[Interview] Zādok: “I’m entering my musical prime”

Zādok has just released his debut album ‘Perspective: BLACK’. The project showcases the versatile sound of the producer, who worked closely with AKA especially on ‘Mass Country’. 

‘Perspective: BLACK’ features Yanga Chief, Mañana, Shekhinah, Una Rams, Robot Boiii, and a whole lot of top-tier South African talent. 

In the Q&A below, Zādok takes us through the album. 

What exactly does Zadok do in music? 

I create, I produce and, most importantly, I sing and write. I express my story and I use music to dress it.

‘Perspective’ is a series; Red, Blue and, finally, BLACK. Take us through it.

The ‘PERSPECTIVE’ series is a trilogy of projects that was initially supposed to be 3 EPs and, just by virtue of work, the last project became an album. So it was ‘Perspective: Blue’ which was more R&B and Soul, ‘Perspective: RED’ which was a bit more Afro-Pop and Afrobeats and then ‘Black’ was just my entire character and personality, all my energy, all my sounds.

Why did ‘Perspective: Black’ specifically become the debut?

‘Black’ became the debut album because it encapsulates all of me. I used the scientific expression towards how black absorbs all light and both parties were reflective of different sides of me and different elements. And was like this was the expression of all wholeness and completeness of the process and the journey.

Can you take us through the making of this project? 

So, the process has been very developmental for me personally. I started the first project one man, produced everything myself, wrote everything myself, and had no features. Second project, I tried to branch out a bit more and start engaging features and, on this project, I was just like, ‘I’m gonna do whatever I feel,’ put on whoever I feel. If I don’t want anyone on the song, I’m not doing that and it was just me being my full artistic self because I feel like I’ve found my voice as a singer, rapper at times - I’m in it. I’m in it fully.

You borrow from a lot of genres. If you were to classify your music, what genre would you say it is? 

I’m a Pop artist. Always have been.

We were lowkey expecting an AKA feature. He’s only in a skit at the end of a song. Do you not have anything with him in the vault? 

I can’t answer that question but (laughs) what I can say is… it’s cliché. Everyone was gonna expect it and I didn’t wanna do that. I didn’t wanna do that now. I have a lot and I’ve given him a lot of tributes and I think  this was just my final way to say, “Bro, shoutout.”

‘Sangena’ definitely has that Supa Mega feel. Can you tell us how the song came about? 

So the song initially was a song that I wanted him to put on ‘Mass Country’, actually. And I don’t remember if he didn’t have time or if he just wasn’t that into it like that, but we never got onto working on it. And then I was like, ‘okay, fuck it. I suggested this beat to him, I’m gonna work on it,’ because I heard it the other day, especially when I was dealing with some stuff with life. 

And then, it just represented where I am in life, like I’m entering my season, I’m entering my musical prime, siyangena, let’s go for it’. I then added more drums to it, added the synths, added that thing that Kiernan’s known for. But that’s always been my thing too. I’m the synth guy, I play synths but that’s how we also vibed because he was like, ‘You got that thing bro!’ (laughs)… ‘Yeah, that’s me bro!’ You know, it’s that Kanye thing, that aggressive thing. So, it came out naturally, we wrote the hook like I said. The session with Yanga was probably an hour or two. 

Tell us about your relationship with Manana and what it’s like to work with him. 

So, Manana and I are good friends. We’re very similar in our creative expression but personality-wise we’re very different. He’s like pedantic, he’s calm, he’s in the zone. He’s clear. I love that man so much, just as a person. And the fact that he’s so talented as well is a blessing. I mean you look at that record of his with Usher which actually was his song. I really love Manana and I’m proud of him. Proud of his project that he just dropped as well.

What is your hip-hop clan name?

LORD ZADDYIOUS! ZADDY FOR THE BABIES! Everybody in Hip-Hop loves Zaddy, dawg. I didn't even decide, Sjava is the one who made Zaddy a thing, I didn’t even make it a thing. A lot of guys know Zaddy because of him. ZADDY! (laughs)

Stream 'Perspective: BLACK' below: