Whenever you think of an artist that encapsulates their music, K.O should definitely be one of the first that come to mind.
Walking into the interview room earlier this week, the rapper came fully-dressed in his own clothing line — Skhanda World. His is a hip-hop clothing collection that represents what the Skhanda movement has come to be known for since the release of his debut album Skhanda Republic (SR) in 2014 — full of colour, swag, fashion and fun.
“Skhanda is our signature sound. When we made Caracara, I wanted to create something that would make people resonate with South African hip- hop the same way that they did with kwaito.
“Kwaito was so relatable because it embraced ikasi and had elements of is'Pantsula. So I thought, ‘how do I mash up all those elements and still keep it hip-hop?’, and that is how Caracara was born,” he said.
After five years since his last release from the SR2 movement, K.O has finally announced the release of his third offering to this trilogy that is due in July, he said. Last week Thursday, he released the last single titled Emoyeni, a light- hearted song that carries the undertone of seriousness to it.
“It carries a conscientising message, a prayer to God asking that He spares our young lives at the backdrop of the many deaths that the hip-hop industry has been faced with in recent times,” referencing to the death of Riky Rick, DJs City Lyts and Dimplez — who all passed away under different circumstances earlier this year.
“On Skhanda Republic 3, I worked with the same guy that I worked with on the first one and that will bring all the classic sounds that people have come to love. I will also feature a variety of artists but one I can confidently disclose is an artist from Nigeria named Ruger who is amazing.
“I will probably feature some of my guys from the label and I am hoping to work with AKA, Nasty C, Emtee or Blxckie, and even an international artist — which is still in the works.”
He also adds that people can expect what they loved from the debut album — which includes love songs.
“There is also a song about a toxic relationship, which is my personal experience. Although the story told there is not an exact mirror-reflection of my story but because I am never one who thumb-sucks stories, I use myself as a reference.
“I’ve been in a super toxic relationship and I know exactly those moments where the love is just explosive and at the same time we are just not good for each other. But at the same time, people like hearing K.O have fun and that will come through on the album.”
Real name Ntokozo Mdluli, 41, the rapper also spoke about going through a rough patch but says he is in a much better place now.
“For me to be here, I do believe that there is a greater purpose and I saw myself overcoming some of the darkest moments in life, especially during this pandemic. I dealt with Covid-19 in the first wave and it was terrible.
“So being here, in 2022, I know that God spared my life for something. Even during these turbulent times, there is a sense of security, knowing that I am here to fulfil what I need to fulfil and therefore I cannot allow short-term turbulence to rattle the cage,” K.O says.
He also adds that he found himself going back to God, being raised in a Christian home with a father who is “part-time pastor”.
K.O came to the spotlight in 2007 as a member of hip-hop group trio Teargas with Ntukza and Ma-E when they dropped their debut K'shubile K'bovu with hits like Chance. While still enjoying heavy radio rotation, they went to release two more albums, Wafa Wafa and Dark or Blue, before they split and pursued solo careers.
While Ntukza disappeared from the industry and Ma-E went on to release more music, it has been K.O who has managed to remain on top of the hip- hop game and established his own record label, Cashtime Life. This despite the local pop genres being shaken by the amapiano wave.
Despite his staying power, K.O admits to suffering low moments thrown to him by the industry. “One of the reasons that made this album so challenging... it came at a time where almost everything was falling apart, with Cashtime Life being dismembered and stuff.
“I was under hectic scrutiny and I had already released SR1, a massive album, and so now the pressure is fully on and people are expecting me to pull another miracle. Heavy is the crown,” he said giggling.
This fallout within Cashtime Life saw artists like Moozlie and Kid X leaving the stable, with K.O wishing them well on their journeys in a statement released in 2017, and also saw accusations that “he put himself first before artists signed to the label and delayed album releases”, reports said.
“Also at that time, I wasn’t working with producer Lunatic, so I went into it with new producers and all that stuff. One of the mistakes that I made was allowing a lot of voices and opinions on the creation of the work.
Because of the industry politics, bad press and people’s opinions, the album didn’t execute at the best of my ability
“Asking what they thought of this and that, and in my entire life I had never involved a lot of people’s opinions but instead would go in cold turkey and create what was in my heart.
“Because of the industry politics, bad press and people’s opinions, the album didn’t execute at the best of my ability,” he said, also adding that the release of 2019 album Pty UnLTD was going back to believing in himself again.
The success of that album gave him the confidence to bring back the SR sound that many have been asking for, he said.
While away from music, K.O focused on his clothing business that will be releasing its winter range soon; dominated by the colour black which he says could be monumental to this sad period in hip-hop.
“The last four years of the fashion business were very stressful because I had to do everything with my business partner. From designing to sourcing out material. But now things have finally settled down and we were able to get the clothes made overseas and those will be landing soon.”
Fun Fact
- Favourite food — Teriyaki chicken with broccoli, nuts, mushroom and the works
- Favourite actor – Tom Hardy
- Favourite musician — Tupac
- Current favourite song — Emoyeni by K.O
- Favourite emoji — 😎
- All-time favourite movie — Casino
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