Underground hip-hop heavyweight Oro WaAfrika is back with the third and final installment of his mining-inspired trilogy, SHAFT 26—a project he describes as his most personal body of work yet.
Set for release on 25 July 2026, the EP sees Oro transform lived experiences into vivid storytelling, blurring the lines between memory and metaphor. Featuring Bunjoyi, BABA KUSHI, Tony Dangler, 500., Baq Faith, Kijana Damu, Teru Nerfetari, and Ghost, SHAFT 26 continues his commitment to lyricism rooted in honesty, introspection and immersive world-building.
Following SHAFT 25 and ALL GOLD: THE MIXTAPE, the trilogy uses mining as a powerful metaphor for the pursuit of purpose, truth and self-worth.
“These three projects (SHAFT 25, ALL GOLD: THE MIXTAPE and now SHAFT 26) centred around the world of mining and digging for gold as a metaphor for finding what’s most valuable to us. The journey through all that seeking is what helps us navigate who is who and what is what, sifting away all the coal and leaving gold,” says Oro
The concept is also deeply personal. Oro reveals that the inspiration came from conversations with his mother about his family’s history.
“I recently reflected with my mother about how there were family members who used to literally dig for gold at our homestead. I remember waking up to the sounds of picks and shovels striking the ground right where my grandmother’s garden was.”
With SHAFT 26, Oro WaAfrika isn’t just closing a trilogy—he’s inviting listeners into a deeply personal excavation of identity, heritage and the treasures hidden beneath life’s toughest terrain.