I QUIT (9.2.5) gives sound to that not-so-secret fantasy shared by employees everywhere: closing the laptop, abandoning the calendar invite and finally saying enough. S’BO turns that feeling into Zulu electronic pop-rap, where festival-scale synths collide with theatrical rap, robotic cadences and reimagined Zulu protest chants. The result is deliberately excessive — part corporate meltdown, part Friday-night release, and part invitation to dance through the consequences. Produced alongside Yolophonik and Audio Addicts, the record transforms office fatigue into celebration
And, inconveniently for HR, there is some truth behind the joke. After years working professionally across PR, marketing, sport and entertainment, S’BO recently resigned from salaried employment as he moves deeper into a life built around music, performance, writing and independent creative work. So he did what any reasonable person would do. He made the resignation danceable.
“I loved my 9 to 5, but I had a deep seeded feeling that I was destined for even more. After years of
pouring into others, I knew the time had come to give the same energy to myself. The song is the
manifestation of courage actualized. It just happens to be a particularly universal feeling I think many of
us so desperately want to honour”
— S’BO GYRE
The track has already had an unofficial probation period of its own. Preview performances at Basha Uhuru. Trace Sessions and Back to the City drew strong crowd responses, offering an early indication that the resignation might travel well outside the office. For S’BO, I QUIT (9.2.5) also marks another step in an increasingly distinct musical identity.
The Johannesburg-based pop rapper has moved from the queer rap declaration of QUEERNOMICS, through the genre-fluid experimentation of ALTAR CALL, to the disco-kwaito energy of Pele Pele. Across those projects, rap has remained at the centre while the worlds around it have continued getting bigger. I QUIT pushes that instinct towards electronic pop and large-scale performance. It also arrives from an artist whose work increasingly crosses music, theatre, fashion and storytelling.
“I was as shocked as anyone else that the song manifested into an electro-pop sonic direction. But I’ve never seen limitations to what Zulu Pop Rap could be. This is my latest foray in trailblazing in my lane. Innovation feels like a second nature to me at this point. And there’s plenty more where that came from.
— S’BO GYRE
S’BO was named among the Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans in 2025, appeared in the documentary Young, Gifted & Queer, and co-wrote and performed in Nkoli: Fierce & Fabulous. His performance history includes Back to the City, Basha Uhuru, Boiler Room and Jägermeister Night Embassy, alongside international performance work. But for now, management has requested that he refrain from discussing what happens after the resignation. Apparently there are procedures. There may be meetings. There may be exit interviews. There may even be a severance package. Further correspondence will follow.