Music
Get to know the man behind the beats for AKA, Kwesta, Rouge, Stogie T and Riky Rick
Johannesburg-based producer-rapper Tweezy, real name Tumelo Mathebula, is feeling buoyant. “Last year was all about re-establishing myself as a rapper,” he begins. “A lot of beats people heard were leftovers from 2017. But now I think I’ve evolved as an artist. People know I make beats - that’s a given. It’s time to give them something else.”
It’s been a crazy couple of years for the award-winning hitmaker. He achieved mainstream success in 2014, producing four singles ("Levels", "Run Jozi", "All Eyes on Me" and Sim Dope) on AKA’s sophomore album. The production credits and awards inevitably followed after—he produced for heavyweights like Kwesta, Rouge, Stogie T and Riky Rick and bagged a producer of the year award at the South African Hip Hop Awards.
But then followed the controversy. There was the beef with former crew member E-Jay and the falling out with AKA. None of that matters anymore though.
“It’s all in the past now,” he says. “Those are bygones and right now I feel like everything’s in place for 2019 to be my year.”
Here, he talks about his plans for world domination, producing a song with A$AP Ferg on it and burying the hatchet with AKA.
It’s been a dope 2018, for you. You had quite a couple of big placements (AKA, Nasty C and Emtee). How do you improve on that this year?
Last year was all about laying the foundation for 2019. I’m starting a label this year and launching my career as a rapper and an AR. I think everyone knows what I’m capable of as a producer - but I don’t want to limit myself to that. I want to direct the vision behind albums and not just turn the knobs.
And that’s what you’re hoping your album will do?
Yeah. I’m using it as a springboard and learning the ins and outs of executive producing. That’s just so when I start signing other people, I can say I’ve had the experience before and know what to look out for.
Tell us more about the album...
It’s called "Chosen" and I plan to release it later on this year. But before that, I’ll be releasing an EP called "Days Before Chosen". Some of the material on there is music that didn’t make it to the album but I still think it’s worth releasing. I’ve released three singles from the EP so far: "Legend", "Ambitions" and "Feugo".
I’m just trying to take it back to Soweto, man. Ever since Pro passed away, I feel like there’s been a void in Soweto. The baton is just laying there. I’m going for it.
You produced Nasty C’s King last year (which featured A$AP Ferg). How did that come about?
That’s actually a really funny story.
I actually sent that beat to Nasty C in 2017 but then I didn’t hear from him for a while. I just figured he hated the beat so I completely forgot about it. Then he gets in touch with me a year later to tell me he’s used the beat and wants to put it in the album, so he sends me the paperwork.
When the contract comes in, I see three names on the song’s liner note: mine, Nasty C’s and A$AP Ferg’s. I was blown away. I actually hit Nasty up to ask if they’d been a mistake and he just went: “Surprise”.
That’s crazy.
Yeah. The craziest part is, his verse wasn’t recorded to my beat. The song initially had another beat but when they dropped my beat on his verse, it just sounded “right” so they stuck to it.
You’re probably sick of talking about this, but how did you and AKA end up working together again?
His manager, Tshiamo hit me up and told me AKA was busy with an album and was open to working with me again. I sent him three beats. This was round about the time I sent King to Nasty C as well. He ended up taking all three.
Then, sometime last year, Kiernan (AKA) dropped a snippet of Touch My Blood (the first song on the album) and told people I’d produced it. The streets went wild and everyone was happy to see us working together again.
We bumped into each other at Back To The City and officially squashed any bad vibes we used to have. We’re all good now.
Tell us about the three songs you produced - Amen, Touch My Blood and Fully In.
The intro, "Touch My Blood", was more trying to create something different. Everyone in hip-hop is doing trap with loud synths and 808 glides. I’m moving away from that. I made "Touch My Blood" with the help of Maphorisa. He took on more of an executive producer role while I was making the beat. Funny enough, I was listening to a lot of WizKid when I made the beat. It’s a beat, I thought he’d want to jump on. I didn’t think Kiernan would take it.
"Amen" was made specifically with AKA in mind. I made it a day or two after making Touch My Blood and it was a nod to the work we did on Levels. I heard the sample and I immediately knew I had to do that whole house and hip-hop hybrid thing. I know Kiernan likes that so I knew he’d gravitate toward this.
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