Four SA Underground Mixtapes To Look Forward To In 2015

1. High $chool Dreams - Ill Scripts
Mack Records 

They've been active in the West Coast underground scene since 2012, and after diss songs, a hiatus, chart-toppers, winning second place in their high school talent show, South African remakes, street-cred, and whatever else goes with the ISOE brand, a coined term which stands for: 'Ill Scripts Over Everything', the Saldanha-Bay based rap crew promises that their anticipated debut mixtape, 'High $chool Dreams' is nearing completion.

Let's hope that this year, will be the year it releases.


2. The Fresh Prince of Kimberley - Big Twist
Star Media Communications | Twistyle Muzik 

Following his debut 'Twistyle Mixtape' in 2012, Big Twist returns to the scene with his sophomore LP, 'The Fresh Prince of Kimberley'. An obvious play on words from the popular TV-show 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' which stared the young Will Smith, Twist sees himself reaching his hometown and reflecting it in it's very best in both the West Coast underground and Kimberley underground scenes.

The mixtape is scheduled for release March 2, 2015, through Star Media Communications, Twist's latest distributor, and is released under the artists' own recording label, Twistyle Muzik.

3. #ShalomaFuture - Shaloma Muzik
Independent | Shaloma Muzik Recordings

After a year long hiatus from the music scene, Shaloma Muzik aims to reach broader audiences and new markets with it's upcoming mixtape '#ShalomaFuture'.

While this would be the forth mixtape project from the label following it's two 'Shaloma Friday' and '#Shalomatober' series in 2013, and '50/50: The Vision', the debut mixtape by it's founder Tha Real U - #ShalomaFuture promises be unlike anything heard before from the label.

It claims to be the future of Hip-Hop and is taking on the massive Cape Town underground Hip-Hop scene with this release. Already in partnership with various local brands, namely Music Generation Apparel, a growing Cape Town's street wear brand - this mixtape is something not to be overlooked by the revolutionary label.

4. SWGCTY.tk Presents We Are The Underground - SWGCTY
Cape Vinyal Beats Mixtapes

The leaders in West Coast Hip-Hop music, SWGCTY (formerly Swag City) plans to take to the mixtape market as well by further promoting local content with the launch of it's new website, brand and interface.

With their former tagline, "We Support Local Music" - the website now seeks to uplift new and undiscovered artists, whilst providing quality free, underground downloads from across South Africa all on it's website, hence it's new slogan "We The Underground."

The line is more than just a slogan now, as it gives birth to the first self-compilation mixtape the West Coast has seen. It promises to deliver familiar favorites with the addition of new artists and sounds - blending the West Coast with a lot of the other music scenes left unheard.

While all songs are featured on the website as  "SwagCityXclusives" - this mixtape is surely iconic and every-way and a first to promtoting the underground in a unified way.

Cape Town Students Killer At Hip-Hop Theme Song

The city of Cape Town, one of South Africa's biggest music scenes, with a growing number of popular Hip-Hop acts, a continual flow of EDM and a vibrant night-life, has seen some of the nation's top acts start from the bottom and work their way, stage by stage to the top.



As remarkable as this is, a recent fresh sound was discovered on the 10th of May 2014 at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology Open Day, an exhibition event introducing prospective students to the various courses on offer for their academic future.



Held at Bellville campus, one of these courses on display had a distinctive vibe around it, a sort of ambiance which seemed to excite those who passed by it. Known as Public Relations Management, a catchy brand name "InstaPR" was displayed instead in respect to their sleek theme and this accompanied a Hip-Hop song by three of the Cape's youngest artists. 

The track entitled as '#InstaPR2014 (Insta PR Song)' was downloaded more than 150 times on the very same day of premier. Louie B from Question Mark Movement, a rap group which made it's first big debut on the South Africa reality TV-show 'SA's Got Talent', collaborated with Tha Real U, a South-African-West-Coast based underground rapper from Shaloma Muzik. Additional vocals were provided by the Nambian-raised songstress Taffy Mwaza.

Their efforts in creating a song which could attract more-and-more future university students to study the course, proved to be useful. Their understanding of the course, the Public Relations field and university life, has made this record not only a popular hit with the students but is even said to be enjoyed by the dean of the course. 

So far the track has received mixed feedback, mainly positive, and is available on The SA Mark Hip-Hop music site, SwagCity and WapTrick.

