@Nelz_SA – I AM By @Freed_Davids

After the Now or Never Lefemme Remix hosted by Ms Cosmo which was greatly received, the game was in utmost anticipation of music from the female rappers featured on the record. However, not much music was received with only a few artists having released content post the remix. Luckily for us the Queen of the South Coast, Nelz, who was on verse 3 of the remix only needed just a year to give us her EP titled I AM. The tape features 9 records and only has one guest appearance from Vaider. The I AM EP has that old school approach of writing and storytelling that thoroughly let’s you know who the artist is and what they go through on a daily basis.

On the first 3 tracks; I am , Need That and The Top, Nelz lets us into her life telling us who she really is, what she has been through, where she’s at now and how far she still wants to go.

“Queen of the coast, south coast yeah that’s who I am/ Shout out to my grandmamma she made me who I am/ Started on the low but I’m really like where I am/ Long way to go and I’m staying true to who I am/”

I Am is dedicated to her grandmother who has been supportive from the get go and contributed greatly to the young woman that she is today. On Need That and The Top she dives deep into her life telling us of the things she wants to achieve, lessons she has learnt after some people lied to her in the 8 years that she has been in the game and how determined she is to reach her goals.

“On my way to the top, no I’ll never stop till I reach the top. I wanna buy a whip and drop the top and let the breeze cool down the sweat from the hard work oh/” Her story is very relatable, we all have those people in our lives whom we feel like we owe it to them too win more than ourselves. It could be your parents, grandparents, an uncle or a guardian, who fuels that desire in you to achieve certain objectives so you can make them proud.

On track 4 titled Smokers Section she lets us know that she doesn’t hang in the VIP section, she’s always at the smoking section with her squad unwinding all the stress that the game brings. “I’m in the smoking, FV?K the VIP, I’m in the smoking section/”
“I got too much on my mind, yeah it’s clouded up, I don’t really wanna be confined I just mix it up, call up the G’s I stack cheese with and we roll it up/” Dope laid-back record.

Moving right along, on Pull Up she recruits the services of Vaider both on the hook and verse. They have a great synergy, the way they worked well together on this record might actually make you yearn to hear more work from them as a pair. They rode the immaculately produced beat by DrumzBySandy very well. Vaider’s verse is so flawless from the pen game to the delivery; this record was impeccably executed, quite infectious from the hooks to the verses. I love how they assist each other on the hook which sounds very dope.

On the next record titled Nobody she poses a series of questions which she also provides answers to. “Who you know that can rap like this? (Huh) Who you know got you digging this sh#!? (Huh) Nobody, nobody” The song is basically about her saying that nobody can do what she can do, it’s a dope record I love it. Racks orchestrated the song quite distinctively, the way the kicks lands is so perfect.

The last 3 records narrate a bittersweet love story; on Where Do We Go is where it starts, where the love birds notice each other and fantasise about each other. “You got your eyes on me, I got my eyes on you so tell me where do we go from here” On New Love they’re now in love and they can’t get enough of each other and it feels like new love each day. On Work It Out, Nelz pours her heart out when she finds out that what she thought was real love isn’t and that the player she mentioned on Where Do We Go played her.
“No no maybes, you fucd up I’m leaving, got me acting crazy/ Thought I’d have your babies, what the f#!k was I thinking?/ Things have always been shaky you telling people that you wavy/ Well, wave on goodbye you ain’t worth my time/”
This is a great EP, love how she perfectly executed each and every record giving them different energy levels and emotional ranges as the songs capture her in different emotional states. Great beat selection too, they fit perfectly for the respective records.

The Queen of the South Coast got the juice. The stories she shares on the last 3 records could go on to save many young women’s lives out there, as most are stuck in abusive relationships over some few weeks of fun had and can’t leave because they believe their partner will change. From now on they’ll know that no matter how nice it used to be, if you’re now being mistreated you have to let go before it kills you. This tape gives an awesome listening experience, don’t believe me?

Listen on the link below: