One of the eternal struggles of being an online music connoisseur is when you find a dope artists who you know has a trove of sick tracks on their computer, but has only put out the bare minimum of music online to get you hooked and wanting more. I’m almost certain Cordovan Ghostal (Kabelo Sediba) is one of those artists.
I’ve done some digging but have only managed to dig up a handful of releases from this mysterious South African producer. His Bandcamp has one song on it from 2016 and his Soundcloud has a demo, 2 remixes and a collab with British MC Daniel Triple OG. That’s it. The cat has been putting out music for 2 years and that’s all I can find. Which is a shame, because the enigmatic 22 year old producer who bounces between Jozi and CT, has a knack for making the kind of synth laced hip-hop beats that reminds me of early Tyler, The Creator. That’s probably because like Tyler, Cordovan Ghostal is inspired by N.E.R.D/The Neptunes, as well as jazz, 90s R&B and apparently early Jungle, although I don’t hear much of the later in his limited selections online.
His earliest work that I can find online is that singular Bandcamp release I mentioned earlier, a repetitive and moody post rock track called ‘Wall‘. The imagery for ‘Wall’ has an OFWGKTA vibe to it although the song feels like something Ian Mackaye might have made if he got into codeine instead of straight edge. His latest work on Soundcloud is vastly different though. None of the guitar or morose wailing of his first release. Instead it’s all high-hats, synths and groove, perfect for nodding your head and smoking a blunt too.
In his press release, Cordovan says that he wants to score films and make soundtracks to video games, which, from the few things I’ve heard from him, seems like a good move. The cat can really set a mood, you know? He also says he’s taking things one track at a time, I’m just hoping for more tracks and less time.
