There’s a good deal of width and depth to the new release from South African rapper, producer and scene champion Spoek Mathambo. As on previous albums, Mathambo is on a mission to bring all colours and sounds under his roof, seeking and befriending the most adventurous of music-makers from near and far.
The threads on Mzansi Beat Code make for a fascinating spread of hooks, melodies and grooves. Deploying considerable brio throughout, Mathambo finds room and the right look for deep house on Black Rose, ghetto-house energy on The Mountain, soulful emoting from Loui Lvndn and Kjama on Nothing's Ever Perfect and I Found U respectively and simmering, thrilling, jittery township jive on Pula and Sifun'imali Yethu.
It makes for an infectious, catchy, deep and tribal soundclash, one that positions Mathambo and his South African peers as forward-thinking electronic music seers.
