In October 2019, I was nominated by legendary GP Gangsta member and co-founder Tumelo Andile Mpanza (also known as Rev Tumza) to participate in a 10 day Facebook challenge where I had to post an album artwork per day of albums that had an impact on me. One of the rules of the challenge was that I couldn’t give any explanations or background stories regarding the albums. I mentioned that it would be tough for me considering how much I really love talking about music or artists that have had any type of influence on my work and/or life in general. Since the challenge is now complete, I would like to finally break down the impact that each album I posted during the challenge had on me.
The first time I ever became a full-blown super fan of a musician (or group in this case) was with TKZee. I was around 9-years-old and completely obsessed. The singles they had dropped prior to the release of their debut album, Halloween, were incredible. I loved every single song I had heard from them before their debut dropped – from “Palafala” to “Masimbela” to “Guz” to “Shibobo”. When the album finally dropped, my mother bought me the cassette and it became my daily bread. I took it EVERYWHERE with me. I remember being invited to the birthday party of a childhood friend of mine and I brought the cassette along with me so they could play it. “Halloween” is the key soundtrack to my childhood. I regard it as the soundtrack to my innocence.
Day 2 – “The Score” (1996) by Fugees
This album was introduced to me at around the same time as TKZee’s “Halloween”. My mother bought the cassette for me assuming it was a Soul album ‘cause she knew I liked the album’s first single “Killing Me Softly”. It was through this album that I got introduced to Hip-Hop – although, technically, TKZee was my first introduction to Hip-Hop, but that’s a conversation I’ll save for another time. In fact, I used to consider what I was hearing on this album as “Kwaito yako America”. It goes without saying that most of what I was hearing flew over my 9-year-old head, but the music definitely stayed in my heart. It was only after re-uniting with the album some time in my late teens that I began to truly understand and appreciate the artistry exemplified by Wyclef, Praz, and Lauryn.
This album dropped in 2001, right after Zola had completely blown the entire country away as Papa Action in Yizo Yizo II (replacing Ronnie Nyakale from the show’s first season). “Ghetto Fabulous” had also convinced us that not only was this guy a talented actor, but he was also an equally talented (if not more so) musician. I was in grade 7 at the time and had saved up some cash (R30, to be precise) to go purchase a copy of Eminem’s “The Marshall Mathers LP” after hearing it countless times during school holidays at a cousin’s house. When I arrived at the shop (which was a small record shop in Lenasia where I bought ALL my music at the time) I found out that cassette tapes from international artists were priced at R50 each. I didn’t want to leave the store empty-handed, so I decided to buy “uMdlwembe” – which I was planning to save up for at a later stage anyway. A decision I never regretted. Zola’s brand of Kwaito was mind-blowing. I became a HUGE fan and bought more and more of his following releases.
Day 4 – “The Marshall Mathers LP” (2000) by Eminem
This album changed how I listened to Hip-Hop forever. It shifted my focus from just enjoying the music to paying more attention to, and appreciating, the technical aspect of rap. I gauged every rapper I heard afterward using this album. Eminem was an incredible writer and the amount of passion he had in his delivery made me gravitate towards his style. I used this album as a catharsis for the teen angst I experienced in my high school years – definitely the soundtrack to my adolescence. I was never a troublesome kid, but I had issues with my self-esteem and a lot of bottled-up anger and this album served as the perfect escape for me. “The Marshall Mathers LP” was my introduction to Eminem and I’ve been a “stan” ever since.
Day 5 – “The College Dropout” (2004) by Kanye West
A huge part of me wants to label this album as “My All-time favourite”. It was love at first listen. The amount of love and passion that went into the creation of this gem shines through every single time I’ve played since first hearing it in 2004. Kanye was unapologetically himself. He didn’t try to be “gangster” (which was the in thing at the time) or anything else he wasn’t. It’s an honest album that sounds like he had a point to prove – and he proved it, to himself and to the rest of the world. The fact that he did all of his own production is absolutely inspiring and he will forever get my respect based on this album alone (not taking anything away from the many other classics Mr. West has given us). Man, “Family Business” still brings me close to tears to this day!
Day 6 – “Dankie San” (2007) by PROkid
This is my favourite PRO album. Two things happened that made me anticipate the release of this album with bated breath; 1. Watching PRO perform “Bhamba” for the first time on Live (I think it was still called “One” at the time) and 2. Hearing him perform “Ringa Mo” and “Uthini Ngo PRO” live on T-Bo Touch’s show “Rhyme & Reason” on Metro FM. I wasted no time and got myself a copy as soon as it dropped. I had always preferred PRO spitting in vernac than in English, and that’s exactly what he did on this album – he gave me my favourite version of PRO on an incredibly produced body of work.
