A rap duo who is bringing us banging tracks straight out of Limpopo
Written by: Illythehost | Images: Supplied
This Kwadlawulale duo embraces isiNdebele culture throughout their music, something that should be celebrated considering the way today’s youth have adopted a western lifestyle, forgetting their culture. Teez Nation, which consists of MuziKaBaba and MfanaKaDlambili, is hard to ignore if you’re a music lover. They came into the rap scene some time back, but recently have been getting the recognition and attention any up-and-coming rapper would wish for. Performing at numerous events and setting the standard of performance high whenever they are given the opportunity is something that separates them from their rap homies.
Welcome to the biggest hip-hop publication in South Africa. For those who are not familiar with your music, could you tell our readers who Teez Nation is?
Teez Nation is a hip-hop duo consisting of Mrush (MuziKaBaba) and Slamtwice (MfanaKaDlambili) both from Kwadlawulale, Limpopo. We formed the duo in 2021. “Hip-hop duo e phuma eKasi,” as the streets would say.
How did the duo come about because Slamtwice started as a solo artist who’s known for isiNdebele hard punchlines, but Teez Nation is more musical and embraces isiNdebele culture?
We met through our musical journey as solo acts who worked together on several songs years ago. We then decided to form a duo that was gonna cater to a greater audience musically, thus adding the Ndebele culture elements into our music.
Recently, you dropped an EP that consists of six songs, with ‘Celebrate Life’ being one of the singles. How’s the feedback from the Ndebele nation and the music lovers at large?
The tape consists of six banging tracks! The tape has been getting positive feedback from music lovers, including heads as well. We’re currently working on a follow-up project to penetrate the market even further.
Who did you guys get to work on production since there are no features on the songs?
We worked with Sbusiso Mtshweni known as Sbuda lation, Bonga Nyingwa known as SooSillyBeats and Cedrick Kgwete known as ManCed on production.
The traditional music of isiNdebele is characterised mainly by the widespread use of choral songs accompanied by leg rattles and clapping of hands. Are we seeing Teez Nation in future fusing such with pop culture and hip-hop?
We’re currently working on some more isiNdebele instrumentation for our future projects, and there are guitar elements with isiNdebele melodies in our new music that we are currently working on, including ‘Celebrate Life’ – our hit single from the Sibadala EP.
Now the EP launch is happening on 26 August. What can Teez Nation fans expect when they get there?
We’re preparing a great show for our fans. So, we are requesting as much support as we can to get everyone to come and witness a history-in-the-making show. It’s one of the first-ever footprints/benchmarks that will leave a monumental impact on 26 August.
What legacy do you want to leave behind for the next generation who are looking at you embracing your culture through hip-hop?
Embrace who you are, where you come from and the way your ethnic group does things because the world likes to explore, get to know new things and learn about different cultures. We want to leave the legacy of doing hip-hop with isiNdebele instrumental elements because diversity is the beauty of the world. Like how Gogo Ester Mahlangu has done it in art painting, we believe we can be representatives in the hip-hop fraternity.