Angolan-born, Cape Town raised E-JayCPT packs a varied punch with his latest EP, Petty Petty – and yes, it’s a little petty but it’s also a diverse exploration of hip hop in many forms.
On the surface Petty Petty might sound overzealous and familiar – all overused lyrical tropes, which smack of climbing the ladder to the top and raising a middle finger to the haters – but beneath it there’s a defined and unique perspective E-Jay is throwing in here.
Throaty, dark and rhythmic, “Dubula Dubula” is visceral and wraps extended synths around the opener of the EP, while “Pack n’ a Big Shot” injects some hazy, soulful background vocals which cut through his staunch lyrics (“What happened to hip hop/ niggas on TikTok”) delivered with gravelly force.
He pens a commentary on the violence culture of Cape Town in his KRO-barz collab “War Cry”, before delivering entirely unexpected Latino flair in “Bonita”. Then comes a bare-boned acoustic guitar number “Ride With Your Boy”, all growing vocals and heady rhythm, before “No Paper No Pen” gets real on growing up on the “wrong” side of the Cape Town tracks.
He could perhaps gain some diversity in his lyricism, but as far as hip-hop variety goes, E-JayCPT has something going for him here.
