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Is Punchline Clique local hip-hop's next big thing?

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The Clique: This band wants to map out a course towards thought provoking and innovative music-all while making you dance. 
Pictures:Glen More
The Clique: This band wants to map out a course towards thought provoking and innovative music-all while making you dance. Pictures:Glen More

Up-and-coming hip-hop group Punchline Clique is made up of four very different artists – an aspect we’re interested to see play out when they link up to release their debut album next year. Phumlani S Langa gets treated to an exclusive listening session and gets a handle on each individual in the group. 

The crew, or clique, has always been a celebrated construct in hip-hop. Individuals band together to create something unique. But this doesn’t always work, for every Skwatta Kamp you will find a 985. Beyond that is the tricky art of balancing a multitude of egos, which usually leads to the demise of a group. Even the Wu-Tang Clan went through beef.

Locally we’ve watched the dominance of label Ambitiouz Entertainment and its roster unravel, as well as the factions that arose after. Groups like A-Reece and The Wrecking Crew caved in on themselves and subdivided further. But, with Emtee and Sjava as frontrunners, Ambitiouz has enjoyed a decent innings with no collectives really posing a threat. Boyz N Bucks lost it when they started doing trashy things on tour and Family Tree is a squad of only two noteworthy artists – Cassper Nyovest and Nadia Nakai.

The local game is in need of a new posse of poets to advance the local sound and lead us down new avenues of possibility. And this could very well come in the form of Punchline Clique, a new group featuring two vocalists and two rappers. A joint album is in the works as well as a string of solo projects, some released and others yet to come.

Got next

I head to Sony studios in Westcliff where I am to meet Manu WorldStar, Luna Florentino, Dee Xclsv and Tony X – the Punchline Clique. These fellas have been on our radar ever since an industry conneck of mine mentioned that he was branching into music management and that these were the guys to keep an eye on. I was intrigued by the move, but more so about the fire in this man’s eyes when he spoke about this group of artists. It was like he was speaking about family and this I’m not used to. Usually a “suit” will market his projects with an assured confidence, almost an arrogance. This brother, Shingai Darangwa, spoke to me about the Punchline Clique as if he really wasn’t concerned with my thoughts on the topic. He was adamant that these guys got next.

I ask Darangwa how the band came to be. “I first met Manu WorldStar in 2015 when I interviewed him. I was an intern at Live Magazine at the time. I listened to the EP, From Now On, Call Me Manu, which he dropped a few months earlier and I was taken aback by how raw his talent was and how confident he came across. We started chatting a few days later and over time we just developed a manager-artist relationship.”

A few months went by and eventually Manu’s and young rapper Luna Florentino’s paths crossed and they collaborated on a song.

“Fast-forward to 2017 and Manu got selected to be part of Vuzu Hustle. When Manu came back from the show he told me about Dee Xclsv and that he thought they’d make great music together. And so one weekend I invited Manu, Luna and Dee over to my crib just to vibe and hang out. Dee brought his friend Tony X with him, who I didn’t know at the time. We ended up recording a bunch of really dope music and we just sort of became Punchline.”

The best way to get to know this fresh crew is to spend a little time in their world. I max out with the fellas one Thursday evening. They had convened at a basement studio at Sony with intentions of burning the midnight oil in session. The friendly homies smoked me up and played a few exclusive first listens of some of their upcoming music. Much like their manager Darangwa, I think the Punchline Clique has got next.

Congolese king of Afro-soul

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WorldStar leapt into the limelight after the success of his debut single Nalingi, probably this stable’s biggest record so far. Manu – real name Emmanuel Mutendji – is predominantly a vocalist with a knack for Afro-soul and Afro-beats, but he has some rap capabilities that make him formidable in studio. The mood at the session is laid back with the four brothers of Punchline wearing sweat pants and slides while their two producers, Eternal and Rob, flick through their phones and discuss the hidden intricacies in drum levels and plans to further bolster certain tracks. The chit-chat dies down as Manu asks Eternal to find some of his music.

