A collaboration between former Grey High School pupil and rapper Xolisa “B.LAQII” Hackula with Queenstown vlogger Siviwe Lutseke on a new hip hop single has paid off as their song appeared on the iTunes Top 100 Hip Hop Chart, shortly after its release on October 5.
Hackula and Lutseke, who share skits on his social media, recently released Sika which is Lutseke’s first attempt at rapping.
“[We] started discussing the possibility of a collaboration after we met at an event we were both booked for in Alice at Fort Hare,” Hackula said.
“He is an amazing creative beyond the video skits he shoots, we’ve talked about him rapping and he is considering music as his next challenge.”
Hackula said Sika was inspired by “the shallow way that we men approach wanting to hook up with women., I tried to take something real and make it entertaining”.
Sika is the second single off Hackula’s EP Crown following Ndize Ndize, the first single from the EP inspired by the Xhosa version of the game hide and seek. Ndize Ndize made it onto the Google Play Top 30 Hip Hop charts last year.
Crown is Hackula’s first EP following his 2010 debut mixtape Preleven and Running Late, which was released in 2014. Hackula’s musical talent landed him big opportunities including a feature on international music show MTV Base and on the Hype Magazine compilations CD, a hip hop show on TruFM. He also was signed by South African producer DJ Clock in 2015 although they parted ways.
“My situation with DJ Clock is bittersweet as he was an awesome mentor and I learnt a lot during my time with him, but I need my music heard and I’m unapologetic about that. I had to move on even though it meant starting my album from scratch,” Hackula said.
While Sika is available on digital music platforms, Hackula distributes Crown exclusively via his business WhatsApp account (065-965-6868).
“This way I get to engage directly with people who have an interest in the music,” he said.