TweezyBeats, SA’s very own hit maker, got the producers’ struggle for much deserved recognition trending on Twitter earlier this year when he shared his story and used the hashtag #ProducersMustRise. Tweezy stated that he was in the golden circle when multiple records he made where being called out for awards. He suggested that the award show should at least recognise producers by introducing a category for them in those awards. Others had other suggestions and inputs but from all this, we at The Blacksmithed are glad to report that 2016 will surely be remembered as the year when producers took the power into their own hands and did the most for themselves!
Since the beginning of the year The Blacksmithed has been receiving a steady flow of beat tapes and we feel it’s only fitting we caught up with these tapes before presenting our own.
Total Running Time: 12min
John-A, from KWT, decided to keep it short and sweet on ‘Trio’ dropping a 3 track EP. The John-A signature, normally at the beginning of all his tracks, has been heard quite frequently in tracks released in recent weeks. From Ree – Believe to the Slogan ‘Mhlolo Ka James’ music video, John-A seems to be everywhere. In terms of production, John-A is definitely holding EC down.
Total Running Time: 24min
The Tics, from Cradock/PE, released his beat tape titled ‘Rhythm and Soul’ and its packed with a lot of soul indeed. Each instrumental from ‘Intro’ (Lazy Interlude) to ‘Up and Downs’ utilises some well cut samples. They don’t make them this smooth anymore; The Tics is definitely cut from a different cloth.
Total Running Time: 36min
Kenn Triller, from East London, is sick with the 808’s. The first time The Blacksmithed heard a Kenn Triller production was on a single titled ‘Chilling’ released mid December 2015 by LLN & Mveesta, which he featured on. Triller and LLN went on to release a full length project earlier this month titled ‘Based Gone Triller’. The guys in EL are putting that work in.
Total Running Time: 24min
Twitch, from KWT, released his very first beat tape on The Blacksmithed. Twitch is part of the TGF family, a group of artists that have been supplying EC with quality music. This group includes members such as Crazy A and Vile Blackspeare to name a few. We will be on the look out for Twich’s name in the production credits from future projects on the site.
Total Running Time: 36min
K9ne, from KWT, really did the most with this offering. From the first track we just knew we were in for one heck of a ride and we won’t be surprised if we see some covers coming from this project. Just some advice: double-check with the producer to see if they’re cool with you going buck on their stuff? You never know with these guys?? Back to K9ne, we first heard his work on Jay Monate’s ‘I Rep 5605’ and to think The Blacksmithed went on to rate that project in the top 3 projects to date at that time, all we can say is we get it! Rappers in King Williams Town are spoilt with the nicest producers around.
The Blacksmithed Presents…
Sounds From The East. Mastered by SilasBeats.
Shortly after The Blacksmithed released it’s list of 10 producers to look out for in 2016, SilasBeats approached the team with the idea of seeing all the producers in action on one project. With no time wasted, The Blacksmithed jumped on this idea and made sure it came to life.
Remember, these are producers from the Eastern Cape who are currently based all over the country from CPT, PE, EL to Pretoria. Dispite their different locations and schedules, they managed to come together to contribute to Sounds From The East.
Eastern Cape is blessed with talent; nobody can claim to use what we have come to know as “Internet beats” and say they don’t know any beat makers in Eastern Cape. The Blacksmithed has identified so many and will continue to uncover more.
#SoundsFromTheEast drops 2 May
