FILE PICTURE: Kid X, real name, Bonginkosi Mahlangu. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark
That Caracara has done so well speaks volumes about the abilities of K.O and Kid X, who have proved to be a credible duo with styles and cool factor that complement each other. It is well known that K.O is affiliated with the Teargas family, and he is on the path to his solo career, but based on the strength of this one collaboration, a group featuring K.O and Kid X is in order.
This may be wishful thinking and highly unlikely but the talent that courses through Kid X’s veins, who goes by the government name of Bonginkosi Mahlangu, is undeniable. He is well sought after on the guest-appearance circuit and has versed many a contribution to some of the country’s biggest artists.
On Caracara, Mahlangu paints a vivid picture that resonates well with an ekasi sentiment putting its aesthetic on wax. The verse enlists what could be indolently regarded as a lazy flow, but careful listening reveals a faster pace, in tune with the electro nuances of his song. He is a product of today’s environment: free and uninhibited. He articulates this splendidly on Caracara‘s opening lines: “S’phume eGoli/Cape to Cairo/Paris to Dubai.”
“These opening lines simply mean that although we are Joburg-based, our aspirations are not limited by our location,” Mahlangu explains. “Our hustle can take us to Cape Town, Cairo, Paris and Dubai.”
At 26, Mahlangu enjoys the perks of being a hip-hop star and the requisite attention that comes with the adulation. This means that anything is possible for him and that the rules of life don’t necessarily apply to him.
Mahlangu also paints a picture of a trip to the Durban July in classic Volkswagen Caravelles referred to as Caracaras in the hood: “i-convoy yama-bus driving to July/abo-junju bayi hundred s’dlal’ ichoose may’khethela.”
“This part of the song is pretty much the Caracara scene where you see the cars driving to the biggest weekend in entertainment, which is the Durban July,” Mahlangu says.
“There are girls in all the buses, and you pretty much pick and choose what you like because there are more than enough fish in the sea.”
Typically not one to be bothered by relationships as the rap game depicts them, Mahlangu is not interested in being attached to the female species as his verse unfolds.
“Ng’yofika ng’bambe ng’moshe/Alles is pap n wors/ I mean its pap n vleis/ Ek trap n los/Ngithi change-down k’khal’ i-gearbox,” he raps.
These lyrics are pretty close to his personal reality, explains Mahlangu.
“In those lines I’m saying I’m going to arrive in Durban and I am going to cause mayhem,” he says. “And when I say it’s ‘pap and wors’ that basically means how easy the whole situation is. And ‘ek trap n los’ I’m referring to how things have to keep moving and have no attachments or else the gearbox which is the heart will be compromised.”
