How Yanga Chief’s 32-Bar Verse Became The ‘Run Jozi’ Hook

Yanga Chief recently shared in our latest episode of What A Life that his hook on AKA’s 2014 hit, ‘Run Jozi’ (Godly), was originally a 32-bar verse. 

“I had a 32-bar verse. Some of the lines didn’t make it. Some of the lines are on some of Kiernan’s verses. We just stripped the whole thing apart.” - Yanga Chief 

The hook interpolates TKZee’s ‘Sikelela’ from the Kwaito group’s 1998 album ‘Halloween’. 

‘Run Jozi (Godly)’ kickstarted Yanga Chief’s career 10 years ago. The song is one of the biggest hits of the mid-2010s era of South African Hip-Hop.

The song features one of K.O’s most praised verses and the video came with the monumental push-ups. Yanga Chief wasn’t even credited on the song. 

The song appeared on AKA’s sophomore album ‘Levels’ which recently turned 10 and has been safely declared a South African Hip-Hop classic.

Watch the full episode of What A Life below: