nothing else that was gonna interest him.”
The Muffin Man backing Youngsta at Sneaker Exchange Cape Town earlier this year. (Image: Sabelo Mkhabela)
Youngsta, who has made it a point to shine in every song he’s featured on, is one of the most promising rappers in South Africa currently. He’s on songs with Tumi, Stilo Magolide, DJ Switch, but he tells me he will never desert The Muffin Man. “He is so humble,” says Youngsta, “I’m always telling him that without you, I couldn’t have achieved what I have.”
When Youngsta recorded about 24 mixtapes in a period of 12 months, between 2010 and 2011, it was mostly with The Muffin Man. “When I met him,” says Youngsta, “he already had a name in the ‘hood. One of the things he did was he would deejay in these R10 parties. Everyone in the southern suburbs knew this guy. And people in school were like, ‘there’s this guy, you must meet him, maybe he can help you.’”
Youngsta and The Muffin Man’s first street hit was “G Spot”. It was the first song they had a professional video for.
The Muffin Man became Youngsta’s performance deejay by default. When the rapper opened for Lil Wayne in 2010, The Muffin Man was the one on the decks. Youngsta reminisces about their early days. He’s more proud of the shows they did while still trying to get their names out there. “The shows where we used to come on stage and people would laugh at us because of our names. I mean, ‘Youngsta and The Muffin Man,’ it sounds like a cartoon show. When we went to (DJ) Azhul and (DJ) Eazy’s show, they were like, ‘That sounds like something my daughter watches on a Saturday morning.’ I will forever cherish those moments.”
The duo’s early performances were a matter of trial and error – testing out songs, setting the popular ones aside for the next show. “We had two songs that we were absolutely sure about,” says Youngsta. “Songs we knew that no matter where we performed, they worked.” He laughs when he tells me they have performed in weddings and birthday parties, before he continues, “But two songs is too short. So I said after those two tracks I’m going to freestyle to engage the crowd. So by the time I do the last track, they’re with us because the freestyle has won them.”
The Muffin Man is currently on a recording hiatus. It’s been three years since he recorded. He’s focusing mostly on his haircutting business – Mobile Cutz, which has been running professionally for two years. You’ll normally find him in events, like the Sneaker Exchange, with a chair and a portable kit bag.
He has been cutting hair since high school. After working at a barber shop for sometime, he had an epiphany that people aren’t always keen on going to the shop to get their hair cut. “So I took the barber shop to them,” he says.
Just before The Muffin Man joins Youngsta, DJ Switch and Arsenic for the rehearsal he’s at SAE for, he reveals he will be making a return to the recording business, but for now he’s focusing on elevating Mobile Cutz, because it’s his main income. And of course, he is still Youngsta’s main performance deejay.