thesoundplug

[thesoundplug]

New Domain Coming Soon!!

[thesoundplug]

Cold - Yung Swiss & J Molley It's been a very good year for Yung Swiss and the Hood Pharmacist. With Swiss it all started last year with piecing together the hook of one of the biggest songs that year in the country - 'Mayo', from there it's been a constant ascendance. With J Molley on the other side, it all happened with a SoundCloud account and maximising the internet to the core. With singles like '945' and 'Hype' doing enough to get him the hook up with Speedsta. Now J Molley has been nominated for best newcomer and mixtape of the year at the SA Hip Hop Awards. While 'Mayo' with Swiss is nominated for best collaboration. It's hard to ignore that DJ Speedsta was major catalyst to putting these boys in the mainstream. Now the two crooners together on a PGP beat (Play Ground Production) for an icy record titled 'Cold', you know in the game your neck and wrist gotta be 'Cold'. So the song is an ode to jewellery and all the lavish sorts of Hip Hop. We all know J's story of almost spending 200K on a fake Rolex. Checkout the jam on Audiomack. Jordan Soul

[thesoundplug]

Swang - Rowlene The Capetonian act has come a long way to solidify her brand of music in the South African music industry and become a household name, from collaborations with Nasty C, Tellaman, Lastee and Riky Rick. 'Swang' is a rebellious R&B song leaning towards the raw aesthetic of Hip Hop as she sings over hard 808's about being a bad bad and "eyebrows on Kim K". 'Swang' really shows that Rowlene has been keeping a lot of rap company as she freely lays down a few bars but still keeping her natural R&B cadence. And this only adds to her repertoire as an artist. The electric guitar outro is one of the best parts on the songs as it appears in the background throughout the song. Jordan Soul

[thesoundplug]

Round 2 (Feat. Dj Rico, Gontse King Culture) - Young Tyran Johannesburg rapper Young Tyran hit us up with 'Round 2' the official single off his solo EP which will be released soon. The song is cut from the fabric of melodic Hip Hop where we find Young Tyran singing about intoxicated nights and a lady pleading to fornicate with him as he switches from singing to rapping chanting "Round 2, round 2". The song is produced by frequent collaborator FirstClass and is available on Audiomack. Jordan Soul

[thesoundplug]

Robin Thirdfloor Bhotela Listening Session

Durban doesn’t seem to cater for creatives or people with a conceptualised artistic direction, the structures are just not in place to grow art in this city. So Umlazi alternative Hip Hop artist Robin Thirdfloor decided to host a listening party for his new EP titled ‘Bhotela’. The session took place at Khaya Records – not a record label but a very low key record store, you know vinyls right? Yes, a whole store dedicated to vinyls, it’s a dream.

The setting was very intimate, candid and casual, over a balcony viewing the skyscrapers of the city. I arrived early and Robin was still playing his old stuff just to set the mood as people came in drips and drabs. I spent some of my time browsing through the vast collection of vinyls as well as talking to the Jagermeister academy inductee. Then things got on the road as he introduced himself as well as having a conversation with the audience. He touched on topics of how his name came about. The concept of ‘Robin’ came from the Robin Hood, since his from Township based in the South of Durban. And the ‘Thirdfloor’ came from the fact that it was his third name change as an artist, he too is also a Hip Hop artist who doesn’t want to refer to himself as a rapper as he feels he is more than just a rapper. With a unique style of Hip Hop music which is a fusion of Dance, Kwaito, Gqom and Electronica. 

Giving the story behind every song on the project and how it initially came about. Bhotela has a Swiss executive producer by the name of Dejot, who produced the entire EP. When the Switzerland Electronic producer came to South Africa, Robin’s name came in conversation. So Dejot reached out to Somdanger and before collaborating, Robin gave him a vast sample of South African sounds, from Gqom to Kwaito and from there Bhotela was born.

He takes us through his catalogue and even goes to explaining what the title means. Basically “Bhotela” is an insult in the hood basically a a softie or somebody who’s different, he says he was called that a lot. So he decided to take it and run with it, make it his own, he says. After finishing his performances, he opened a Q&A session for the audience. When asked why he chose the Dance and Kwaito sound, he says he feels like it’s one of the African genres that haven’t been stolen by a “Drake” and is still very exclusive to South Africa. He then pressed on how he wants to do a lot for Durban, because people abroad no little about where he’s from as he has realised this when he’s on his international trips.

Bhotela is available on Deezer and iTunes.

Edited By Jay Of Belvedere

Written By Jordan Soul

Pictures By Jordan Soul

[thesoundplug]

Chocolate Dreams [Lyric Video](ft. Una Rams & Saint Seaba) - Muzı

[thesoundplug]

TOMORROW 20.10.17

[thesoundplug]

Tricky [Official Music Video] (ft. AKA & Gemini Major) - Yanga Chief

[thesoundplug]

? (prod. Mash Beatz) - A-Reece @reece_youngking collaborated with Mash Beats to bring through '?'. I think A-Reece has managed to ride his own wave and curate his own momentum since that record label. Now taking an independent stance, he's been constantly releasing music, collaborating with up and coming artists in his peer group such as Zoocci Coke Dope and EX. He seems to have more creative freedom now than he ever did before. The track '?' just finds Reece spitting with no hook over a Mash Beatz production, the song isn't a long song at all, you could classify it as a teaser of some sort. There's a switch up at the end and for a second a there I thought Reece was going to come back in again but the song comes in just neat and compact, you can check it out on Audiomack. Jordan Soul

[thesoundplug]

K.O shares the release date of his sophomore solo album ‘Skhanda Republic 2’, the sequel to his successful debut solo album 'Skhanda Republic’ released in 2014. The album will drop on the 13th of September 2017 but will be available for pre-order from the 6th of September 2017.

