A Lifetime of Lessons Worth Learning: Inside the Mind of Hip-Hop’s Big Brother K.O
Closing in on connecting twenty years in the game and hardly losing any steam on the path to the South African pantheon of all-time greatness, hip-hop superstar K.O has earned his stripes to wear the big brother epithet. Born Ntokozo Mdluli, Mpumalanga’s mean forerunner with the pen might’ve started out as a charismatic alumnus of award-winning triumvirate Teargas; however, the business call of going the rest of the mile alone and launching his solo career with his 2014 seminal debut, Skhanda Republic, gave him room to explore his musicality and to evolve with the times.
From being a witty yet mellow rapper-cum-singer to being the brains behind the urbanistic clothing brand Skhanda World, K.O has, over the years, consolidated his position as a venerated artist as well as a street-savvy and socially-aware businessman with countless gems to drop for the youngins wise enough to heed his words. After all, he has been around the block for a minute now.
K.O | SUPPLIED
The “SETE” hitmaker spoke about phasing into the role of being a grootman in the hip-hop space. Speaking on the influence of the position, he conceded that what worked for him was to keep an open mind and heart in order to move with the times and offer wisdom only to those with willing attitudes and student-like spirits.
“The thing about being a big brother is that sometimes you have people coming up behind you who are either keen to listen to and to learn from you or those that are defiant in a sense that that they don’t feel like they have to listen to you. This is not to say they have to always listen to you, but you do learn from your predecessors. Being a big brother is a touch-and-go position to be in.
“But with that said, I still operate with the mindset of being ready to have a conversation with any artist that is open to soak up some jewels. Another thing I’ve learned to do is to let people be and allowing them to try their own way because I come from an era that was before the internet and social media. Now there are new ways of doing things. For example, look at Cassper Nyovest. He’s one of the guys that popped during the highest times of the boom of social media, and so people might feel like they relate to him a bit more because he understands that school in particular. In all, I’ve learned to embrace anyone who comes around me,” he said.
“Being a big brother is a touch-and-go position to be in.” – K.O
The BET Award-nominated star spoke about the most important teaching that life in the industry has taught him: that there are no friends in the game, especially for those who are deadweight.
“One of the lessons I’ve learned through the years is something I grasped on a social level: there are no friends in the entertainment industry, if I may put it mildly. A lot of people that come around you are either looking for a favour or to use you for whatever they want to get, and then once they no longer need you, they push you to the side. So, I invested a lot of time trying to build genuine bonds with people, but unfortunately, it just ends up being a toxic situation with lots of disappointments and whatnot. Little things like that and understanding that this is a business and that you get used if you are useful and then when you are useless, you get discarded,” he said.
K.O | SUPPLIED
With longevity by his side, musically and as a businessperson, K.O has experienced life-changing zeniths at multiple points in his career in the shape of commercially successful and platinum albums and street-shaking singles tearing up the charts and the numbers of digital streaming platforms. Not much has changed since transitioning from the Teargas days. If anything, Mdluli has continued, with much success, to convert his talent into currency strong enough to sustain him and keep him looking fresh and clean when he steps out. The “Call Me” singer talked about how critical financial discipline is, especially for musicians in a fickle industry where sustained stability isn’t a given.
“I would say that over the years, I’ve become smarter and calmer in some of the decisions that I make in all the little things such as financial literacy. I think we need to teach more of our entertainers things like not being a slave to money and also to useless things that are not good in the long run. I remember when I was still starting out, I was enticed by materialistic things – rightfully so, since it was my first time affording things – but as I grew, I began to understand things differently. For instance, you need to be aware that, at most, an artist naturally has a three-year career lifespan. So, you’re in your twenties and you get your first big album or big hit, and you start thinking that’s how your life will be forever. But then people get used to you and expect more, so you don’t do the same numbers with your next album as you did during your breakout year. So, you either become despondent because of the reality check or you get lucky and make a comeback with another project. But the key is spreading money wisely and making better decisions with it that will sustain you in the long run,” he said.
K.O | SUPPLIED
A gifted craftsman with the lyrics, it’s only natural for K.O to have a creator’s mind. The rapper shared a number of his extra-musical interests, including fashion, interior design and architecture.
“Naturally, I’m a homebody. I have these little things I do called constructions, where I find something different to fix in my house. I have an eye for interior design and architecture, to a certain degree. Not that I’m a professional architect, but I’m a designer in terms of having an eye when it comes to deciding if something needs to be modernised. I don’t only do that for my personal space, I also consult for my homies and a couple of other clients so I can grow in that space. It’s what I’m passionate about outside of music. I’m also passionate about fashion – as seen by my brand Skhanda World, which is currently available at Studio88 across the country. And if I’m not doing any of those things, I’m probably on YouTube watching houses and learning about human science and new innovations,” he said.
Beyond the music, K.O visualised himself as a respectable champion of the people and a reliable documenter of Mzansi culture worthy of high regard.
“I want to be a voice that speaks to the community at large, and not just to the hip-hop culture. To be a historian of South African history and culture. I am now consciously walking on playing a fundamental role in society by using my voice and my influence to tackle the issues we find ourselves in the thick of as a country. I’m not trying to be a politician, hell no, but I want to be an outstanding figure who people can rely on in society. I’d like to use my voice to do public speaking and go into rooms to source funding for people who need it – things like that,” he said.