After releasing 30 mixtapes, YoungstaCPT finally dropped his debut album, “3T,” on Friday.
Known for songs such as “Wes-Kaap”, “Salutas” and “Yasis”, the Capetonian rapper has been able to etch a unique Cape Town sound within the greater South African hip hop scene.
We spoke to him about his album, the inspiration and why Coloured identity plays such a huge part in his music.
The “We Go Bos” rapper simultaneously worked on his album while still releasing his mixtapes and singles. Speaking on why he choose to do it this way he said: “The mixtapes gave me an indication of what people want to hear. It was easy for me but at the same time, I was doing market research.
It was also my way of figuring out my audience better. So after 30 mixtapes, you have to know who you’re selling to now. And I figured it out and at the same time you want them to taste something new.“
“3T” is a departure for the rapper from his previous musical themes. And while he keeps it authentically Coloured, the rapper decided for his first album to take it into a more socially conscious route, focusing on his experience as a Coloured person growing up and living on the Cape Flats.
Speaking on why he decided to take a different direction the rapper said: “I feel like the masses don’t know who I really am as a person or my upbringing or my family. And I think the things that made our favourite rapper successful is when they dug into their story. I think the vulnerability of artists where hip hop is concerned isn’t being shown. Rappers are all successful and are all hardcore and are all rich now. So tell the people your story. I just wanted to introduce myself formally this time.”
The album cover for “3T” features Younsgta CPT’s grandfather and the “Yasis” rapper used him as not only the main inspiration for the album but also spoke to him about his experience as a Coloured person having lived through many iterations of South Africa.
Speaking on the reason he did this he said: “In order to understand the future you must go to the past. My mother was to close to my generation. I needed someone who lived a long enough life to see a cycle repeat or change.
“My grandfather was there before, during and after Apartheid, and I wanted someone to explain to me if what’s happening in our time – drugs, gangsterism and corruption – is something that’s new or has been also the order of the day for our people. I found out that I’m not going crazy and it’s something that has been formulated for people of colour not to succeed.”
Through the years Youngsta has always used Coloured identity as the foundation of his music. Speaking on why he says: “I felt like our narrative wasn’t very visible which worried me, because all my life I had been wondering who we are as Coloured people. It wasn’t being shown on TV. I wasn’t hearing it on the radio and I wasn’t reading it in magazines. So now that we have the internet at our disposal to discover artists, why not put that life that got neglected in the last 15 years a lot of sh*t happened in our youth. But let’s be the pioneers to tell our stories.”
Furthermore, Youngsta says that “3T” is a way for him to pay homage to his forefathers and the generations that fought so he can enjoy the freedom he has today.
Source: IOL
