Two years since the release of his third studio album P2: The Big Hearted Bad Guy, South African rapper and singer-songwriter A-Reece has dropped Business as Usual. Leaning on his long-standing penchant of subsisting off extended plays, the project is an extension of that side of his catalogue, with the EP being his first in three years after Deadlines: Free P2. With his newborn opus, the wordsmith born Lehlogonolo Ronald Mataboge continues to lean on the lustre of his penmanship, each line written and literary trick executed cementing him as a skilled master of the tightrope of lyricism. Here, the Pretoria emcee displays a greater degree of maturity as a man and as an artist with controlled songwriting and substantial subject selection and thematic scope.
Although the project has nine songs on paper, the true nature of the bones of Business as Usual is that it’s a seven-track collection of traditional hip-hop, the kind whipped to the taste of purists. With slight touches of neo-soul and light sprays of R&B, A-Reece is able to achieve a better sense of cohesive musicality compared to his previous cuts, resulting in an album with a definitive shape and outlines that make each song unique despite being part of the package. Baby Boy (not so much anymore since he’s a father now) opts for production that isn’t overly busy as well as writing that is not clogged with too many figures of speech and verbal gymnastics, placing the EP somewhere between P2 musically and Deadlines on the lyrical front – a goldilocks zone that brings the best out of Reece’s mind.
Business as Usual cover art | Credit: Instagram
Speaking on fame fatigue (“So Much” and “IDGAF”), shifting his focus to family and parenthood (“Scented Candles”), and remaining true to his fingerprint in the game (“Well Done, Dada” and “Losses”), Mataboge cuts a tough-shelled figure with his songwriting, portraying himself as a man who not only knows his place but is altogether unafraid of putting others in theirs lest they fall out of line. The essence of Business as Usual frames Reece as a writer who is more concerned with leaving footprints that others behind him will follow in rather than worrying about the actual size of his feet. This futuristic mindset is best encapsulated by the line, “Never filled up stadiums, but this music is filling voids” in “Losses”, which is a short yet direct response to Cassper Nyovest’s remarks regarding A-Reece’s music on the L-Tido Podcast. However, more than a curt clapback, the mini-album is riddled with such sentiments, those that place Reece as a fringe-dweller who aims to speak to the soul rather than to sell his own to achieve greater reach and scale never-chartered-before heights.
There are songs, too, in which the rapper doesn’t acquit himself with overtly philosophical seriousness, and this can be heard on “Solo”. With that one, he half raps and half sings his way through the song, talking about smoking and getting high. But such things – flippancy, that is – are as rare as hen’s teeth on the record, which is discipline that tightens the record and cleans up the content. There is something pleasing musically about a man who understands his transition from being a selfish and hedonistic young man to becoming a family-aware grownup who is able to filter the white noise of haters from the outside and erosive tendencies and personality quirks in order to become the best version of himself for the family unit. This is precisely what Reece does on the album.
A-Reece | Credit: Instagram
Standout songs in the album include “Scented Candles” and “IDGAF”, which epitomise Reece’s maturity and the graceful ageing of his dance with words. With features from rappers K. Keed and his big brother Jay Jody on the latter – with greater emphasis on Keed’s redemption verse – and him championing the importance of family on the former, these songs are the climaxes of Business as Usual, with their substance-packed lyricism and Reece’s ability to save room for the music to breathe and do its thing alongside his share.
The biggest shortfall of Business As Usual is that it might come off as too curt a project, which is a compliment to Mataboge’s work. Either way, it is a fine piece of music that finds strength in authenticity, seriousness, and unwavering faith in oneself – qualities the Pitori star doesn’t feign anywhere from start to finish.
Preview Business as Usual:
