Yanga- Mntase

2017 has been the year of revelations, with only 3 months into the new year. More and more artists are hitting the refresh button, re-booting their approach with their careers and Yanga is one of those brave artists.

A real artist in the true sense, Yanga offers this self-directed visual story as one of his first outtakes from his split with his former record label Vth Season and boy is this a good start!

“2017 has been the year of revelations..”

The trickling droplets of melted beeswax gives me that homegrown smell of sweet honey filled with hope and struggle, the perfect winning combination for your average South African.

Waking up on the wrong side of the bed brings me to confrontation with my tattered Holy Bible on the edge of my side-tale, reminding me of the required mandate of the day, regardless of how I feel.

Yanga brings hope to the potentially hopeless in this emotionally-driven visual of his latest single ‘Mntase’. Yanga’s casual geriatrics with the backdrop of a stacked book-shelf leads the African rapper’s rhythmic-ensemble into the new-age space of playful determination, filling the nuances of despair evoked by his plead-filled tones on the hook.

Yanga is on a mission. To find hope and musical security as his portrayal is for a job. The clear juxtaposition between Yanga and the optimistic jobseeker brings to life the South African conundrum of the neglect of the youth and the socio-economic issues this all results in. 

“.. Yanga allows me to re-learn things lost in the fire with this soulful track”

Mostly singing in his home language of Xhosa, the Eastern-Cape native reminds me of a lost time, where learning was the basis of life, jetting on a short-lived time machine back in time to recapture what has been lost. 

Yanga’s signature stumbling-staircase flow serenades the verse coated with harmonic tones that are welcomed by echoing auto-tune infused adlibs, giving you a trance-like head-rush that spurs on a painless head-bump. 

I as a middle-class South African has lost my language in time and Yanga allows me to re-learn things lost in the fire with this soulful track.

“...Yanga’s signature stumbling-staircase flow serenades the verse...”

Going head-to-head against the mainstream expectations of a new-age Hip hop artist, Yanga stands tall and never backs down.

This is great yanga.

Director: @itsyangachief

Production: F2D Productions

Video Source: Yanga Youtube