Stogie T reflects on the state of Mzansi in his new EP, ‘Shallow’
Rapper Boitumelo “Stogie T” Molekane is back with his first post-pandemic EP titled “Shallow”, which is set to drop on Friday, May 24.
In the new EP, Stogie T features a dynamic group of collaborators like American spoken word giant Saul Williams, singer Msaki, vocal powerhouse Bonj, and newcomer Apu Sebekedi, who offers a striking baritone performance on the lead single “Shallow”.
The album is produced by jazz musician Shane Cooper.
With recording credits with other talented rappers like Styles P, Immortal Technique, Saul Williams, Chinese Man, and Nasty C, Stogie T’s rap battles on King Of The Dot entertainment (KOTD), tours across continents and his global status, he has certainly earned his stripes in the industry.
This time around he taps into the cynicism of a country once heralded for its democracy.
Stogie T said while the world danced gleefully to the new ground-breaking South African sounds of amapiano, his EP offered a searingly bittersweet taste to mirror these promising yet strange times.
He said: ”The overarching messaging in ‘Shallow’ is collective psychosis."
The rapper said in terms of the production tone they wanted to somehow redeem the 80s by using its vintage keyboards and programmed drums while staying loyal to the core values of his lyricism.
He added that the new EP was conceptualised and written and recorded between Johannesburg and Los Angeles at the tail end of Covid-19 between moments of intense anxiety.
Taking to Instagram, fans of the musician congratulated him on the new release.
One user wrote: “The street is finally acknowledging you as one of the dopest MCs in SA. I have known this for years & I can’t wait.”
A second user wrote: “When I saw the OG change his name to Stogie T, I thought we would never get Tumi again. Tumi lives on still.”
A third commented: “Godly!.”
Proving to be one who will forever give praise and respect to the rap culture, last year the Stogie T dropped a freestyle track on his social media, where he paid tribute to slain rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes, the late Riky Rick and “Big Flexa” hitmaker, Costa Titch.
“My lil brother. Was killed brother. Helped mould his career. I got guilt, brother. Was all hip hop brother. Maybe we wasn’t even friends. Trying to be a mentor. Til that tragic end,” Stogie T raps in the song titled, “Survivor’s Guilt”.
Accompanied by the music video, he captioned the post “Survivor’s Guilt”, followed by a Bible verse, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.’ Psalm 51:10.”
Born in Tanzania and based in Johannesburg, his artistic credibility and commitment to the culture has seen him win lyricist of the year twice at the South African Hip Hop Awards, and a monumental “Sway In The Morning” freestyle in 2018 that cemented his position as one of the best proponents of the lyricism in the game.
Formerly known as Tumi while heading the band Tumi & The Volume, in 2016, he took on the pen name Stogie T to explore other forms of musical expression that he felt were constricted by his former guise.