He picks Space Dreams, a record off his solo project that he’s yet to name. The song features vocalist Thabsie. It plays like a potent dancehall piece, which suits Manu’s style perfectly.

He says: “I’m able to connect with both sides of the group. I understand Tony’s approach as well as Luna and Dee’s as I can both rap and sing, bridging the gap in a sense. I bring versatility and I feel like this helps make the boys comfortable.”

Manu played a touching song dedicated to his parents called Life Pon You, with a chorus of “asante”, which means thank you in Swahili. He has been learning to speak his family language with plans to release entire records in his home language. He wants to unveil the song when his parents attend one of his shows.

“I just wanted to thank them. I know I’ve f**ked up here and there but they never turned their backs on me. I’m sure they’ll cry when they hear it.”

The song is probably the most sincere thing I’ve heard from the brother and has stirring sentiments.

One of Manu’s biggest advocates has been rapper Rouge, who appears with him on a song called Fire Emoji. Her verse hadn’t been sent through yet but what he has waiting is rather impressive. He describes it as being a song in which he was looking to flex and provide us with a good, old-club banger.

He comes across as the leader of the crew, immeasurably focused. He has been picked up by Sony and offered a licensing deal. I was puzzled why this label didn’t offer everyone a deal. Dee Xclsv is at Universal Music and the other two brothers are firmly part of Punchline Media.

The fresh prince of Rustenberg

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Young trap lord Luna Florentino is perhaps the joker of the group, but what you may not know about this man is that he is responsible for most of his own production beats, which is no joking matter.

Luna sits at the production desk wearing his trademark bandana tied in a similar way to Tupac. This is the moment things turned hot in the studio. Luna and Manu decided which records they should play me off the joint Punchline album, which they say will be ready for release early next year.

Luna, real name Koketso Ramafuthula, finds a song called Party Up which includes his wavy approach to production.

I admit to the guys that I was expecting their offerings of trap to sound like they were crafted in the mould of Emtee, with that auto-tune harmonised method to the bars. It wasn’t.

This track slapped my soul around the studio and the boys got really hyped as it played, literally jumping up and down in the studio like it was the stage.

They did the same when Luna spun VSOP, a hype homage to the clique’s shared love of Hennessy. Absolute fire and the stand out on the night.

I ask him about his current projects.

“I’m pushing my tape, The Fresh Prince of Rustenberg, hard right now. To be honest with you, when I was recording the music on this tape, I didn’t have a set direction for the sound. I was just recording what I was going through. At the end I picked out what I wanted, I chose 11 from the 20 tracks I had.”

Luna has dropped two EPs that were relatively well received. The first was Florentino Mariachi, which #Trending has mentioned before and now, of course, the Fresh Prince of Rustenberg. Cuts like Poppin show off how pleasing his voice is, and it fits the sound well. I can detect the Kendrick influence rooted in his flow but I’m just glad that his attempts don’t sound like an Emtee knock-off.

Punchline’s point guard Manu WorldStar appears on the cinematic sounding, Hold It Down. The production really impressed me and each vibe he cultivates, whether he’s trying to Wake ’n Bake or Chill, sees a composition that fits the mood perfectly. He adopted Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Fridays release strategy, except his is called Mariachi Mondays, when he unveiled a new song off this project weekly.

The hype hitter

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The lanky and quiet Dee Xclsv, real name Didintle Mokhine, provides a synopsis of the group track, Sposed To Be, which he says speaks to the uncertainty of life in your 20s.

“You know when you’re trying to figure things out in life and you feel like you should have done that by now? Really, you should still be feeling your way around things.So the song reaffirms that you should be doing what you’re doing – whether you’re in matric doing prelims, or a 15-year-old trying to choose subjects, or a graduate trying to find the right field.

“You always know, deep in your heart, you know if something is meant for you.”

Manu chimes in before they play this song and takes me back to the time when this group rented out an Airbnb and locked themselves into a strenuous recording session.

