Making huge waves in the Cape Hip Hop scene, this Worcester resident Barry “SlagYsta” Pondt who is a prolific rap artist and clothing designer is now regularly headlining show’s in his home town as well as Cape Town, Mosselbay and Johannesburg. Next stop NYC.
The name Slagysta can loosely be translated as a deadly steel trap and he says that he basically ensnares you with the mental pictures he creates in his rhymes.
With this attitude he is set on taking his art, his clothing brand and his representation of the Cape Rymklets movement worldwide.
For the past few months well-known Hip Hop pundit Celeste Mitchell who co-hosts the Goodhope FM Live Cypher Sessions and who is also a regular guest presenter of Hip Hop sessions on the Hectic Nine9 television show has been hailing him as the next artists to make it big in the SA Hip Hip business and her prediction is fast becoming a reality.
He has recently concluded a very lucrative deal with an international company based in the USA that will not only see his Slagysta clothing and apparel brand be taken internationally but will also take him to new York City where he will be collaborating with a number of US artists on his next musical project.
This talented individual’s love for hip hop started shortly before he joined hip hop dance group “Ram Klan” in 2008 but it wasn’t until 2010 that he stopped freestyle dancing to pick up the microphone. 2013 saw Slagysta take the Cape by storm performing at various parkjams, clubs, cyfer sessions, radio shows as well as local and international tv channels,
His determination and dedication to succeed was shown after he released his first mixtape “Out The Ghetto” when he physicaly sold 1000+ copy’s by hand, with 2000+ downloads in a very short space of time. In our fairly low volume industry with an ‘over-supply’ of free mixtapes and a shortage of people willing to part with their money, this was quite a little feat.
When we asked why he had left dancing to take up the microphone instead, Barry replied: “Music is a form of art in which I can express myself more in the sense of various emotions, the word gets out even if I’m not on stage performing, whereas with dancing it doesn’t. Doing music which people can relate to is more touching than having them try to figure out what’s portrayed in my dancing.”
Later in 2013 he released yet another cd called “Crossover” where he experimented with different genres of music including dubstep. His hard work did not go unnoticed, as he has been blessed with the opportunity to perform alongside big acts like SAMA award nominee, Byron Clarke, Idols star Crushanda Forbes, and a number of other well-known artists.
It is through his work ethic and his versatility that he got noticed by his new international business partners. Barry is quite determined to make this new venture and his trip to the US an all-round succes.
“Though I’m not allowed to go into too much detail with you, I’ll be meeting and working with globally known artists and this will hugely benefit the SlagYsta brand as well as the many other South African Hip Hop artists I work with. This is a dream come true”
Of course we also bring you one of his videos so you can see what the hype is all about.
Fediverse Reactions
Post URL
Paste the post URL into the search field of your favorite open social app or platform.
Your Profile
Or, if you know your own profile, we can start things that way! Why do I need to enter my profile?
This site is part of the ⁂ open social web, a network of interconnected social platforms (like Mastodon, Pixelfed, Friendica, and others). Unlike centralized social media, your account lives on a platform of your choice, and you can interact with people across different platforms.
By entering your profile, we can send you to your account where you can complete this action.
C.A. Philander & Ryan Swano
Making huge waves in the Cape Hip Hop scene, this Worcester resident Barry “SlagYsta” Pondt who is a prolific rap artist and clothing designer is now regularly headlining show’s in his home town as well as Cape Town, Mosselbay and Johannesburg. Next stop NYC.