Additional Links: 

• View Lyrics (RapGenius)
• Download 
• Facebook
• Twitter: @InstaPR2014
• Instagram

Why Would Shaloma Make A Diss Track?

The song is both a linked artistry of Saldanha rapper, Jempas & Saint Helena Bay Conscious/Christian rapper, Tha Real U. Following preceding works of Tha Real U, the fact that a Conscious Rapper released a diss track seemed to leave many in arrears.

Shaloma however in contrast to its normal distribution online, released this song locally as it dealt with an internal issue within West Coast Hip-Hop.

 Two months ago, newcomers ILLSCRIPTS, a Saldanha Bay rap group, released 'Ons Is Bevok', a diss track aimed at Major, one of the West Coast's more acknowledged rappers, known for his works in the public favourite former rap group, Major Playerz.

The songs reception has been moderate, although it is widely-unfamiliar locally, it's greatest success saw ILLSCRIPTS debut on YouTube with 182 views so far.

Following Real U's latest official release 'Underground Kings', remarkably known for receiving 100 downloads in one day, the song briefly concludes with the statement that: those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who remain humble will be exalted, a Biblical scripture from Luke 14:11.

 As 'Underground Kings' was released as an indirect message aimed at artist particularly on the West Coast, Shaloma Muzik extended this theme with 'Lord Have Mercy' as a direct message to the newcomers.

ILLSCRIPTS' Junio A! & Lil' Sain became the prime example, reason being is that they are personally know by the duo. As Real U's 'Underground Kings' did not reach the Saldanha Bay rap group as consciously as it should have, 'Lord Have Mercy' was released to educate the group with a more direct approach.

The evidence of the link between the two songs is found in the structure of the song as 'Underground Kings' and 'Lord Have Mercy' both start with Real U lyrically rapping in the first verse, standing out the second and then concluding the song with a dramatic message-based third verse.

In both cases the third verse was recorded to clarify and provoke a powerful statement.

Perhaps the center focus behind 'Lord Have Mercy' should be where Real U's says "I'm the educator and I'm teaching it, close your eyes homie I'm about to start preachin' it, Lord have mercy upon these rappers who have no idea what real Hip-Hop is." This metaphor corresponds with the controversial line in Real U's song "will you quit rapping sh*t?! Like you got something better today." Evidently Real U is provoking rappers to add sense to their lyrics and not rapping for public impression. It's clear that Shaloma's intention was to promote consciousness by bring the issue regarding the ILLSCRIPTS' recorded diss song into light, rather than insult the artists on a mic.

Twistyle Muzik captured this rather well with the release of 'Keep Pushing.' The song features Lee Rick, a artist significantly known for his verse in 'Long Nights' - the breakthrough song for Conscious Hip-Hop on the West Coast.

The second verse in 'Lord Have Mercy' is painted by Jempas. He concludes with a powerful line, "You asses think it's insane but for yal it's all just in vain." Vanity is a large issue regarding Hip-Hop culture as a whole in these modern times, the rap duo thus formulated a inflicting message in these two songs about how the West Coast should not be pushed into the same situation. Jempas describes ILLSCRIPTS as "lil’ Chihuahuas tryna bark out loud" asking for mercy as they don't understand the implications of their actions, and quiet frankly have no idea what the underground industry is about, this lyrically suggested through the second verse. He uses a threatening tone of voice and lyrics to ensure that Shaloma Muzik will stop at nothing to awake a conscious system of listeners within its community and hopefully globally.

» Click here to read the connected article concerning 'Underground Kings.'
 

External Links:

» To download 'Lord Have Mercy (Junio A! & Lil' Sain Diss)' visit swagcity.wen.ru using your Mobile device.

» Click here for song lyrics to 'Lord Have Mercy (Junio A! & Lil' Sain Diss)' on Metrolyrics.com.

Real U Wears The Crown For The Underground

West Coast Hip-Hop raised the banner high this week as Saint Helena Bay rapper, Tha Real U reps his town and region well. The conscious rapper released his follow up to 'That I'm Dreaming' which reached a record breaking 100 downloads in 2 weeks, but that was nothing compared to this week’s happenings. The song 'Underground Kings' was produced by Shaloma Muzik following a similar production procedure of 'November 28 Girl' and a hard-core message echoing that of 'Long Nights' - the West Coast Conscious Hip-Hop banger which left many speechless after its release about 2 months ago.

