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Johannesburg - The best rapper in the country, Youngsta CPT, has finally decided to give us a dose of that boom-bap rap.
With beats produced by Switzerland’s Maloon TheBoom, the pair have styled themselves as Yungloon Taliboom and released their new EP titled To Be Continued.
Maloon has laced one of the most venomous spitters with an assortment of classically-styled beats.
Fat bass and well-cultivated instrumentals allow Youngsta to bless us with something other than the Kaapstad-infused trap the artist usually attempts.To Be Continued is a more complex offering than we’ve seen in months. Classy beats are woven together to form a record that should haunt the phony rappers who dominate the local scene.
The track Krugers is a stand-out, and Youngsta talks about his obsession with the Krugerrand coins. This beat draws on the new wave, but it’s different. The bass is perhaps the only thing vaguely trap-centric about it.
Youngsta and Maloon are well travelled and boast about this on the piano-driven track Muchas Gracias. Youngsta uses a few Spanish phrases, which makes for a simple but effective inclusion on this record. The Youngin’s lyrics hover over the beat in an eccentric way.He then gets into a little love song, Miyang Stokkie, but unlike the tired “girl, look at my car” booty hop, the track is more like that of a street poet trying to serenade his love through the clever use of language.
With their EP, Youngsta and Maloon have shown just how important the beat conductor is in rap. Maloon’s beats give Youngsta the room to kick some street knowledge and rep his hood, which he never fails to do.
The track Bashews plays host to another tale from the streets of Cape Town and how young brothers have a taste for a drink by the same name. But the track is about more than just an enjoyable beverage – it’s also an ode to corner store culture.
Youngsta even addresses the scourge of gangsterism in the Cape Flats. It shouldn’t be surprising to hear a local emcee use his music to talk about social issues, but given that the local rap game has become increasingly vacuous and vapid, hearing someone use rap to actually say something meaningful is quite moving.
To Be Continued consists of songs the pair have been working on for a few years. Instead of releasing the tracks as singles, Youngsta and Maloon compiled all of them into this record. And even though the songs were worked on individually over time, the tracks sound like they were meant to be put together for this album. And this is exactly the kind of music that has me more than happy to spend my money.
Yungloon Taliboom – Youngsta CPT and Maloon
The Boom: To Be Continued
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