Over the past 52 years of Hip-Hop, mixtapes & albums have always played a crucial role in the storytelling of an artist’s life journey as they would determine the next steps to their career. Since the shift to digital, artists have been able to understand their market further and take full control of their marketing roll-out phases to their projects, all thanks to data and region. This has helped a lot of artists across the world, especially when releasing a debut album or a sophomore album.
In today’s piece, we will be diving deep into the world of Khayaletsha’s very own, Dee Koala, as we review her sophomore project ‘iiNtsikeleko‘, but before we even get to that, you are probably wondering who Dee Koala is and how one actually discovered her. Picture a gloomy day on the road back to Johannesburg with laggy internet, Riky Rick had just announced the second ever ‘Cotton Fest’, and you are curious about who will be on the line-up. You just happened to leave Instagram for YouTube as you saw a short clip of her performing ‘Friday Freestyle’, and you just want to know who she is. That’s when I officially bumped into her debut project ‘4 The Khaltsha‘, which included ‘Friday Freestyle’.
4 The Khaltsha: The Beginning of a Raw and Authentic Journey
Dee Koala’s debut project ‘4 The Khaltsha’ was amongst the best Hip-Hop projects to drop in 2019 as it came packaged in the most unfiltered manner possible. This project changed my whole viewpoint around the industry as I became more curious by the day to discover how broad the sound could become whilst embracing the culture. This album painted an image of what our reality as a country is and the things that people in the townships have to endure to survive. At times, it becomes so easy for that world to swallow you deep if you do not have a sense of identity.
It established Dee Koala’s core identity and fanbase as she knew how to unite people across Cape Town, which eventually spilled over to the whole country. This album was amongst the few that were recorded at the ‘Red Bull Studios‘ in Cape Town before they shut down. It serves as a trail of what history and impact look like as this project not only changed her life but also impacted how music is received in the various parts of Cape Town.
Dee Koala’s growth journey has been beautiful and seamless to watch from the moment she joined the Adidas family to her launching her own event property in celebration of her debut release in which she has since used as a platform to cross-collaborate with many acts across the country and spotlight the new age rappers and artists.
iiNtsikelelo: The Embodiment of a Bold and Healing Individual in Artistic Form
The first time I heard of Dee Koala’s album progress was when I attended ‘Rocking The Daisies’ with the team in 2023 where I saw her perform some of the songs live with a band, which was insane to my mind because not many artists take the time to polish their craft let alone in the form of a performance. When I heard some of the exclusives alongside some of my top favourites, I was excited because I knew what was to come.
She then lived by that expectation as she came out of the woodworks with ‘Gwan’, which features Maglera Doe Boy. The single was well complemented with cinematic visuals which detailed a story of two hood narratives. The song moved the needle so much for Koala and her team that I think the pressure worsened for them, but like any other human being on earth, life happens to the best of us.
The album was in the making for the last two years, with last year being the biggest fuel to the fire of it all, as numerous accolades and heartaches came into play. Dee Koala, being the most resilient individual that she is, used it to tell her story in the most touching and relatable way, as the introduction to the album alone serves as a diary entry to the state of her life experiences. ‘Anazinto’ is a great write as it softens up one’s heart and calms one’s mind. It is then followed by an additional 8 tracks that touch on the theme of identity, each exploring stories in the hood and her upbringing. The detail expresses the person she has become and the influences behind her as they showcase a more confident and direct aspect of her world, especially with the release of ‘Horns’, which was teased for more than a year alongside ‘Istixo’.
The second half of the 18-track album serves as a more cultural and reflective part of her world as she touches on matters of the heart and the importance of having a solidified community for oneself. It is a descriptive chapter of where life is leading to and how her mind is currently fixed, as she also gives thanks to everyone in her team in closing with ‘Thank You’.
This album is one of my favourite drops this year in Hip-Hop because it shows what not being afraid can do for you and opens me up to a new way of thinking. I enjoyed ‘Believe It’, ‘ Amankara’, ‘Nombolo’, and ‘Anazinto’ the most as each song added a brand new touch and feel to the Dee Koala world and brand. It felt like a breath of fresh air, away from the noise and the trappy stuff. It just immersed into the real stuff, which is what made me fall in love with the sets of songs.
They speak highly of our current reality as no one is perfect, and when you begin to embrace your imperfections, you start to build an identity for yourself and a personality for yourself, with or without the struggles. It teaches us to be brave and bold in everything that we do and say because one thing about words is that they can change your whole life completely in one sitting, hence it is key to value where you come from and your story as a whole.
I loved every bit of this album, and I am very proud of Dee Koala’s journey and seeing her continuously succeed and outgrow people’s expectations. She is the woman she has always wanted to be and continues to stand her ground for her people and where she is going. Trust me when I say you will enjoy each chapter of the project and will find yourself going back for some more.
Listen to ‘iiNtsikelelo’ below:
