Cape Town’s finest, Hip-Hop artist RAF DON takes a deep dive into 'Drill' as a sub-genre in SA, gives a detailed insight on his latest release, ‘She Wan’ featuring Toya Delazy and Dee Koala and shares many more.
You have since released 'Tekky?' alongside YoungstaCPT therefore seeing that you're both from Cape Town, introducing new sounds to the SA hip-hop culture, how do you feel about YoungstaCPT's impact on the SA music scene?
He gave the coloured community a voice in the South African hip hop space. He pioneered the Cape Town hip hop scene and gave Cape Town artist voice and courage to compete nationally in the industry. He embodies originality and authenticity.
Since you tap into the "Drill Movement", where do you foresee the Drill genre going in SA?
I feel like the genre is gradually growing and I believe the sound will only get bigger because a lot of South African artist are finding ways to execute the sound in their own way and making it relatable to the South African market. With more collaborations and co-signs from the bigger SA artist, I believe the sound can be another sub-genre in the SA hip hop scene. Just like how trap was introduced, and guys found a way to collaborate and present this new sound to South Africans and the people fell in love with it. And the industry has begun to show love to the drill genre. Like you starting to hear more and more South African/African drill on radio and mainstream media. And now having major platforms such as Slikour Onlife shine it’s light on drill as well drill artists like myself, this kind of stuff is what will keep exposing the genre to more South Africans.
What is the source of inspiration for your latest single "She Wan"?
When you hear "drill" the first impression that comes to everyone’s mind is street life, underground, dark, balaclavas, hardcore lyrics, and lifestyle, so I wanted to create the first South African drill song that doesn’t highlight that. A song that’s heavily dominated by females, for females, that’s why I wanted to have two female artists on the track execute the song in their own unique way.
This is undeniably an unexpected collaboration and we have never heard both of the artist contributions (Dee Koala & Toya Delazy) on a Drill beat before, how did you conclude that they were suitable features for the recent single?
As a song writer/song maker I always wanna give the listeners an element of surprise when it comes to my music and how I go about selecting who I work with. And also challenging the artists by making them try sounds they’ve never tried before. And I knew this collaboration would catch everyone by surprise, hearing two brilliant lyricists like Toya Delazy & Dee Koala on drill. Like I mentioned earlier on such collaborations will expose the drill genre to different audiences and demographics. And also change the approach perception people have on drill music.
I feel both the artists had so much to offer especially to the sonics of drill music. On the one hand you have Toya Delazy who on the song brings her unique Zulu influence style of rap & lyricism and on the other hand you have Dee Koala who brings her unique Xhosa influence style of rap & lyricism. Such collaboration will have more SA female artist support the drill genre, because this show that they could do the genre in their own way.
What do you think you'll change/ implement/ influence in the SA Hip-Hop market? (What is Raf Don bringing to the table?)
Firstly new energy and new sound, I know that’s like a cliché thing to say because every new artist believes and say that haha, but seriously because I’m a foreign kid living in South Africa I look at the game with a different lance , and being well travelled there’s so much inspiration and vibes I catch globally which I know I could introduce and expose the South African hip hop listeners to ,through collaborations. Like for example who knew Toya Delazy & Dee Koala could fit perfectly on a drill song.
What can fans look forward to from "RAF DON" in the near future?
My growth as my life unfolds, I will keep expressing it through the music and give people ME. More mazza collaborations, and a project soon.
Stream 'She Wan' by Raf Don featuring Dee Koala amd Toya Delazy below:
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