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It's time to B. Sharpa!!

Once in a while an artist comes along with the vision and ability to turn a genre on its head whilst taking it back to its roots. Ben Sharpa has achieved this with his debut solo offering, B. Sharpa, an iconic album that pays homage to the best socially conscious lyrical traditions of hip hop whilst innovating a completely fresh sound that Sharpa himself calls robot army music.

Described by BBC Radio 1 DJ and experimental music maven, Mary-Anne Hobbs as “one of the most inspired and agile lyricists in the world today”, Ben Sharpa has created an epic work that takes the listener on a journey into the tortured mind of an artist who has remained fiercely dedicated to his art despite the hardships he has had to endure as a result.

On B. Sharpa, Ben addresses corporate greed, the media, the music industry, politics, the struggle of the downtrodden in the African continent, the ecology and the art of emceeing. At times Sharpa reflects what he sees with the lucid clarity of a prophet, at other times this reflection is clouded by an opiate haze of conspiracy theory paranoia. Throughout the album, Ben rides the rhythms with the ease and fluency of an old skool hip hop veteran, effortlessly switching from playful, witty braggadocio to spaced-out asymmetrical streams of consciousness, to gritty heartfelt tales of street life.

B. Sharpa is at the forefront of a new wave of ‘soundsystem’ music, underpinned by heavy, hybrid hip hop beats with influences from electro, dub, Detroit techno, dancehall, electronica and glitch. On production is Dplanet, Sibot, Kaptin (a Sharpa alter-ego), HueMan (RIP), X-24th Letter and UK Bass Music super-producer Milanese. There are guest features by label-mate KONFAB, Archetypes, Teboho Semela (Sharpa’s sister, a virtuoso violinist) and Brooklyn-based, Lyricist Lounge all-star, Wordsworth.

Ben’s razor-sharp lyrical skills effortlessly bring the various influences together as a coherent whole. Even with the eclectic nature of the production, the listener is left in no doubt that B. Sharpa is a bona fide hip hop album by a master craftsman.

We develop artists who understand the cultural significance of representing the reality of life in South Africa. Whilst deeply rooted in Hip Hop culture, we push aesthetic boundaries. Our sound is influenced by a wide variety of music, everything from Roots, Dub and Dancehall, to Electro, Detroit Techno, Dubstep, Grime and naturally, the sounds of Africa.

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