Teamwork Makes The Dreamwork: Solo South African Hip Hop Artists and Squad Goals
by Phil Chard
Throughout our youth, we've all probably been bombarded by numerous idioms regarding the company you keep! Some of the usual idioms go along the refrain of birds of a feather flocking together, the closest people around you defining who you are and, of course my favourite, how since you can't choose your family you best make a success of the friends you choose.
In a hip hop context, decisions of this nature are perhaps more important to get right; as the team an artist chooses plays a major role in the kind of persona they develop. I've always been fascinated by where it all began for some of the most successful rappers. After witnessing an ugly twitter exchange between two old musical colleagues, I was prompted to harken back into the past to see just how many solo South African hip hop artists started out in the fold of a group. Granted, both friends or crew members don't always last forever but they're still influential in shaping the solo artists we see blow up! So... how are a few of these former group members faring today? Let's take a look:
Like a few people my introduction to Motswako came via Morafe, who remain one of my favourite groups. This Mafikeng based ensemble introduced a younger me to a new sound and challenged my claims of being bilingual with witty bars and clever punchlines delivered in vernacular. Made up of KG, Towdee Mac and Khuli Chana; they provided head-nod inducing tracks such as The Whole Thang and the Letta-Mbuli-sampling Letter To Motswako.
Arguably Khuli Chana has been the most successful in a solo capacity, with his second album Lost In Time being the first hip hop album to garner a SAMA award for album of the year. He has continued to build his solo brand but the contributions of his former partners towards his own work has kept both Towdee Mac and KG firmly on the scene. In spite of the dissipation of the group the bonds formed previously remain strong amongst these three. A classic example of a reunited Morafe was them appearing on Khuli Chana's Hape Le Hape Pt 1 alongside AKA, Zeus and Reason. Starved fans can look forward to more material soon as the group's long awaited reunion is slated for sometime this year.
Most recently in his own capacity Towdee Mac has contributed to the DJ Lemonka and Tattoo Lefoko helmed 2744 Mixtape, with a feature on the standout track North West Party. Meanwhile KG remains the sturdy right hand man; serving as Khuli Chana's music director during the album recording process. He also had a hand in AKA's sophomore album Levels by helping pen the hook on Let Me Show You where he also gets a shout out affectionately referred to as 'Kaygism'. Still on the topic of AKA: he, in turn, had his start out with a crew called Entity. He appeared alongside two other rappers named Vice Versa and Greyhound.
This youthful trio owed their breakthrough to their catchy songs First Gear and Touch and Go. These two singles catapulted them into national stardom before they suffered a disbandment just as rapid as their rise was. Whilst Vice Versa chose to go the academic route and is currently at Oxford University, sadly not much has been heard of Greyhound. Apart from his penchant for rap, AKA's often overlooked production skills helped him form another trio in what threatened to be a production powerhouse in South African Hip Hop. IV League is the partnership that crafted the sound of his debut album Altar Ego and included AKA, Kamza and Buks. Whilst Kamza followed a different path as a television presenter, Buks resurfaced as one half of BETRGANG alongside Solo. This critically acclaimed duo released their project We Need a Title which was released via their website http://www.betrgang.co.za/.
It seems there's practically no chance of either one of these AKA aligned trios reforming or collaborating as frequently as the Morafe members do, but AKA clearly has a new musical collaborator in the form of the self-proclaimed 'North God' Da L.E.S.
Da L.E.S first broke out onto the scene with the foursome Jozi that included Ishmael, a veteran of the South African music scene, Bongani 'Bongz' Fassie and Crazy Lu. As time went on Jozi shed members until the duo of Ishmael and Da L.E.S remained. Eventually the two decided to go their separate ways with both artists still keeping afloat. Conversely, both Crazy Lu and Bongz have failed to leave a lasting mark on the game in recent times. Bongz did release a diss track not so long ago, but the less said about that the better! In a lesson of how to remain integral to the fabric of South African music Ishmael featured on Arthur's summer hit Summa Ya D'Summa whilst Da L.E.S has racked up some solid bangers off his two independently released albums Mandela Money and the still hot off the press North God.
Coincidentally AKA and Da L.E.S both share musical journeys similar to that of Maggz; an artist they've accompanied on tracks like Heaven and the highly anticipated Real Stuff. Having been groomed by ProKid (now simply Pro); Maggz came up alongside L-Tido, Morale and Sean Pages to form what can only be described as the rap super group Glitz Gang. Fortunately for this crew, all these rappers have healthy careers with releases such as Dlala Ka Yona, Lotto and Blind charting well for the respective acts. Now focused on building a solo career that includes a much awaited follow up album; Maggz is affiliated to Cashtime Life which is also the home of fellow rappers K.O and Ma- E. These two first came to our attention as members of Teargas which also featured Ntukza, who declined the move into the Cashtime family. K.O's solo success was cemented with the Lunatik Beatz produced, kwaito-infused track Cara Cara; that provided my soundtrack to many a memorable night. Ma-E has recently spread his wings with the release of his solo offerings including uGogo and his AKA assisted Lie 2 Me off his Township Counsellor album.