There is something very interesting about alt-hip hop artist Manic Kabana’s (real name Tumi Motau) craft. The grain in his voice reminds me of 6LACK’s style and the tedium in his tone – which adds to the IDGAF attitude – not only redirects your attention to the lyrics but focuses it too.
The upcountry-hailing muso’s journey began with sound engineering and very quickly morphed into songwriting and music production. For six years in a dark backroom studio, Manic Kabana developed, evolved and honed his sound and cultured a well-oiled genre versatility.
Now, Manic Kabana offers us a bite of the fruits of this labour in the form of his debut hip hop drop, POLTERGEIST.
True to the artist’s come-up journey, the seven-track EP was written, engineered and produced by Manic Kabana himself and the outcome is pretty slick. Not only is the production a chef’s kiss but Kabana has also threaded considered lyrics into one relatable sonic tapestry. Bars like ‘bringing all these verses to the table like meals’ in “Learning to Fly” and ‘if life is a struggle I’m doing it right’ in “Henny Nights” push the EP to the next level.
Days, months and years spent locked in his makeshift studio, mixing and recording the high caliber of work that is POLTERGEIST might come back to haunt Manic Kabana, but in the best way.
