Johannesburg - Rapper, producer and visual director J Molley is releasing his mixtape All Is Fair In Love and War this month featuring artists from across the continent.
The first single from the 14-track mixtape is Ang’na Stress, featuring Yanga Chief and Costa Titch. The rest of the tape features collaborations with fellow hip hop artists such as Riky Rick, Nadia Nakai, Frank Casino as well as amapiano’s Focalistic.
“I have always been very adamant on going about my career in a certain way in terms of not really collaborating with a lot of mainstream artists just to show the youth you can do this entertainment thing without co-signing to labels.
“That was the mission and we have done that and been recognised for it.”
Those he has collaborated with for this mixed tape are artists he likes in South Africa and across the continent.
“It was a good time to hit them up during the lockdown and a perfect time to get the features from everyone. It’s all the people that I enjoy.
“The mixtape is an introduction, especially at the beginning, to allow music lovers to ease into the rest of the tracks,” he says.
“I produced about six of the songs. I was introduced to beat production earlier this year. During the lockdown, I was in Swaziland for about four months and I took time to produce a lot by myself and experiment.”
Keeping the creativity going was initially good as eSwatini was a peaceful place at the time but after a while he reached a block.
“That’s when it got a bit tricky. I was really getting into a monotonous cycle, a bad loop. As soon as I got back to South Africa, I was able to write again back in my environment.”
Producing the mixtape took about seven months with most of the songs ready from last year.
“I would like people to just be open to different perspectives when they listen to it. To pay attention to deeper meanings, deeper lyricism and to open their minds to a different sound.”
October is Mental Health Awareness Month and the 22-year-old is a strong advocate for the campaign.
“It’s something that has personally affected me. I think everyone has their own complex and things that happen in their lives that draw them towards certain things.
“There are so many things in this life to be worried about, so many things you could care about. We all have our own personal attachments. I have always resonated with mental health.
“In life you can go through anything, you can go through physical difficulties, but as long as your perspective is good you can go through it.”
All Is Fair In Love and War comes out later this month.
The Star