Hailing from the fabled metropolis of Pretoria, South Africa,
A-Reece grew up a rap acolyte, moulded by his older brother who filled the house with the cross-pollinated hip-hop of the early 2000s, which dispensed with the notion that “classic rap” had to be provincial and pure.
A-Reece’s talents as a teenage prodigy was consonant with this gestural vision of rap. At just 19-years old, he became one of the youngest artists to win ‘Lyricist of the Year’ at the South African Hip-Hop Awards off the back of his 2016 debut album ‘Paradise’. As he matured, he reached starrier heights: with every subsequent release he merged the underground with the commercial, refining his wordplay, cementing his position as one of the most gifted storytellers from the vast terrain of the African continent.
The start of a new regular column.
Welcome to
Clash staff writer
Shahzaib Hussain navigates the cosmos of the newest and most essential releases. Each month’s roundup features a Focus Artist Q&A, a Next Wave artist recommendation, a breakdown of his favourite songs and projects and a retrospective highlight revisited through the lens of dewy-eyed nostalgia.
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Focus Artist – Shungudzo
Shungudzo has arrived at a time when we desperately require a new manifesto. The Zimbabwean- American’s an activist, aid worker and journalist, her holistic worldview informs the music she makes, ensuring every song she releases carries its own personal memorandum on how to navigate an undemocratic world.
The March instalment of theÂ
Clash Radio Show hosted onÂ
Rinse FMÂ is now online for your listening pleasure.
Two hours of our favourite new music hosted by our very own
 Jess Bays and Shahzaib Hussain, including our recent interview with
Fred Again discussing his meteroric rise.
Clash andÂ
O2 have come together providing a new platform for the next wave of performers and emerging artists hitting the scene, to further amplify theirÂ
The interval on live music that has been in effect, with a pause on all but a few concerts running across the summer due to the Covid-19 pandemic has left us all with a void that we are yearning to fill.