Johannesburg rapper, TiTan Kai from the Eldorado Park Christian Hip-Hop group, UNIQUE, joined Real U on this groundbreaking new single. As another heat-seeker following Real U's two successful releases, 'Underground Kings' rapidly gained downloads and plays within just an hour of release. According to Shaloma Muzik's posts on Tha Real U's Facebook page, the song gathered 12 plays within 45 minutes and 10 downloads within 50, a number which normally takes some artists roundabout a day, sometimes a week or even a month to achieve.

The song then went on to beat its sister, 'Long Nights' by accumulating 60 downloads in just 19 hours, compared to the 56 — 'Long Nights' has after 2 months. Followed by an abundance of thanks from Tha Real U, the song initially reached 98 downloads at 18h00 (GMT+2) on Wednesday, December 19th; 24 hours from when it was subject to release. However, due to its actual release at 18h06 the previous day this result did not reflect the full 24 hours which at just a few minutes later saw the song officially reach the 100 downloads mark at 18h10.

In respect to the songs release, mobile music-site Swagcity (swagcity.wen.ru), introduced a new feature, entitled 'Featured Song' which places a selected track located on the site, on its home page for a week. Granted that 'Underground Kings' was a brand new addition, the song became the first to be featured in this promotion.

Reflecting some of Real U's work on his mixtape, the song is recorded on a Drake instrumental of the same title. Real U stated that he found the instrumental a few months back online and felt the urge to record on it instantly. He found the title appropriate to the message he (at that time) wanted to present. This occurred after he felt a little discouraged due to the fact that some suggested that they disliked Real U's rapping in comparison to other local rappers. A few others stated that his message is different causing him not be as good as the rest. Real U however did not record this song as a response to his haters, but rather an indirect message to other rappers and their fans, which vividly compare his work to theirs.

The center aim of the song is bringing consciousness to artists, particularly rappers in the West Coast region. Real U states that he is an Underground King, not because of status but because of his position. His message of faith through Conscious Rap is a way of repping his superhero, Jesus as stated. As Galatians 4:7 in the Bible states that they are heirs in the Kingdom of God and co-heirs in Christ, Real U suggests that they should be considered kings on Earth as the Bible identities them as princes in Heaven.

This Christian perspective is evident throughout the song and stretches till the end, where Real U concludes that those who exalt themselves, considering themselves to be better than the rest, will be humbled.

As initially intended Shaloma Muzik will soon release a lyrical video for the song on YouTube. Other than this, it has not yet been confirmed as to whether or not the song will be uploaded on KasiMp3, as it will follow the release procedure of its two predecessors, appearing on Zamob and other connected sites of the Wapload network.

Real U keeps it Real COOL! One Truth and One Mixtape.

Former DJ, Real U (also known as Real Mixwell) dropped his revolutionary mixtape 50/50: The Vision last week, on the very first day of Spring on the African continent. With this 1st September release, there were no delays in getting it! Regardless of how the tape was pushed back 2 weeks since it's proposed release date, the mixtape received instant download numbers and positive comments from various listeners.



Photo courtesy of Shaloma Muzik.

Its promotion however was kept to a low, as Real U intends to provide his listeners with quality lyrics and sound. The production of The Vision can be criticised, but for many it has been overlooked as the editing and lyrically content filled the tape with a potential flow.

Feats from Lil' Beats and LiLReD helped narrow the solo feel of the release, with Kristie Alexandra vocally supporting the mixtape in its introductory stage on Crash Down.

Bonus songs Last Goodbye & Got Me Down paved a smooth ending to the 25-track Christian-based Conscious Hip-Hop fiasco. Local beat maker, Lee-Rick and musician Noel Kearns, helped as well as Real U thankfully credits them for their work. The mixtape is certainly a must hear for many. The question is not really 'who is Real U?' but rather 'what can he do?'

Title based on 1 Corinthians 13:12, '50/50' reflects both an uncertain image of life and the hope of a fulfilled vision in Christ.

Inspired to serve, this 18 year old lyricst, speaks either truth or a really brutal message to the youth. Days after the tape's release, Real U decided to tweet his expressive flow, under the hashtag #5050TheVision. No stranger to tweeting rhymes, the youngin' promotes Christian Hip Hop from the likes of Lecrae, Trip Lee & Bizzle, regularly through socially networking.

What lies in store for his artistic future? Only God knows.

To download Tha Real U '50/50: The Vision' visit www.tharealu.tk.
Download is free.