NINEHUNDRED4LIFE | Orish teams up with Lookatups & K. KEED to deliver the much anticipated ‘Sondela’ music video - Bubblegum Club

NINEHUNDRED4LIFE | Orish teams up with Lookatups & K. KEED to deliver the much anticipated ‘Sondela’ music video

“Each person on the video had a character and how all this was fused together, enabled us to come up with magic.”

Orish

If you’ve been paying close attention to the local hip hop scene over the past couple of years, you would have noticed a musical movement brewing within the Cape Town musical landscape. Call it a Storming of the Bastille moment, one in which the underdog completely overthrows the “hierarchy”, and independence is the key characteristic binding the entire musical zeitgeist together.

Sibulele Mela — known to everyone as Orish — is an upcoming 21 year old writer, singer, producer and engineer from Guguletu — noticeable by his signature production, baselines and melodies; matched with his own raps and vocals.

This local Xhosa hip hop movement, emanating from Cape Town, and led by The Khaltsha Queen herself Dee Koala, includes many other independent artists who are pushing boundaries within their own rights. Lookatups, who is featured on “Sondela”, is a frequent collaborator and has also recently released his own single, “Umxhosa Omkhulu“, teasing his debut album which seems to be dropping very soon.

His other creative compatriot, K. Keed, recently dropped a video for her latest single “Lemon Pepper Freestyle” — on top of being featured on Dee Koala’s latest single, “Spazz“, with Blxckie. Orish himself belongs to his own record label, Ninehundred4lifeco-owned with his close collaborator and fellow artist, Ewiva! 

I managed to virtually catch up with Orish and asked him a bunch of questions surrounding “Sondela”, his creative process, collaborations and much more.

How did you start producing and making music?

Orish: I started writing music in Grade 6 from a lot of Lil Wayne influence, I then slowly branched out to listening to a lot of Tyler the Creator. That’s where most of my producing influence came from — because he just knew what was needed for his voice and it made sense. Today, I’m obviously standing in a different position because I’m trying to master my own sound.

Please break down the meaning of “Sondela” (the song)?

Orish:The song was first a studio vibe. On that day, we came up with different ideas for the beat, then we got to “Sondela” [which translates to] “come closer” [in English]. The idea behind the song is us [declaring to people] who we are and what we are about because people usually make assumptions about who you are but usually get the complete opposite of what was expected.

Why Lookatups and K. Keed as features? What is your relationship with both of them?

Orish: Those are both my slimes for real, so it totally made sense because we’re all friends. They are both genuine and amazing people to hang around with; never a dull moment when I’m with them. I just enjoy working with both of them, our relationship is way more than just musical.

Tell me more about Ninehundred4life — your independent record label — with Ewiva! What inspired this? Do you both run it together?

Orish: To be honest, we’ve always wanted to start something but never got to it until now. We both had the same visions with everything, and that is doing it yourself. We do everything ourselves; from engineering the music, marketing and visuals.

Obviously, we don’t have big budgets because we’re independent and trying to make this shit work, but that’s respect to my brother man. I honestly appreciate him so much.

Okay let’s talk about the music video for “Sondela” – where was it shot and by whom?

Orish: “Sondela” was shot by the homie Jesse Jewels, and he came up with the crazy concepts for the video. Each person on the video had a character and how all this was fused together enabled us to come up with magic. We also shot it around Cape Town at the Influhks studio and in various, different locations such as Milnerton.

This upcoming crop of CPT-based Xhosa hip hop artists, spearheaded by Dee Koala, has such a unique sound — it’s a very “producer heavy” unique sound. What does your music represent?

Orish: My music presents feelings and stories that are both fiction and nonfiction, in distortion. I don’t want it to sound normal or look normal because we already know what’s what. I’m trying to bring in, is a different approach to trap music and R&B in South Africa, and hopefully the rest of the world.

Any exciting upcoming plans for Orish and Ninehundred4life?

Orish: I have a project coming soon that I’m really looking forward to. I honestly hope that people finally understand the sound I make and fuck with it. With Ninehundred4life, there’s more music coming soon! This project will blow a lot of people’s minds, in a good way.

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