Setting the stage alight the only way he knows how.
Everyone who has seen Fuki-Baby on stage will tell you what a great performer he is. He is probably the best performer around the hood. Taking to him this past week, I got to find out about his journey that led him to music, what he thinks of his music and his competition and how much of a straight talker he is.
For a 21 year old, Fuki’s history in the arts is packing. He started off as a comedian earning himself the name “Fuki”. As a Lil Wayne fan he heard him chant “weezy F baby”, he then added that to his name to complete the popularly known “Fuki Baby” name. He also played soccer and was once a pantsula dancer. He said it’s been a long time coming for him to end up in the music scene. He realized his gift to entertain and grab the attention of people. As a youn’in, seeing Mzambiya and Msawawa on TV sparked that interest in the entertainment industry and pushed him into music and as he said it, he was “jealous of them” and “wanted to be like them”.
Two singles later, Fuki-baby is on the top log with some of the best loved around the hood. 21st and Ga-Rankuwa are two of singles off of his recently released debut mixtape titled “Only God Knows” which he is offering to the public for free. “21st”, he says he recorded it because he was turning 21 himself and wanted a song that will resonate with that and the crowd has received itwell. Rankuwa is another hot track that the masses love. It’s paying homage to his hood and the place that it is.
When asked why he is giving away the tape for free, he said it’s because “it was my first project and since recording it to where I am now, I am not the same person. I have grown as an artist. I realized that what I was talking about on the tracks and what I did and who I am and the life I am living was not the same. So I felt like I wasn’t being real to myself and my fans. I wanted them to know my music but I felt I shouldn’t make them pay for it because it was not my best and my best is yet to come. Since turning 21 I have changed.”
He is very hard on himself with his art and says he wants to make realistic music and not give in to the pressures of being similar to other artists and sing about things that have no relevance to him. He believes that many rappers expect too much from themselves because they want to consider themselves the best, that they put unnecessary pressure on themselves instead of just being real to their selves. “For now I am about performances. Making sure people know my music and making sure everywhere I go it’s about me and my name big, to make it big”.
He works with a team called “O.G.K” which comprises of two rappers and two DJs TJ and Khama. He has a lot of Drake inspired kicks on many of his beats as he is one of the artists he listens to. New international sensation Kendrick Lamar is one person he looks up to and says locally he doesn’t really look up to anyone and considers the bars not very high.
“I am unique. I believe if I get a chance to be on a track with some of the big names in the game I can be above most, even most have experience and can probably kill me when it comes to verses but on the chorus and stage performance I can do very well.”
On the subject of haters, he says he has recently found a number of them but has no time to entertain them. “I don’t have beef. I do not focus on negative stuff. They talk about me and give me promotion. What I do is say my piece to them, I do not retaliate the same way they attack me. ” He says he has heard three diss tracks that are about him that are doing the rounds from people he doesn’t know but one of the tracks are by Retro (keep an ear out for those).
With his first project he was sourcing out the market and trying to figure out the crowd, figure out which sound they like and give them more of that. He found out and learned what he needed to chance and improve on. “I was bragging about money but I realized it wasn’t my money, it was my family money. I had nothing.”
When Fuki is on stage it’s all about him, “I don’t focus on the crowd. It’s all about me. I get on stage and do my thing and at the end of the performance I know that I killed it.”
The local scene is looking good and most rappers are doing their thing. I think Kayso is the guy that I see as competition. He’s on my level in terms of presence and crowd appeal. I believe we are fighting for the same spot. The “parapara” joint helped him and if we put it aside I can kill him. I don’t want to sound arrogant or what not but my sound is very different from everyone else’s’.
He is currently busy working on his second mixtape which will be titled “Fuki-Baby and Niggaz”. On it he plans to be feature game players like Sp, CIA, Dotso, Boipelo, Pro-chiq and a whole lot of others. This is to help him up his standards and find out who is better than him. Branching Zaegos and Gazebo chilling sessions and working with other artists like Pro-Chiq and Boipelo. He is looking to also work with Young Pro and Boypeza to get the exposure in their hoods.
Some tracks that Fuki has put out include “lebotha” which played on Yfm’s hot 99 charts for a few, there’s also “ dedication” which has a huge Kwaito feel, ‘hate on me” which was addressing the haters and “tomorrow is the destination”.
This quote is from him to the hates “I’m pushing hard, I making noise. They talking loud and I don’t care” and to his fans “I appreciate the support you give me because you make me who I am. Look out for my mixtape coming out next year.”
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TheNASHmag Ed.
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