“I still had a job in those days so I’d go and come back. When I heard this after returning one day I was like ‘f**k’. It made me want to rap and so I got the first verse.”

Dee released his debut project, Two Hours from G-Park, and it was enjoyed by the youngsters in and around the Braamfontein precinct. It opens up with a dusty sounding boom bap joint called S.I.M.W in which he demonstrates that rap is something he’s studied and he has a firm grip on punching hard.

This is what makes him the hitter in the group. He raps his ass off on that title track.

Right after on Facts, he gets it wavy. I like the versatility and even when the delivery is playful, the darts are still potent. He raps like the kind of artist who would light it up in a beef situation.

This for me is at the moment the most collectable record from this stable.There’s nothing I enjoy more than rappers going off with the pen in hand over beats that sound like it’s time to party as Dee shows on All I Know and over most of Two Hours from G-Park. I could’ve done without Wtvr and more of the sound he emits on 100k and the ballad-like, Flex Life, which rings out like an atmospheric city anthem.

The old soul

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Tony X is the more reserved member of the group – a straight up R&B cat. You wouldn’t be able to see it by just looking at him as he has a veneer of rap cat to his aura. Tony is yet to release a full-blown project but this is in the making. He’s also yet to garner as much hype as the other members of his squad, but I’d say it’s an inevitability.

Tony, real name Potego Mogano, loves how each of them differ so vastly and he says this is what makes them a special act.

“My sound is more R&B, I bring that smoothness to the team. That chill. When everyone is up I balance it out with the melodies. Anything melodic and harmonic, I’m about.”

He views himself as perhaps the odd one out, as everyone else in the group raps. You can’t pick this out in their sound as everyone is on the same page.

“We gel like that.”

Dee says: “He’s with us all the time and so even his verses, which are sung, sound rappy. He writes like that.”

Manu says: “It’s just harmonised really, homie has bars. One comes to mind: ‘Thizo chop it up if you beefing’, which was like an inside joke as Thizo was our chef. When I heard that I was, like, okay Tony.”

The guys chuckle.

“Vele I have that rapper influence. You get singer niggas and rap dudes but I guess I play both in a sense,” Tony says.

We don’t have too many acts like him occupying that urban crooner lane. I bring up Tellaman who is perhaps the only other act doing this choppy singing and the group gets quiet and a serious nod makes its way around the room as they concede to Tellaman being a direct competitor for Tony.

“I feel like I will make my mark as an R&B star but I’m fully aware of where we’re at. In South Africa you’ve got to be able to ...”

Manu completes his sentence: “Finesse bro.”

“Exactly, finesse. Not to say I’m selling out what I really am. It’s just lately I’ve been listening to lots of Malaika and Mafikizolo. I guess I’m trying to take it back to that with my sound.”

The deep-voiced Dee Xclsv says: “That in a sense is pretty much our R&B in South Africa.”

Check out his track, What You Need, featuring Dee Xclsv, where they demonstrate this idea with a wavy sounding slow wine piece. I’m looking forward to hearing him alone on a project. The song, Raindrops, offers promise and he sounds like he has a decent range vocally. When it comes to singing on rap, which he does on the group songs, it’s always best to be low key with it.

Hearing him on more purely R&B will leave him room to really unleash vocally.

Should you check for Punchline?

After these moments in studio with Punchline, I can safely say that what they have works particularly when they’re all together.

I’m looking forward to more from Tony X, as well as Manu WorldStar. Luna’s output has been impressive so far and his talents on production could very well rejuvenate the manner in which new-age beats are constructed. I mentioned that they should run VSOP as a lead single and if they do, you know who to thank.

Dee’s solo project came as quite a surprise as the brother seems to be able to cross into a darker soundscape than his homies, making his delivery weighted. I must warn the clique that they fall into a bracket of artists who I intend to be hard on, as far as what they release. Not because I enjoy hating as much as I do, but because I think they can take it and respond to any challenges by elevating their art.

I’m hoping in turn they can advance the local movement to new heights.

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