In an era where we only get tweaked homogenous content and the market is accustomed to consuming only one thing, the Cape Town duo Stiff Pap (AyemaProbllem & Jakinda), took a different direction for the their five track record titled Based On A Qho Story. The project is a showcase of their hybrid genre Future Qqom Trap, which is a fusion of multiple genres.
The project kicks off with a head bopping record titled Live From eLokxion, which will have you abusing your head as you bop because of the hard hitting kicks accompanied by distinctively placed claps and snares. You can’t listen to this and be stationary, it forces you to at least do something like stump your feet or dab nyana. Like Kanye West said, “It’s hard preaching the gospel to the slums lately/ so I had to put the church on the drums baby...” The boys are attesting to that as they use their music to converse with the youth with a language that they fathom better to address issues affecting their communities such drug use, and the absence of the gospel in the hood. AyemaProbllem raps, ”People dying for the love of money/ badlhi wunga (a popular drug used in South African townships) but they are not hungry/ sacrifice for a fix. Jesus can you help the kids/ because ekasi you don’t exist like Egyptian pyramids.”
Tracks 2 and 4 titled Dlala and Asahamb’siyolala have this house and electro music feel. On track 3 titled Stiff Pap Forever, the boys continue to make you dance on a record where they’re letting you know that they are here to stay and get more money with gang forever. It’s quite an enticing record, it actually makes me wonder how the boys move to these records. I mean, they’ve created their own sound so why not accompanying dance moves? Befitting right?
Asahamb’siyolala’s (Track 4) duration, 06 minutes 52 seconds hints on the dance music influence. Dance music songs commonly have lengthy durations. The execution on these records is flawlessly done. The influence drawn from Durban’s dance music was perfectly channeled. The songs don’t sound duplicated, they have their own unique identity.
The last record titled Jiva Pantsula is invitation to the dance floor on a chilled Kwaito influenced beat. The song narrates a story of a day after a major turn up where you wake up with a great hang over, head heavy like you got the whole world in it and you drink a couple of drinks to ease it. Later on, you kick off preparations for yet another turn up getting a fresh cut, put on some Dickies from head to toe, and then you hit the party hoping to be the man of the night. Ayema did exceptionally well on the raps here, dope record.
The project is unique. It is actually the headquarters of vibe; it is nothing short of that. I applaud them on the bravery and artistic freedom exercised here, it is hard finding people who dare to be different these days. It’s well produced and it sounds pretty dope. I can’t really say the same for the lyrics though, I feel like they placed much emphasis on the sound than the lyrical content. It didn’t do much harm however, the EP is still sounding fresh and very accommodating. Sure requires a couple of spins before you get to understand what’s going on, since it’s not the music you can get from any artist only from Stiff Pap and maybe Okmalumkoolkat. Their sound and rapping style is quite identical to Malum’s. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was featured on this project actually.
Click the link below to embark on a musical journey with Stiff Pap:
