Friday the 13th has long been synonymous with ill-fated omens, a date when misfortune supposedly lurks around every corner. But for ANATII, ever the alchemist of culture and sounds, this typically cursed day became a celestial pivot—a moment when generational blessings are not just promised but manifestly delivered. With “BOOM SZN,” released under the groundbreaking partnership with gamma – the descriptive global media and technology enterprise co-founded by former Apple executive Larry Jackson and record executive Ike Youssef, ANATII shatters superstitious constraints and reconstructs the evolutionary narrative of the “BUSHMAN SOUND”.
Recorded at TeaTime Studios, the journey to “BOOM SZN” indicates intentionality and reinvention packaged as an intricate philosophical musing, documenting the contemporary black experience while meticulously interrogating its economic and emotional infrastructures. For an artist whose career spans over a decade—punctuated by a Grammy win for co-writing Beyoncé’s “Brown Skin Girl”, ANATII understands a profound truth that escapes most contemporary artists: globalisation isn’t about homogenisation but about complex, nuanced dialogue.
While “BOOM SZN” is a celebration of life, punctuated by a rhythmic fusion of Amapiano, Hip-Hop and soulful R&B sensibilities, the invitation into ANATII’s sonic universe where everything from instrumentation to vibes, aspirations and triumphs booms, equally is a critical investigation mapping the intricate terrains of desire, economic precarity, cultural resilience, storytelling and spiritual reclamation as a personal and systemic construct through rich textures and lyricism that uplifts, inspires and celebrates the beauty of community.
Stream “BOOM” here.
The infectious rhythms and penmanship of “MIILLI ON ME” and “BLESSAH” serve as penetrating examinations of “Bheja” (Blesser) culture—a socio-economic phenomenon that reveals the intricate negotiations of intimacy, survival, and aspiration. With reality TV shows like “Ama Grootman” at the helm of displaying the glamour and destructive discourse of blesser culture “, BLESSAH” and “MIILLI ON ME” utilise the vehicle of Amapiano to lament the social epidemic that is indicative of relative poverty and the lengths people are willing to go to enjoy the lifestyle that comes with having Blesser, unfortunately, devoid of the cautionary tale that should ideally drive the songwriting nuance of both songs. The artists neither condemn nor fully celebrate this culture but present it as a complex survival mechanism born from systemic inequalities.
“ASILALI” further extends this discourse, presenting a nocturnal landscape of restless hustlers—OnlyFans creators, TikTok entrepreneurs: individuals perpetually navigating precarious economic terrains either through earning brand deals or through conceptualising life-changing ideas at the drop of a penny. “ASILALI” becomes a meditation on sleeplessness as both an economic condition and a metaphorical state of perpetual becoming.
Stream “BLESSAH” here.
Simultaneously, “BOOM SZN” offers a nuanced exploration of love and courtship that refuses nostalgic romanticism with songs like “SMS”, “WOAH WOZA”, and “NTOKAZI” reimagining traditional relationship narratives through a contemporary lens. “SMS” (reinterpreted as “Save My Soul”) brilliantly demonstrates this approach by blending the paradoxical worlds of Urban culture and contemporary love coupled with traditional preservation. By invoking the intent for iLobolo (traditional dowry) within an upbeat, digital-age framework, ANATII creates a sonic space to negotiate cultural continuity where historical traditions and digital realities coexist with timeless taste.
“WOAH WOZA”, which subtly immortalises South African staple figure, the character “Sarafina” played by iconic actress Letti Khumalo, is imbued in flirtatious subtext while “NTOKAZI” is doused in chivalry balanced with romantic crooning reflective of R&B tradition. Both songs flip the narrative of courtship on its head with an unwavering street flare, perfectly capturing the bad-boy charm that has shaken the cultural definition of Amapiano since the onset of the culture’s emergence into the conversation of pop culture, boldly challenging the context of a modern ballad.
Stream “NTOKAZI” here.
The album’s most profound moments emerge through its spiritual architecture. “GHOST GUITAR” opens the project as an instrumental prayer—a deliberate decolonial gesture that privileges indigenous sonic languages. This is further crystallised in the closing track, “BUSHMAN CHANT”, which transforms the musical experience into a transcendental ritual. By blending Hindu-esque chants with street folklore, ANATII accomplishes a remarkable feat: he globalises the local without losing its essential spirit. The spiritual essence is also captured in the lead single “SEY’HLANGENE” – a blend of Afro-Pop and Amapiano played with manifestation mantras for opulence and achievement, further cementing the philosophical channelling of cultural sovereignty.
Intriguingly, songs like “BOOM” featuring Busta Rhymes, Almighty, Marc and Chley are meticulously executed conclave of cultural exchange demonstrating how street narratives create transnational dialogues of survival and swagger. From the gritty streets of New York to the East Rand, Thokoza, Soweto and the defining Kasi’s of South Africa, we find a succinct, tasteful code-switching conversation between two sibling yet adaptive narratives of street lore highlighted in the parallel linguistics blend of “Woza” and “Wassup” which tingled my earbuds.
Stream “BUSHMAN CHANT” here.
Similarly, in ANATII’s hands, Amapiano challenges traditional song structures, elevating how stories can be told with inherent rebelliousness. This is exemplified by songs like “LET IT BREATHE”, which reimagines Culoe De Song’s classic Tribal House record “Webaba”, which sampled iconic vocals by Busi Mhlongo. Though the reimagining of “Webaba” wasn’t as well executed as I had hoped, I nevertheless find it commendable that ANATII attempts to breathe new life into a nostalgic classic, demonstrating how sampling can be an act of historical dialogue and reinterpretation.
From the Kash Kontant homage of songs like “MONTANA WAY” to the nostalgic immortalisation of iconic actresses on songs like “SOPHIE NDABA 2.0,” “BOOM SZN” represents a crucial moment of sonic decolonisation —where musical traditions from the Global South are no longer adapting to Western paradigms, but are instead setting the global musical agenda. As a representative of the South African voice and texture in the global musical conversation, “BOOM SZN” whispers and roars simultaneously: “We are here, We have always been here, and our stories will be heard.” The futuristic sounds of these street, pop, dance and experimental records encapsulate a philosophy where Rhythm = Resistance, Music = Memory, and Sound = Sovereignty.
Stream “BOOM SZN” here.
