Born in Umlazi, Durban but popping in Pretoria, rapper-cum-producer Tyson Sybateli has come to be known for his sharpness with the pen and verbal kineticism with the mic, but not much has been documented about his work as a soundsmith – the very same desk where his rapping developed into a fully-grown skill. Behind projects such as Present and Home, there were years of chiseling and preening.
Bra Nyoga recalled a time in his youth back in high school with his close friend and frequent collaborator Illrose, who was instrumental to him establishing a foot hold in the game. With FL Studio being a self-teacher’s paradise, Sybateli, no different from scores of his contemporaries, was a beneficiary of the software.
“Where we learned to make beats was back in high school. We used to record after school at my house with my close friend Illrose. And Illrose was musically gifted and used to teach us about producing, such as where to add altos and saxes. He tried this piano roll kind of thing on Mixcraft, and we were astounded about being able to make our own beats. We always used to just download instrumentals and on Mixcraft, he did some things, played around and made some weird sounds.
“He then asked around, and a friend of ours told us he’s got FL Studio. So he put that on our USBs, and we took it back home and started making beats ourselves. I might’ve sucked, but Illrose was good at it. By the end of three months, he was able to craft a stable beat with the help of YouTube tutorials. Everything I learned, I got it from him till I was able to do my own thing.” he said.
Sybateli had a hand in the making of Wordz’s sophomore album People Forget to Be People, particularly the song “Laundry Day 2”. A reunion that started with Tyson’s involvement on the first “Laundry Day”, he recounted how the song came to be and how his relationship with the fellow rapper caused the creative juices for the second version of the song to flow with relative ease.
“On the first ‘Laundry Day’, it was me reaching out to Wordz. Although the song was produced by DoouShii, I produced the skeleton beat of that. I had a sample I was chopping that I was going to use, something that would match his barred delivery and the subject matter. When I made the beat, I started writing to it, and then DoouShii took the same beat – kinda sampling it – took the chops and created the sound of “Laundry Day”. By 5 AM after sending the beat, Wordz contacted me, and that’s how we made it.
“For the sequel, Wordz reached out to me and told me he’d already started with the second ‘Laundry Day’ and was four bars deep. Now, the initial ‘Laundry Day 2‘ was under somebody else’s beat, and it sounded luxurious, with drums and strings everywhere – the kind of thing you’d hear on a Rick Ross song. Although it sounded amazing, I felt like it didn’t represent what ‘Laundry Day’ was about. I let him know and told him that I got him. Spent 30 minutes chopping something up, lifted his four bars from the first beat and put it on a new beat.
“For the song, I wanted something that would suit Wordz, a minimalist approach that would make sense from a soundscape standpoint and for the texture of his voice. I knew that he would get it because this was his lane. He thought the production was amazing, so we had a back-and-forth and hit the studio. After about an hour, we’d finished recording the song.” he said.
Listen to “Laundry Day 2”:
Having grown into a sure-footed producer in his own right, he listed his influences as being Madlib, The Neptunes, The Alchemist, and Kanye West. He also spoke about what drove his sampling game, and why he’s always played to it as his primary strength.
“I like sampling because of the producers I look up to, like Madlib and The Alchemist. The original essence of hip-hop. Being able to have the ear to hear a note of an old song and knowing just how to loop a portion of it to create a completely new idea. You gotta have an ear for it and be able to flip and change it up.
“I mean, we don’t know how to clear certain stuff, so we gotta keep flipping it till it sounds like something new. It’s an art form. And when it comes to sampling, I like anything with a guitar sample, whether acoustic or electric. Besides that, I have a bass guitar that I’m still learning to play. So I usually just whip it out, connect it to the interface, and create certain sounds with it that I throw into FL Studio.” he said.
In the fast-paced world of social media ruled by TikTok challenges, viral X posts and Facebook engagements, Tyson expressed how beneficial online exposure has been, not only for musicians but entertainers in general. With the general public and artists alike having access to different streaming platforms and media, he spoke about the portal to different multiverses being the upside of rampant media consumption.
In this pocket, there was no analysis paralysis, because the limitless options enabled every participant to mix and match anything they wanted – an element he admitted has been instrumental in the growth of music as a whole.
“I feel like where we’re currently at with music and pop culture in general, and in times of how media has advanced, it has created an individualistic mindset in everybody. Back then, we all knew when a certain show would be on and at a certain time of the week. If you missed it, you missed it. Media consumption was limited. So we all liked the same things. That’s how certain artists thrived; we all listened to Lil Wayne and Jay-Z because media was relatively limited. But now, because of how diverse social media has made things and how it’s so super accessible.
“You can watch shows that I don’t even have to watch for the next four to five years – shows that I don’t know. And the same applies to music. The openness of everything has allowed everyone to have their universes now. That’s why it’s amazing how you can find one person listening to psychedelic indie stuff mixed into trap while another is deep in boom-bap that is sample-heavy. And the coolest thing is that all of you can perfectly co-exist. So, there isn’t a need to keep up with trends because everyone is doing their own thing in their lane.” he said.
Bra Nyoga handpicked “Places”, the outro to his 2022 offering titled Home, as his choice pick in his production discography, recollecting how the passing of hip-hop star Riky Rick had an impact on the maturation of the song from its infancy to it becoming a final product.
“The song ‘Places‘ that I produced for Home is definitely my favourite. I created a separate version of that song, and I really loved that beat. I recorded the first one alone and it was around four minutes. I made the song because it reflected the time period I was in. I had to start the project from scratch again. So, that was me telling myself that I would get my act together and set out to be in a better place. But I waited for a long time with the record, and I needed something to get Tron on.
“When I got a hold of him, I played him a part of the beat and he loved it. So it was me, Tron, Yolophonik, and Feziekk in the studio. It was also on the same day we’d heard of Riky’s passing, and we were sad about it. We used the mood and the moment to put together a record that would show love to those no longer with us while understanding that we have to keep moving because we still have places to be. The entire conversation we had in that moment and the mood reflected in the song.” he said.
Watch “Places”:
Besides hip-hop, Sybateli shared that he had his sights on dipping his toe on three other genres, one of which being the global phenomenon of afrobeats.
“I’ve always wanted to make rock music. I’ve got some afrobeats fusion experiments as well in the works because in as much as I’m trying to do afrobeats, I wanted to add some textures of R&B to it. I like it when there are keys because when you get a certain sound right, it makes it feel warm, and I like my afrobeats that way. Wizkid got it right in Made in Lagos. There’s a certain four-track run he has on the album that embodies the sound. So it’s rock, afrobeats, and garage, which is another great influence I wanna try.” he said.