[thesoundplug]

Volovolo (prod. Aux Cable) - WTF New sounds from Witness The Funk. They've been fairly quiet since they're December EP 'Ngwenya Town'. They come back with 'Volovolo' a song influenced by rolling around the city with a heater. With production of from Aux Cable, checkout the song on Audiomack. Jordan Soul

[thesoundplug]

Dreams Money Can Buy  - J Molley         

[thesoundplug]

Yellow

Artist: Shane Eagle

Label: Eagle Entertainment

Type:  Debut Album

Genre:  Hip Hop/R&B

Length:  45:00

Just before Yellow dropped, I had conversations with a few people that follow the South African Hip Hop scene on their predictions on how they think the album might sound like. Some said it might fail to impress, some said it would be a conceptual album and plenty were on the fence. I’m not in the business of predicting how albums will sound like – just to avoid unnecessary disappointment. But this time around I really believed that Shane would pull through with a conceptual album, especially after ‘Julia’, a song named after his mother which came from the same space.

To be honest, when Shane was a presenter on V-Entertainment I was so upset because I felt it took away from him being taken seriously as a rapper but the “young nigga from TV show” had the “album deep in the kitchen” as he raps on the song ‘On My Way’ one of the albums best sing along tracks, here he’s moving on the low, secretly getting along with his business and making music. But before we get deep into the bits and pieces of the album, I remember when I heard the name sake track ‘Yellow’, and realised the part where he metaphorically talks about his friend who got a girl pregnant  when he just finished school and had thoughts of getting rid of it. There and then, I felt like Eagle tapped into something so important – the ability to relate to his peers while talking about something important.

If you hadn’t listened to Shane Eagle before the album you feel like you get to know him personally, as he opens up and becomes somewhat vulnerable, he talks about his dad being an alcoholic on ‘Mihi’ and causing him to not really drink because of that. He also touches on his desire to meet J.Cole. The album maintains a very mellow aesthetic, when I listen to it, it tends to create an ambience of Autumn/Winter. Then there’s the lone feature of R&B singer KLY, one of 2016/17 breakout artists, this one seems to be the jam to serenade the ladies. KLY leaves us with one quotable which I found interesting – “I only fuck with BBO’s bad bitches only” he sings on ‘Need Me’. Even with a feature Shane still carries most of the song and he doesn’t get stood out by his guest. The theme of this song really does touch on the topic of a girl who doesn’t believe in the vision but sees it all unfold at a distance, “so hit me you need me but I won’t remember you”.

One of my favourite songs on the LP has to be ‘Privacy (Interlude)’. “The problems of a twenty-something, all we do is get drunk, all we know is get high”. And one of my favourite parts on the song are his first opening bars, where he talks down on the old niggas in the game, which is something I’m really for. I think it’s really time for the youth to take over in the entertainment industry, I’m talking in all avenues. ‘Yellow’ has put the barometer so high that “these old niggas” have no room for error and that really goes for everybody in the game, the music has been so mediocre and it’s pathetic.

The album is 13 songs long but only spans a length of 45 minutes, very compact and concise, he manages to navigate plenty topics without sounding monotonous or saturated. ‘Aliens x Convos with God’, probably one of the best titled tracks on the project and one of the best moments on the album. It manages to sum up the album in its entirety, a seven minute song about almost everything, the intro phases are trippy and then the second part when he candidly talks to God with unanswered questions and being in a car accident. The album debuted at number on iTunes and came along with two awesome videos for ‘Let It Flow’ and ‘Need Me‘. Check out his YFM interview where he talks about the album and its influences which date as old as Pac.

‘Yellow’ is probably or even undoubtedly the best South African Hip Hop album in 2017, nothing comes close to it. It’s going to be interesting to scope it’s longevity, though it ranks with the likes of Mlazi Milano and Skhanda Republic but if compared to its peers – it stands uncontested.

Jordan Soul

[thesoundplug]

Jaedon Daniel & Red Robyn - PEOPLE TALK

[thesoundplug]

On My Way (ft. Reason) [Official Music Video] - @Palmree_za off their debut EP Tropical Reign. Also checkout the Q&A Interview they did with us here.

[thesoundplug]

The statement below wasn't written by any member of theSound Plug as the following is quoted, though we do support the event. "Underdog Day is an event which aims to promote both the overlooked and unknown talent in Pietermaritzburg because we believe there is way too much talent to be ignored so we decided to unleash all the underdogs and give them a platform that will help them grow . Now to get to the event, The first episode of Underdog day will be held at "Exclusive Lounge" on the 30th of September and the event comprises of 08 PMB Born DJs and 04 Performing acts. Doors will open from 8PM to 4AM so in this time frame PMB will get to showcase PMB's Offerings, The door cover charge is as follow R30 - With Student Card R50 - Without. The following episodes will have one well followed artist which will not be mentioned until the day of the event so the unknown/overlooked talent is talked about. This event is also aiming to grow PMB DJs and artists in the sense of professionalism,every single DJ/Artist will have to send the organisers a contract to show how they protect you as well as how vital they are. Underdog Day will be a night filled with all Genres, from Gqom', Deep House, Commercial House, Hip Hop, R&B, Kwaito to EDM, The reason for this is so everybody is catered for and every single talent is given a chance (not just those who play Hip Hop or Gqom). For more information regarding the event you can contact : Cell : 072 279 5140 (DJ F_Eazy) Email : f.eazy69@gmail.com Twitter : @F_EazyDJ Cell : 074 714 3640 (Rookie) Email : 5vethfloor@gmail.com Twitter : @5thFLOOR_SA"

[thesoundplug]

Ralph Lauren Fall '17, soundtrack produced by Durban producer Muzı (@muziou) #RLRoadToRunway #NYFW