Blog August 31, 2015
Okmalumkoolkat Delivers 100K MaCassette Mixtape
As promised, Okmalumkoolkat has delivered his 100K MaCassette mixtape after reaching his goal of 100,000 followers on Facebook. The futuristic South African MC first announced the project in early July with the release of the track “Free 100K MaCassette.” The mixtape features much of the playful off-the-cuff lyricism for which the “Zulu Michael Jackson” has become known. Production-wise, Okmalumkoolkat remains in tune with what we can only hope will be the sound of the future. The mixtape opens with alien sound effects and a robotic computer voice, welcoming listeners to the intergalactic ride. Rapping mostly in Zulu, Okmalumkoolkat sounds thoroughly in his own impenetrable zone, as he is backed by swirling, and at times ominously, booming synth production.
While there are other similarly minded South African rappers (Spoek Mathambo in particular), Okmalumkoolkat is unmatched when it comes to swagged-out pop culture name drops. On “Push It,” he checks Hannah Montana and Indiana Jones in the same verse. On “Gold Teeth and Carvelas,” uSanele, a fellow member of “street culture connoisseurs” Boyzn Bucks, joins him to pay tribute to the Durban township youth fashion of wearing gold teeth, over a beat that shifts from menacing to breezy cloud rap. Among the many gems on the mix is a chopped and screwed remix of “Free 100K MaCassette.” Okmalumkoolkat is an MC who is confidently flying his spaceship through his own lane of traffic, mixing township slang with American pop culture references, and production that sounds powerfully like the future. Check out the full mix on his Soundcloud.
