Following the commercial success of his Gold-selling third studio album My Journey Continues (2023), Soweto’s deckmaster Setoki “DJ Stokie” Mbatha released his fourth project Immortal on the 11th of July 2024. Boasting a stellate line-up of dynamic guest appearances such as Murumba Pitch, MaWhoo, Eemoh, and Qwesta Kufet, Zee_nhle, Smavesh, and Lington, Stokie’s latest entry to his burgeoning discography encompasses brevity and a sniper’s focus, with the body of work being a masterclass of balanced production and restrained feature performances.
Spread out over ten tracks, Immortal is a one-hour-and-nineteen-minute-long private school amapiano lesson in session. Marinated in jazz and soul sauce, DJ Stokie pussyfoots his way around each song with deliberate log drums softer than a baby’s bottom, cicada-esque percussion smoothed over with masterful mixing, and musical orgasms engendered by deft guitar finger work. Without much variation and rhythm switching, the “Superman” hitmaker rinses and repeats, and with the intelligence of Ntokzin, Ndoose SA, Faith Strings, Sobzeen, Mr. Maker, and DJ Nnana, the 41-year-old disc jockey cooks up a sustained musical experience that neither errs nor slouches as each song ends, passing the baton to the next one. What’s more, it’s the album’s even production that enables the end of each joint to blend seamlessly with the beginning of the one at its heels.
Immortal artwork | SUPPLIED
What’s worth noting when it comes to Immortal is its deceptive personality, and how well it proves that colour-richness isn’t directly proportional to potency – that is to say that the album is a practical demonstration of how possible it is for a musician to sacrifice frills in favour of strength and clarity. Laser-like in its thematic precision, the album delves into subjects such as celebratory thankfulness (“Bonga” and “Masithokoze”), the beauty of love and romantic connection (“Sthandwa Sami”, “Ndimlo” and “Soka Lami”), the love-hate nature of people (“uMama Wami”) and spiritual and financial blessedness (“Angi Na Lutho” and “iMali”). With most songs thematically paired with a conjugate, Stokie creates enough tension and consistency to allow the flavours to brew and bloom at full potential.
The album opener, “Selimathunzi”, shirks the donkey boiler convention of private school piano, kicking off with a dulcet vocal performance from Zee_nhle, who wastes no time as she spins the title of the song into an incantatory mantra. Outfitted with characteristically soft log drums and relaxed piano keys, the production waxes lyrical about the easy listening experience about to follow, a promise Stokie does well to keep with “Bonga”.
“Bonga”, a high moment of the album along with its twin “Masithokoze”, promptly runs farther with the baton passed from the LP’s usher. With incisive songwriting, the pair of songs mirror the cool vibe of the project’s starter, spicing up the ante with onomatopoeic flavour, particularly on the former: “Tshuku tshu tshu tshu tshu, bonga.” The climaxes of Immortal spotlight the vitality of keeping oneself aligned with the spirit of gratitude and to regard life as a cause for celebration.
Check out “Masithokoze”:
“Sthandwa Sami”, “Ndimlo”, and “Soka Lami” explore different aspects of love at different levels. While the first-mentioned in the group is a straightforward ballad that speaks of cherishing companionship, “Ndim Lo” and “Soka Lami” are appreciably more power struggle-oriented. While Qwesta and Eemoh make an exquisite presentation of contrasting deliveries on “Ndimlo”, portraying affection-sick lovers eaten by yearning, Zee_nhle and MaWhoo play forceful cards on “Soka Lami”, asserting their respective dominance and marking their territories within their men’s hearts.
“uMama Wami” critiques human hypocrisy from the perspective of a mother passing down her gems of wisdom as a bequest for her child. With telling lyricism (“Umama wami uhlal’ engiluleka / Ath’ abantu bathanda maw’hluleka / Bajabula mawehla kunyukela / koda waphumelela basondela kuwena”), the track is the most sober, detailing the cruelty of people who like to associate with someone when they are successful, only for those very people to turn away and abandon the same person they were supporting during times of hardship.
From its feature selection to its production assembly, Immortal displays decisive creative vision and single-minded intent that manifests as oneness of sound, theme, and tone. With his newest edition, Stokie shows no signs of letting up. If anything, each song testifies to him not only being comfortable in his craftmanship but also him being willing enough to put in the effort to reach higher levels of private school piano mastery.
Listen to Immortal:
