K.O on the country's issues and owning the ‘goat' tag

K.O. spoke to The Citizen just days before the release of his fifth studio album as a solo artist, Phara City.
K.O spoke to The Citizen about his upcoming fifth studio album. Picture: mrcashtime/Instagram
Compared to his contemporaries, rapper KO is a modest fella.
He doesn't fully own up to the Greatest Of All Time (Goat) tag that's always bestowed on him by his fans.
'This is something that people are actually pushing me towards and actually owning up to,' the soft-spoken rapper tells The Citizen.
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K.O owning the G.O.A.T tag
2025 marks K.O.'s 19th anniversary in the industry.
He stared out as a member of the rap trio Teargas, which, in its own right, had an impact on the country and was part of watershed moments in South African hip hop through collaborations with other artists.
He ticks the longevity box; his music has had an impact outside of the hip-hop community through songs such as Sete and Caracara, and his calibre as a rapper is of a high standard.
'If we're narrowing the conversation down to things like that, definitely, I start owning up to who I am in the space.'
He says he was more concerned with making good music than comparing himself to others.
'All these things [his accolades], I was more focused on just doing great things rather than looking at the score board to say, hey, am I in the top five, where am I now?'
Real name Ntokozo Mdluli, KO spoke to The Citizen just days before the release of his fifth studio album as a solo artist, Phara City.
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Phara City
The term 'phara' or sometimes spelt as 'para' can be defined as a homeless person who lives off their hustle on the streets.
Some definitions describe a phara as a person who has a home but overcomes life's harsh environment through his hustle on the street.
'Yes, it says Phara City and some people might think I'm talking about Joburg, but I'm actually talking about the country as a whole,' shares K.O.
K.O says South Africa has become an environment where a phara would only survive.
'Unfortunately, it [South Africa] has become almost like a Sodom and Gomorrah in real time because we see all kinds of things,' shares K.O.
South Africa is one of the most unequal nations in the world, with a high unemployment rate and a country that fails to protect its most vulnerable.
'The country has been tarnished on the world stage, in terms of how people perceive who we are as a country, our politics.
'Even internally, as citizens, there are so many things we're critiquing- the lack of leadership, corruption, illegal immigrants,' says K.O., sharing the thought behind the album concept.
The 13-track album will be released on Friday. Some of the standout songs from the project include Cross Night and No Chorus.
On the latter, K.O. shows off his bravado as a rapper, basically giving the middle finger to his competitors.
Through the album, K.O. says he is holding a mirror up to the country's face for reflection.
However, despite his criticism, K.O. also shows the celebratory side of South Africa.
'We still celebrate, we still party, we still fall in love, we still hustle and continue with life even outside of these challenges that we are subjected to. I talk about that side of things.'
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K.O's collaborative nature
K.O. has something that very few artists have: a collaborative spirit. Even at the height of the AKA and Cassper Nyovest beef, K.O. still managed to work with both artists.
'I've never been one who's confrontational, I've always just stood my ground,' says K.O.
He also demonstrated that he isn't an ageist, being open to working with younger artists like Blxckie and Maglera Doe Boy.
This is both a business move and something natural to him. He provides an example of how brands like Adidas can collaborate with other fashion brands, such as Gucci.
'As an artist, you need to go and do things with other artists, because you get to introduce yourself to their following and vice-versa,' he says.
Some of K.O.'s memorable work has been a collaborative effort.
From his most recent hit Sete with Young Stunna and Blxckie to 2014's Skhanda Love with Nandi Mngoma and Caracara with Kid X. On his 2017 album SR2, he collaborated with House music producer Black Coffee on SA Rising.
'I think it's beautiful when we see people who've shaped society together because we get to send the right vibrations to the rest of the people.'
ALSO READ: Amapiano vocalist Thatohatsi loses voice due to 'unexpected' illness
K.O's music taste
His openness to working with others also reflects his musical taste. When asked what he's been listening to recently, he mentions genres like Afrobeat and R&B.
'I have a very wide and broad sense of musical taste because you'll find me one minute listening to Afrobeat, listening to Blxckie, listening to Summer Walker, R&B and go back and pull out some stuff from yesteryears,' he says.
'I've been listening to a lot of Frank Ocean this year and obviously some of the Kendrick stuff he's done…but I like a lot of R&B, like Leon Thomas.'
He says he doesn't only listen for pleasure but also for inspiration.
'On this album [Phara City] I went as far back as listening to the very first Mase album because there was a certain bag that I was trying to get into, stylistically.'
The Mase album is Harlem World, released in 1997. He says he captured this '90s hip-hop and R&B fusion on Phara City through his collaboration with Blaq Diamond on the song Phara Love.
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