It has been nothing but an upward gradient when it comes to the rise of Mzansi rapper, songwriter, and record producer Loatile Mangadi, otherwise known as Loatinover Pounds. Born and raised in Pretoria, his name has been on the lips of the masses since he dropped his EP Hood Misunderstood in 2022. More importantly, the thing that made heads turn in his direction is ‘Sosh Plata’, his breakout single from the EP, which has since spawned a remix with rappers 25K and Thapelo Ghutra and visuals that are close to 3 million views on YouTube.
We hooked up with Loatinover Pounds and talked shop about his journey as a beat maker, his inspirations, and the making of ‘Sosh Plata’.
“It started with me getting the FL Studio software. My dad had a PC, and I wanted games, actually. Because it only had CD-ROM, I couldn’t install games like GTA and FIFA. So, the only thing I could get was FL Studio, and my boy Jubilant helped me with it. He showed me the basics, like how to make beats and how to save them; then, I took it from there. I didn’t really have a mentor or proper teaching. It was just me, FL Studio, and YouTube tutorials.” he said about his humble beginnings.
Most people, specifically outside Pretoria, only came to know what a sosh plata was after Loatinover’s single, named after it, started dominating airwaves and music channel charts.
A sosh plata (for those still not in the know) is a type of customised vehicle registration plate characterised by a smaller font and size compared to a regular-sized number plate. It’s known for its stylistic appeal. It’s mostly popular in the north side of Pretoria, where Loatinover was bred. Like most artistic achievements, the concept of his breakthrough single started as a little germ.
“I was having a conversation with some of my friends at a car wash. Now there was a car with a sosh plata, and we started talking about how it looks good on every car. So in my mind, I was like, once I cop my dream car, I’mma put a sosh plata on it. So, the concept grew in my mind.
I made ‘Sosh Plata‘ after ‘Beke Le Beke‘ because people loved it, so I figured that I’d do something similar. Then I started with the beat and applied the sosh plata concept that had already been growing in my mind because I knew everybody from the hood would relate to it once they heard it.” he said.
Watch ‘Sosh Plata’ here:
When it comes to the instruments, the twenty-three-year-old star characterised himself as being a digital artisan, forging his greatest creation on the anvil of a DAW with the help of his mouse and his keyboard. However, as much as most of what he’s learned about music has come from the convenience of code-backed technology, he conceded that there were instruments he held a desire to play by hand.
“I’m a mouse-and-keyboard guy. That’s what I always do. But when it comes to composing music, as long as there’s the bass guitar and the 808 drums are there, then it’s all going to make sense. I’m a modern producer – everything I do is digital. As for instruments I’d like to learn to play by hand is the piano and the bass guitar.” he said.
Hip-Hop music is a sport of fierce competition where artists are constantly vying for lyrical and beat supremacy. For Mangadi, staying on top of the game isn’t merely about putting out one hit, then sitting back and letting the ball roll.
“For me, it’s all about practising and finding time to make more music. That’s how you discover new things. Because you can have new ideas, but as long as you’re not on the PC making music, you won’t be able to execute those things.” the record producer said.
He admitted that it takes practice and learning from others in the game to improve a producer’s own flavour. He cited renowned local producer MashBeatz and international names like The Alchemist and Statik Selektah as some of his personal picks because of their sampling game and ability to breathe new life into old classics.
“Every producer should listen to music because that’s where we draw inspiration. You can’t just create a new genre out of nothing because every genre is inspired by another. Every song comes from a song that already exists. No producer should be scared to imitate the style of other producers because that’s how you learn. Look at amapiano cats, for example. MDU aka TRP started the log drum, and then the other artists ran with the wave until it grew. See, I like producers who like to sample a lot, those who like digging from old stuff. The only people that usually do that here in SA are MashBeatz and then internationally The Alchemist and Statik Selektah.” he said.
Of all the songs he’s done, ‘Sosh Plata’ came out on top when asked about which song meant the most to him as an artist and a producer, citing its minimalist composition and simplicity behind the lyrics.
“My favourite track so far has to be ‘Sosh Plata’ because of the reception. It’s my biggest song, and everywhere I go, I find people singing it word for word. What I love about the song’s composition is that I didn’t do too much with it. It’s only three patterns if you listen to the song carefully. All the other songs on Hood Misunderstood are too serious, but on ‘Sosh Plata’, I was just saying random things and having fun – nothing serious.” he said.
Apart from Hip-Hop, Loatile expressed interest in dipping his toe into producing Bacardi music, a genre he was on a diet of at a young age as someone who grew up in Pitori.
“Bacardi is a genre I’d like to experiment on because it’s very popular in Pretoria and because I grew up listening to it, and I generally enjoy it. A lot of people outside PTA don’t know about it, but if you listen to amapiano of today, you’ll see that it has elements of bacardi and is heavily influenced by it. That’s one genre I’d love to dabble in so that people will know that it’s there, and it’s alive.” he said.
Listen to Hood Misunderstood:
