Listen Africa! meets Pineapple Sati, the 20-year-old Zimbabwean artist.
Listen Africa! also discusses the tactic on Nasty C's mixtape, Zulu
Stage name
Pineapple Sati
Age
20
Who is Pineapple Sati?
My name is Thabiso P. Khumalo
Background
I am a Zimbabwean artist with South African descendant on my fathers side. I don't come from a very musical background, but my mom loves singing nothing of note. Asides her, there are no real singers in the family.
I started making music when I was 16 off inspiration from my best friend Masimba. He had released a song that inspired me to put my own story in writing and onto the music. From there, I started freestyle and writing poems until I got to a point where I was able to put a verse together and try work on a chorus or hook. With time I just got better at it and boom I started RECORDING!.
What is your style of music?
My style is very soul driven with heavy use of samples and melodies combined with a strong use of 808s and modern sounds.
I grew up listening to a lot of Lil Wayne and Drake, Lira and other African artists - that’s why is very dense. I'd say Bryson Tiller is also a major influence on my sound as well as Tshego from South Africa. My sound is very soulful and melodic with pile driving bass lines.
How long have you been making music?
I’ve been making music for 4 years, but I’ve been recording for 2 years
When I finished high school and had taken a year break off the music, I felt a big void in my personal life that the music had filled and I knew that it was what I made for !
How many projects do you have?
I’ve released 3 songs so far due to the fact that I was at school and that needed my full attention due to exams and all but now I’m working on my debut EP, HEART OF A RAGER. It is set to drop late this year .
What inspires you?
Art, football, fashion and other artists like, Bryson Tiller, Drake, Travis Scott, Tshego, Rema, Nasty C, Billie Eillish, the homegrown Shasha and many others
Biggest win yet?
Having Keon the track who has worked with Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown and other acts say my music is dope and that I should come out and work with him. Another big thing was Tshego acknowledging my music and replying my DMs.
What inspires HEART OF A RAGER?
Well the EP is inspired by myself and how I approach love wholeheartedly and just being the engaged person when it comes to my feelings. It also reflects my bubbly and very happy personality .
HEART OF A RAGER is inspired by my life experiences with people and just personal thoughts on how I will succeed and change the culture in Africa towards unsigned music.
I know we will go global and perform all around the world and touch different people in the world with the sounds I will create! I want to make a positive difference in someone’s life!
What does making music mean to you?
Music means everything period
How receptive are listeners to your sound?
Listeners are very receptive to my music because I believe because I’m very honest and my music has a feeling that lasts in people’s minds.
What makes you happy with the music?
Creating makes me very happy! I love hearing the ideas I come up with come together and gel into something new and exciting. Performing is also a very exciting part of the music. But then, the most golden part is when the fans understand and connect with the music seeing what it does to them, how it makes them feel is magical!
What’s one thing you’d never do/become as an artist?
Cocky and unappreciative! That’s treason to me because the fans make you and if you turn around and act brand new on the people who put you in the spotlight, you are the worst kind of person.
Social Media: PineappleSati
Editor’s Note: With a Hip-Hop background, Pineapple Sati combines emo, R&B and soul into his sound, with a tinge of Travis Scott-esque rage.
Essential Song: ‘Yellow Tape Kitty’ is the greatest illustration of Sati’s artistry and creative growth as a 20-year-old African.
A Zulu with an international power tactic
As we expect Nasty C’s third studio album, Zulu Man With Some Power later this year he gives fans something to hold on to. Unlike some rumblings on social media, the project is not pointless.
Intent on repping his tribe, his new mixtape (yes, mixtapes made it to 2020. Wow) is titled Zulu. The mixtape is a collaborative effort with DJ Whoo Kid, a veteran American hip-hop DJ signed to G Unit record.
He has hosted mixtapes for the likes of the G Unit crew, Mobb Deep, Raekwon, Lil Kim, Capone‘N’Noreaga, Snoop Dogg, J.Cole and a lot more renowned hip-hop acts. He famously produced ‘Rob Me Blind’ for 50 Cent and was known as a notorious leaker of new material in the 90’s because he was a studio rat.
Nasty and Whoo started working on this tape when the global lockdown ensued, and the result is a tape too good to be given out for free. On all the DJ-hosted mixtapes, the DJs offer A&R direction, but one can only assume that Whoo did that on this tape because absolutely nothing that suggests that.
Nasty C is still the same melodic trap-genius that we’ve known him to be over the years. There is the possibility that getting a co-sign from someone like DJ Whoo Kid who is respected in the American hip-hop community is just a tactic to give Nasty C some legitimacy in that space. After all, he just signed with Def Jam - a record label whose business focuses predominantly on Hip-Hop.
Another important co-sign that Nasty C has gotten in recent times comes from legendary Urban Hero, T.I. The Atlanta icon is featured twice on the mixtape. He delivers poetry on what he expects from the South African rap scene. “Individuality” as TI says is something that Nasty C has a ton of and channels into his music.
From rapping about his struggles with women and how his mom’s death has shaped him into the man he’s become, he has never been afraid to live through his music. It’s his most comfortable space and he sees his life and his music as one big expression of art which he puts this into lyrics. He raps, “The story of how I came up and what I grew to be is poetry.”
T.I joins Nasty C again on ‘They Don’t,’ a politically-charged track that was borne out of the current racial tensions in America. It’s a beautiful and sharp statement that asks the almighty question of why. Why is there racism? Why do black lives not matter as much as other races? They don’t have the answers but they’re adamant and intent on getting some.
The rest of the tape is a slew of amazing trap bangers with some impressive featured acts like Mishlawi, Landstrip Chip, iZZE, and Crowned Yung along the way.
For a project titled Zulu, it sure doesn’t tap into Nasty C’s cultural heritage, so if you were expecting that to be the central theme of this tape, then you’re up for disappointment. Zulu, is a strategic title for this tape. It’s meant to advertise as something brand new - a cross-over artist looking to sell familiar music to a new audience. Without that title, it could be another buffer and get lumped up with the rest of them. Nasty C already sounds American.
Zulu’s an exciting tape that’s good enough to be an EP. It is also a strong introduction of Nasty C to the western audience. It sets the stage for his next album Zulu Man With Some Power which will be his first project to be released under Def Jam.
This project also underpins the importance of identity for a cross-over artists, even while attempting to co-opt a new audience for your music. This is a big win in strategy for Def Jam, a label that has taken some huge Ls over the past few years.
You can stream the mixtape HERE.
#ListenAfricaExtra Here is additional content from the past week;
Motolani Alake had a chat with the originator of 2Baba as his comeback album, ‘The Unstoppable [International Edition]’ turns 10.
Excel Joab has a chat with Rudeboy of P Square Pt. 2.
Fu’ad Lawal, Editor-In-Chief at Zikoko starts a newsletter, Vistanium.
Veteran Culture Journalist, Ayomide Tayo launched the first installment of his newsletter, Naija Times.
Veteran Journalist and Tech professional, Chiagoziem Onyekwena also manages GetDotAfrica, a weekly newsletter on happenings in African Tech.
Davido Adeleke, Head of Communication at Eko Atlantic started Communique, a newsletter.
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