Premosabe II: The Underdog Tape

It's been a long time coming to say the very least but at last, the long awaited successor to the unexpected success that was the Premosabe mix tape has now arrived.
Premosabe II: The Underdog Tape (Premosabe being a combination of 'pre' and 'Kimosabe') can be described simply as the ultimate Sixfo collection.
Here I pulled out all the stops, from production to concepts to features, enlisting some of hip-hop's current favourites such as F-Eezy, Micky M, Molly, B'laqphamas, Smashis, Dotcom and Password amongst others to create what could possibly be the best hip-hop mix tape on the web in South Africa today.
The concept for the cover art is very simple, as the title suggests, the mix tape is the testament of an underdog in life, the dog is symbolic of myself as being a literal under-dog.
Production was handled by myself alongside the soulful JayTip of the Cape Town-based rap group Password who produced Versace.
Enjoy. Share. Be patient. Kimosabe is still on the way.
#watchmedoit
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/?384g1xzbiwia2pz

Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/sixtybaby/sets/premosabe-ii-the-underdog-tape

The Newspaper Hustle

The Love

Q and A with MaXhoseni

Everybody knows him, looks up to him and chances are you sent him a collaboration request through his Facebook inbox. Meet everybody's favourite Xhosa rapper and big brother-MaXhoseni a.k.a iKhoboka Lenyaniso.

Sixfo: Firstly, the name MaXhoseni. I'm sure a lot of people have just been dying to know the meaning behind MaXhoseni, so what does it mean?

MaXhoseni: "MaXhoseni is meant for a Tribal person who came from EC to Urban areas to hustle for a better living, so I am representing guys from EC hustling in Urban areas. MaXhoseni also means EC so I represent Eastern Cape." That's my story and I am sticking to it.
Sixfo: What are you doing with yourself lately? As in, what are you currently working on?

MaXhoseni: At the moment I'm collaborating with a young talented rapper, vocalist and producer who has also been making waves recently, his name is Sixfo. We have two singles so far, 'Gimme Love' and 'The Hustle'. These tracks have been in high rotation on Radio Stations, have been well recieved and we are loving the response out there. If you have heard them, I am sure you can vouch for me when I say we have a killer album in the pipeline.

Sixfo: As one of the most respected Xhosa emcees in the game, who have you worked with and what has been the highlight of your career?

MaXhoseni: I have worked with a lot of (acclaimed & undiscovered) artists and producers from all over the country.
Chillimane, Da Nombika, Max Farrel (USA), David Teren, Mashonisa, DJ Soso Wase Cala, Sabza (Swaziland) & Dilaska to name but a few.

Sixfo's "Big Brother - (Dedicated to MaXhoseni)" is definitely a highlight of my career. I am glad that I really made a change to this talented guy.

Sixfo: What's your take on the current situation of Hip Hop?

MaXhoseni: Some rappers will make you hate Hip Hop. But let me just forget that ish and focus on a positive side. South African hip hop is growing and the society is taking it serious now. Mad props to all rappers that collabs with other genres.

Sixfo: What are you bumping right now?

MaXhoseni: Sabza's mixtape "Sabza & Friends Mixtape" featuring JayTip, Dilaska, X the Green Panther, Psyko & VerSatile. Sixfo's "PreMosabe" featuring MaXhoseni, F-eezy, Molly, Froz, Lwansta & SiG. I don't even skip a day without listening to my favorite rappers of all time Nas and Jay-Z.

Sixfo: Describe MaXhoseni in a sentence.

MaXhoseni: I am the nicest and humble rapper you'll ever know.

Sixfo: Thanks for your time dawg, anything you wanna say in closing?

MaXhoseni: I would like to say a very big THANK YOU to everyone that supports Password Crew (MaXhoseni, JayTip, Dilaska & Sabza). Please follow us on Twitter @PasswordCrew
If you have any questions for MaXhoseni, post your questions in the comments section below this post.

Work

PreMosabe Mix tape

PreMosabe Mix tape

The Topic ft. F-Eezy and Micky M

Taken off PreMosabe II: The Underdog Tape.
Download link: http://kasimp3.co.za/s/4ly

Zakwe-Zakwe Album Review

So, after eventually purchasing(something we should all do) my copy of Zakwe's self-titled debut, I immediately hit the net to find reviews about the project before actually listening to it, as expected it was an epic fail because nobody knows how to properly interpret or review music down here.

And so,I inserted the disc into my CD drive, hoping to be converted into a fan.
Sadly, that didn't happen.

Track 1, appropriately titled u-Zakwe does it's job as the intro, I won't lie but being Xhosa and understanding only the bare minimums of Zulu, I struggled to follow the story and exactly what was going on lyrically, even with the hints of english here and there (which were, at times incomprehensible).
As I proceeded past the two lead singles, Bathi Ng'yachoma and Benzani (which sound pretty much the same), I stumbled upon two gems on the album in the form of Scatterlings Re-loaded, the famous Johnny Cleg Sample, very different from the rest of the album (which sounds more or less the same).
The second gem being a song titled Home, which features vocals from a guy I've never heard of, goes by the name of Vuyo Tyolo and sounds a lot like Brian Themba-everybody does nowadays, but yeah, it's a good track, nice story to it if you passed Zulu during high school.
I like Zakwe, the album has one or three songs I'd consider the repeat button on like Kasi Love, Scatterlings Re-loaded and maybe Music featuring Abdus, Lungelo and Maraza but the rest, too much bass, repetition and wheelchair punchlines.
There are two kinds of people who'd thoroughly enjoy this album though-people who like a lot of bass and a lot of punchlines, with a little bit of a story here and there and then there are Zulu speaking people, either way it's a good album for testing out your car's sound system, but not so great for the iPod, however Zakwe's won himself a new fan-me.
•Production: 3/5 (repetitive)
•Lyricism: 4/5 (too many wheelchair punchlines)
•Cover art: 3/5 (looks cool, but was that the only image available?)
•Overall: 3/5

PreMosabe II: The Underdog Tape

After the unexpected success of PreMosabe (available for download/streaming on the blog), it was only right to begin work on a follow up to the viral mix tape.
PreMosabe II: The Underdog Tape (Pre-Kimosabe) will be available for download and streaming exclusively from the blog on the 17th August this year.
As far as content goes, it's a lot darker and not as radio-friendly as it's predecessor which is indicative of what is to be expected from the Kimosabe album.
The Cover Art: There's been quite a bit of mystery surrounding the cover art of the project although the concept is very simple and literal, it's a dog dressed up as me, hense I'm a dog-an underdog.

Look out for the television tracks: ''Watch Me Do it'' and ''Be You''.

The Sixth Sense: Part 3

Download link:http://www.mediafire.com/?acnxvbfjm20xju6

Arguably one of my best mix tapes to date (including Premosabe), The Sixth Sense: Part 3 is indicative of my evolution in to my current sound. Although about 2 years old already, it's back by popular demand for download only, made famous by it's enigmatic and (in some circles) controversial cover art, The Sixth Sense: Part 3 is a compilation of some of my best songs that never got to be recognised for their full potential, it is the final edition of a 4 year running mix tape series, but ya'll don't wanna hear those.
Fast Fact: The Sixth Sense: Part 3 was meant to be my first ever official release.