Day 7 – “Now And Still After (N.A.S.A.)” (2008) by Promised Land Entertainment
This album got introduced to me in early 2009. I was vibing to a lot of Vaal Hip-Hop at the time (e.g. “We Ain’t Done Yet” by One-2 and “Cure For The Pain” by Mothipa, etc.). I was working on my own debut tape at the time (SPeeKa presents The Insane Maestro, 2010) and this project served as somewhat of a bible, mainly in terms of production, mixing and mastering – we all know that Vaal MCs are not to be messed with lyrically. I would reference songs from this project ‘cause I felt it was exactly what I was trying to achieve with my own tape. The project was produced by Mr. Instro, Mo Katalyst and Hope Masta and it made me gain a whole new level of respect for Vaal producers because up until that point, the only Vaal producer I knew of and acknowledged was BattleKat (who I consider to be the greatest South African Hip-Hop producer of all time).
Day 8 – “This N That Without Tempo” (2010) by Samthing Soweto
This album (like a few other albums I’ve mentioned here) came at a time when I was at my lowest. I was at a point where getting out of bed was a massive struggle and I was sinking deeper and deeper into the dark ocean of ‘lack of motivation’. One morning I bumped it, from beginning to end, while still in bed and it became my daily ritual. I bumped it every single morning before getting out of bed for at least two weeks. Samthing Soweto has ALWAYS been incredible. Always. There are things that he has done for me personally that have helped build me both as a person and as a music producer, and the release of this project indirectly adds to the list of those things. “Tshabalala” remains one of my all-time favourite songs from him. If you just discovered his work, I urge you to go back and find this absolutely PERFECT body of work. Also, fun fact: I helped design the album artwork.
Day 9 – “Charity Starts At Home” (2011) by Phonte
I call this one “The Soundtrack To My Adulthood” - Another one that came into my life when I was in a state of emotional turmoil. I had this album for about 3 years before finally giving it a listen in September 2015. Phonte spoke to me directly on this album. I still wonder if it would’ve hit the same had I gave it a listen when I first got it and had not went through what I did – Yoh, I was a mess! He touched on issues involving love, work, family, heartbreak – basically all the things a young 26-year-old black man was juggling. It hit home and it still does. I love this album deeply. Upon further research, I discovered that Phonte was going through a divorce at the time he was making the album, which made all the sense in the world – you know, because pain tends to be the origin of most beautiful pieces of art.
Day 10 – “Malibu” (2016) by Anderson .Paak
Like most of us, I was first introduced to Anderson .Paak when he appeared on Dr. Dre’s “Compton” (2015). He appears on 6 tracks on the album, but for me, he won me over as a fan on the song “Animals” - it’s my favourite song on the album. A few months after “Compton” dropped, Anderson .Paak dropped the masterpiece known as “Malibu”. That was it. I was now completely sold. “Malibu” is utterly flawless. Everything about it lets you know that Anderson .Paak is fully aware of his capabilities and he doesn’t spend time telling you how dope he is, he lets the music do the talking. This album made me go on a full on hunt for .Paak’s entire discography. It was after listening to practically everything he had done up until that point (“The Anderson .Paak EP” [2015] with Blended Babies, “Venice” [2014], “O.B.E. vol. 1” [2012] as “Breezy Lovejoy” and his “NxWories” stuff with Knxwledge) that I confidently labeled Anderson .Paak, who also produces some of his own stuff, as the greatest artist of our generation.
Peace to Rev Tumza for nominating me for this challenge. It’s too bad it only had 10 days ‘cause I have more albums that have had an impact on me, so I’ll end this with a few honourable mentions:
“2001” (1999) by Dr. Dre
“Guz 2001” (1999) by TKZee Family
“Izinja” (2002) by Mapaputsi
“Be” (2005) by Common
“Stillmatic” (2001) by Nas
“Impilo Ka Lova” by Slovas
“Khut En Joyn” (2002) by Skwatta Kamp
“Motswafrika” (2011) by HHP
“Demon Daze” (2005) by Gorillaz
“Konsider Kush Live Ath The Joburg Theatre” (2016) by Konsider Kush
“Levels” (2014) by AKA
“Return Of The King” (2015) by Tumi
“Skhanda Republic” (2014) by K.O.
“Undisputed” (2003) by Chippa & Mzambiya
“Amanzi Mtoti” (2003)by H20
“Seven Khalaz” (2014) by Darkie
“May The Lord Watch” (2019) by Little Brother
“The Human Condition” (2016) by Jon Bellion
“The Lost Boy” (2019) by Cordae
- SPeeKa, An Obsession or Two
This is becoming my favourite part of the internet! Dankie, SPeeKa!