Cape Town-hailing rapper, Lolli Native’s debut album, iVangeli, could easily pass as his identity card.
With an adored Xhosa Folk song, sung by his very own mother, as an interlude, the album is an ode to the women who raised him, his mother and grandmother.
Each song is a peek into his world, encompassing his wife and kids, his musical journey, as well as his upbringing in Nyanga East, one of the long-standing black townships in South Africa.
The album title, iVangeli (isiXhosa for ‘Evangelicalism’) is a reference to Lolli Native’s Christian values. All 11 songs in the collection are completely written in his home language, isiXhosa. Lolli Native proudly regards his music as Spaza, an original South African Hip Hop sound, which uses isiXhosa in its lyrics and heavily influenced by township living.
Stream ‘iVangeli’ below:
iVangeli is a culmination of years of music contests, which saw Lolli Native enjoy some notable achievements such as a mentorship opportunity by American artist management powerhouse, Cortez Bryant in 2015 and a record deal with Emtee Records.
“I couldn’t be more grateful for an opportunity to work Emtee Records because my relationship with them goes beyond business. I gained a second family and a whole lot of opportunities to elevate my career,” says Lolli Native.
CEO of Emtee Records and acclaimed South African rapper, Mthembeni ‘Emtee’ Ndevu, discovered Lolli Native in 2018 through his talent-search reality TV show, Rap 4 Me. “If being a crowd favorite and ultimately winning the competition was not enough proof of Lolli Native’s star power, the success of the few tracks that I’ve released with him in the last two years should be an indication of how talented and committed he is to his art. I am very excited for the release of his debut album!” says Emtee
iVangeil was engineered by KnifeBeats and on production, Lolli Native worked with the likes of Black Tears, Brian Temba, Master BC, young2unnbeats, and Meloproduceit.
