2019 was a rather quiet year for Hip Hop in South Africa.

Amapiano had risen to take its place in the mainstream, triggering debates about the future of the genre’s future social capital in the culture. Things might change this year, however, as some of the most established incumbents are working on their latest projects. Here’s 5 everyone is waiting for.

NASTY C 

Considering how much he’s already achieved in his career, it’s hard to believe that Nasty C only just recently turned 23!

It isn’t just the accolades we are alluding to, though. It’s also not just the unprecedented commercial success, the legions of young fans who are devoted to him, or even the fact that he’s now hanging out with the likes of Da Baby and Post Malone.

The latter has, of course, sparked much speculation about possible international features in his forthcoming album.

Nasty C is ‘Zulu Man With Some Power’ is almost ready for release as the rapper shortlists 16 songs from a recorded 47. Photo: Supplied

It’s really the richly layered reflections on life that he is able to deliver with confidence, vulnerability and the linguistic virtuosity that makes his bars so potent. It’s the storytelling, the lyrical swell, the catchy hooks and the flow that blows.

Following the success of his 2017 album Strings & Bling, which spawned a slew of hits including SMA with Rowlene, Nasty C is getting ready for the release of his third studio album, Zulu Man With Some Power.

Nasty C recently revealed that he’s trimmed 47 and shortlisted a perfect 16 for the project. He also shared that the album will be divided into four sections.

ROUGE 

The fact that the South African music industry is more receptive to female rappers now more than ever, is part of Rouge’s legacy.

Rouge in 2019 declared herself as the best female rapper in South Africa. Fans are looking forward to her elevated game in the next album. Photo Credit: Instagram

While we dread having to bring up the whole ‘female rappers’ thing every time we mention a female rapper, which itself can sometimes function to create a false narrative of female rappers as mere constant spin-offs to a male default, it’s still worth noting that her contributions to the game have elevated it not just for her, but also the ones on the come up.

Since the release of her 2017 album, New Era Sessions, the rapper has shown no signs of slowing down her tempo. On the contrary, she’s now focused on refining her live performances so that they are levels above the sometimes messy pacing we get from rappers onstage.

RELATED: ROUGE AND AKA UNVEIL ARTWORK FOR NEW SINGLE!

Working with her ‘Rouge Unit’ dance team for some high energy choreography, the Dololo hitmaker now delivers dope routines both for her live performances and videos.

We also love the fact that she’s focusing on being conceptual in how she presents her work, which has informed the school uniform costumes and set for her Popular music video.

With her stripes earned, it’s no wonder she declared herself as the best female rapper in South Africa last year! And the Mbongo Zaka rapper is prepping the release of ‘One by One’, her highly anticipated collaborative joint with AKA. The track is slated for release on Friday, February 28th.

KWESTA

Kwesta’s previous album, Da Kar II, was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry of South Africa. Photo Credit: Instagram

Wednesday, February 26th marks exactly four years since the rapper’s hit album, Da Kar II, was released. The album came out on this day in 2014, and changed not only the trajectory of Kwesta’s career, but also the landscape of the South African Hip Hop scene.

The Katlehong, Johannesburg east native, who’d already been pushing the hustle for 10 years prior to the encounter with his big break, delivered a slew of street anthem and chart toppers back to back.  The 11-track magnum opus was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry of South Africa, becoming the first to achieve the feat.

RELATED: WHY KWESTA WILL NO LONGER PERFORM AT CLUBS 

Da Kar featured major hits, such as Ngud, Mayibabo and Ngiyazifela, all which were certified platinum.

Since the album, however, Kwesta’s ascension has continued. He’s released tracks featured international rappers Wale (Spirit), and Rick Ross. He also achieved significant success with more recent releases, such as Vur Vai and Khethile Khethile.

CASSPER NYOVEST 

After diversifying his discography by dabbling in amapiano over the last couple of years, Nyovest has been able to maintain his stead as one of the biggest figures in contemporary South African pop culture.

He’d triumphantly churned out three studio albums when in 2018, Cassper returned to his kwaito roots on Short & Sweet.

The album delivered a nostalgic kwaito flavour at the same time Cassper began working with the likes of DJ Sumbody on Monate Mpolaye.

And due to the influence of kwaito on amapiano, he was able to seamlessly carry the vibe on amapiano collaborative deliveries with the same energy that attended to Remote Control. 

PICTURES: THE HOTTEST ACTION AT ‘FIILL UP ROYAL BAFOKENG’

More recently, he’s been working with amapiano dab hands DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small on several projects, most notably for several features on their latest joint album.

Cassper Nyovest has his eyes on saving SA Hip Hop from what some fear to be a plunge in relevance in his forthcoming fifth album. The first single, Good For That, has already been making waves.

AKA 

AKA is one of the most fascinating figures in the culture. If it’s not for his music, people are completely immersed in the texture of his personal life. And if not, he’s trending on Twitter because a TMZ style clip of him with a rumoured lover.

Notwithstanding the manner in which he is always splashed across the tabloids thanks to the frenzy that often attends to him, there’s no doubt that the rapper has played a superior role in shaping the current landscape in music.

We know that his double platinum selling third album, Touch My Blood, won’t really be his last. He ‘fessed up to having lied about the early retirement himself. What’s more, 2019 proved to be a busy year in AKA’s musical career.

He released Main Ous with Youngsta CPT, satiating long-standing demands for a collaboration between the rappers. The visuals for the song also found AKA showing some love to the streets of Cape Town, his hometown. Interestingly, up until that point, that sight had been quite rare.

RELATED: AKA’S ‘DREAMWORK’ BREAKS RECORDS!

Supamega also debuted F.R.E.E  with Riky Rick and DJ Tira, and later appeared on Costa Titch’s Nkalakatha Remix.

As part of his promotional strategy to keep fans excited about his 4th album, the Fela in Versace hitmaker has been sharing teasers of some of the new music on his social media. It’s also worth a mention that an insider from his record label did reveal to me that the next album might just be his best yet.

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