Richardine Bartee
Pretoria-native South African rapper TTGO just put out his debut project called, ‘Lifestylion’, which consists of eleven tunes that flow melodically like Mississauga, Ontario champion PARTYNEXTDOOR or Toronto’s own Tory Lanez’s compositions. On the first record (‘TT Immortal’), the doll-faced rapper talks about taking the competition by surprise. On ‘Got ‘Em’ featuring Focalistic, he raps in his native tongue. ’44’ describes the adoration women have for him. The same narrative applies to ‘Gorgeous’, a self-glorifying conceit-filled record produced by Stickx.
When the ‘Drugs’ interlude came on, I thought it was a streaming service commercial. The two-minute song includes a guitar solo, made to satisfy a Rock audience. In the next record, he doesn’t want to be high any more. I think it is a positive sign for anyone who’s addicted to substances.
One can hear the Travis Scott influences from the start of ‘Keep Your Drip!’ featuring Bhuga Bhengu. It is remarkable to me. I remember when we, humans, didn’t sound the same—musically—for years. We’d visit another continent. They’d be far behind, as far as American culture goes. When I discovered his debut, it had been out for two days. I’d like to hear TTGO take his singing to another level. It is his first full release, but I think he’s holding back. I have a feeling he can sing; hold his own. I realised when listening to the title track.
My top records from ‘The Lifestylion’ are ‘Awuyisuse’ featuring Flex Rabanyan and Bhuga Bhengu, the hook on ‘Keep Your Drip!’ featuring Bhuga Bhengu, and the minimalism behind ‘Thank God’ that could easily be an outro to a J. Cole LP. I’d want to hear him paired with a British Grime/Drill artist. I believe their styles/vocals would complement each other.
