I went to an event to catch up with the latest news in the game – who was new, who was hot, and who was making waves. I arrived early and found my brother ByLwansta already working on the sound. Rappers started rehearsing and I was caught off guard. The crowd started to fill up and soon it was time for SuperCye to take the stage. He shut down the venue with his amazing performance, engaging with the crowd and owning the stage like a pro. After the show, I approached him like a fan, introduced myself, and requested an interview. To my delight, he was chilled and agreed to the interview. Here’s the interview we did.
It’s always great to introduce yourself to our readers and tell the Hype Magazine audience a bit more about yourself.
My name is Neo Setai , professionally known as SuperCye. Born in Kroonstad, Free State. Grew all around South Africa. From the East Rand to Johannesburg, Pretoria, to Cape Town as-well. But my musical journey was rooted and started in the Vaal. Meeting like-minded people and starting off at a young age in an entity called Kandy Koated Music where I found a kick start in my career back in high school.
What can you tell us about the hip-hop scene in the Vaal?
Well for one thing I know, Hip-Hop in the Vaal has a rich history from OG’s that paved the way for the upcoming. Groups like Optical Illusion and 6 feet underground just to name a few. Right now, it’s a melting pot of creativity and holds its own culture. A growing community of people that just have their own vibe and own way of speaking those flows seeming less into the music and culture as a whole.
Vaal is known for having Hardcore underground rappers like your Golden Shovel, Mothipa, and all the greats that come from that side, doesn’t it give you pressure maybe to carry their torch?
Crazy story is that Hopemasta’s brother, Instro, was the producer for 6 feet underground, the same group Mothipa was in. They would have him sit in studio sessions at the house back in the day and Hope ended up producing 4 songs on Mothipa’s project when he was the age of 12. Hopemasta is one of four members in Kandy Koated Music, as an artist but mainly as a producer. He helps me with my sound and gives me tips and tricks on how to evolve my engineering skills and production, because he got exposed to it at a young age from his brother and those OG’s back in the day. So indirectly, Mothipa and Golden Shovel passed down the torch to us younger guys, and it is only right for us to do the same to the ones that come after us.
Your Music consists of a bit of R&B, smooth too which caters to all types of audiences, the question is do you consider yourself a rapper or musician?
I consider myself a musician not just a rapper. There are so many other things I do other than rap. Like production, song writing, engineering, mixing and mastering etc. I think being a rapper is cool, but I have diversified myself into so much more, hence I consider myself a musician rather than an artist.
In February, you released an amazing album titled Desires featuring Layla Paragon, Mo$hpit Cindy, HYPE1108, Just Sam, Ney The Bae, Espiquet and Tom Saison. How was it received by the streets, and what kind of feedback have you received from your fans?
I won’t lie, the feedback from Desires has been lovely. The people that approach me whether it be outside or on social media, have been giving me genuine reactions about the project. Some people said the album is triggered emotions and other simply said its good. This album may not be for everyone but it is for someone out there, that’s what matters most.
The feature lineup is pretty cool. How did you choose the right artists for each song?
Firstly, I listen to their music, and I like it too. So, I create pockets within my music where I know that the featured artist would bring their own flavour, organically. All the features happened naturally, nothing was forced and you can hear it in the music.
Considering the quality of your album, how many music videos are you planning to shoot? I feel that the songs “Closer,” “Whine,” “Icon,” “Desire,” and “Mollo” all deserve visual representations.
To be honest, I would shoot the whole project if i could but you should just follow me on socials for updates because I will be releasing some visuals for sure.
Who else are you looking forward to working with in the future?
In the future, I’m looking forward to working with people like Marcus Harvey, Zoocci, and hopefully more music with Tshego. Probably dope female artists like Nadia Nakai, Rowlene and Nanette to name a few. The list goes on but anything that comes about organically. I just have to see what God has in plan for me going forward.
Do you have any words of encouragement to emerging artists who are walking in your shoes or want to achieve what you have done so far in the music?
Keep working, keep learning, keep evolving and try to learn something new every day and remember you miss all the shots you didn’t shoot in the first place. So, keep shooting your shot. You never know what lies on the other side and most importantly, keep praying.
Now that Desire is out, what other projects can we expect from you throughout 2024 and beyond?
My sound is evolving and I’m learning new genres to incorporate into my catalogue, so expect something later this year but we’ll see. For now, go bump Desires. More visuals on the way too.
