Riding on the hype of her planned four-day Hannah Montana School Tour kicking off on Valentine’s Day at Mel International School in Germiston, amapiano singer and dancer Kamo Mphela dropped her single dubbed ‘Hannah Montana‘.
Mphela is joined by her ‘Amanikiniki‘ plus-one Bontle Smith, alongside Nobantu Vilakazi, BoiBizza, Chley, Shaun MusiQ, Ftears, Visca, and Mellow & Sleazy.
The ‘Sika Bopha‘ star BoiBizza opens up the song with a hush-toned verse, which, as the song progresses, slowly fades into the background because of its unsureness. As slick as his wordplay can be (“Ungathembi ng’zok’dlala njengoMusa e-fieldini”), BoiBizza’s performance is subdued next to the forceful verse of his partners Chley, Kamo, and Bontle. And even Nobantu, who only marks her presence in the song with sprinkles of her “kurukutshu” signature.
Coming in with perhaps the most rhythmic and euphonic performance of the four verses, Chley launches her energetic verse with the words: “Eh ke re nna nka o bonstha spoko nana”. It’s not only the punch of her delivery underscored by the thumping log drum that defines the verse but also the way it shifts the tempo, lifting it from the relatively low plateau BoiBizza had left it.
The ‘Mnike‘ hitmaker laces her verse with a call-and-response to Kamo, whom she also pays homage to with references to “spoko”, conjuring up memories of Mphela’s 2022 hit ‘iGhost‘.
The chemistry she displays with Kamo (“Yeh wena, yeh wena”) and the intelligent interplay between her rhythm, and that of the bouncy production, elevates the song and is a fitting herald for Kamo, who comes on next with a hook and a verse of her own.
Of all her counterparts, save for Nobantu, who only sandwiched herself into the foray with her trademark “kurukutshukutshu” ad-libs, Kamo is the one who exhibits the most personality.
In ‘Hannah Montana‘, there’s the cool confidence of ‘Amanikiniki‘ and the effortless attitude of ‘Nkulunkulu‘, neatly wrapped in a succinct verse of one-liners (“Re bitsa di waiter tsa banyana / Ake utheng’ i-XO”) and slick wordplay (“As’thol’ ama-glass, shay’ i-cheers Montana”).
Although Mphela isn’t the star of her show, she plays the game she knows best: keeping it short with the words and pumping it with verve and her deep voice.
Bontle Smith skates in towards the end and does an equal job with the verse as Kamo, capping the song with concise lines and sustained energy. Coming in as the fourth verse, after Chley and Kamo’s onslaught in particular, Bontle handled the mammoth responsibility of ending the song well, emulating her colleagues with a short rap.
Amapiano artists have made a habit of always hunting songs and killing them in packs. Very seldom do amapiano tracks feature no less than a minimum of three or so artists; however, it’s also the diversity of different minds coming together that results in a fresh work. ‘Hannah Montana’ is no different, with the song being an even cluttered collage of different perspectives which seemingly came together well.
Listen to the track here:
