Ndlulamthi
Ndlulamthi performing live, hand raised, microphone in hand

Nyanga · Cape Town · isiXhosa Hip-Hop

NdlulamthiVoices from the Township

Conscious storytelling from one of Cape Town's most revered poets. The sophomore album Hard Livings is a screenshot of life in the black townships — sharp isiXhosa lyricism over boom-bap.

Stream Hard LivingsExplore the Catalogue

The Catalogue

Buy the music

Own the work. Every track and album is a digital download, paid for securely in South African Rand through Yoco. Your receipt and download links are sent to your email after payment.

Hard Livings album cover

Hard Livings

Sophomore album (2018)

A screenshot of life in Cape Town's black townships. Boom-bap production from FiveSix, Inkanyamba and Simmz, with razor-sharp isiXhosa storytelling on mob justice, crime, gun violence, fatherhood and love for a place you grew up in.

Tracklist — buy individually

  • 1

    Confessions Zika Nomeyjen

  • 2

    Skelem Tsotsi

    Hard Livings

  • 3

    Gun Dubula

    Hard Livings

  • 4

    New Cross

    Hard Livings

  • 5

    Abahlali

    Hard Livings

  • 6

    From The Era

    Hard Livings

  • 7

    Late Bels Ngomgqibelo

    Hard Livings

Isibhilivane album cover

Isibhilivane

Debut album (2011)

The debut that introduced iNdlulamthi as a voice of Nyanga. Poetic, rooted and conscious from the very first verse.

Available as a full digital album download.

Singles & Classics

isiQhamo · Andivoti · Winnie · iNyanga

  • 1

    Andivoti

    Single (2014)

  • 2

    Winnie

    Single

  • 3

    isiQhamo

    Classic

  • 4

    Bawo Baxolele

    Single

  • 5

    uJudas

    Single

  • 6

    iNyanga

    Dedicated to uMama Busi Mhlongo

Ndlulamthi performing a live session at Lumkile's Book Joint

The Artist

A voice from the township, sharpened on truth

Ndlulamthi is a conscious hip-hop artist and poet from Nyanga, one of Cape Town's oldest townships. Rapping primarily in isiXhosa, he turns everyday township life into vivid, unflinching storytelling, documenting the people, pressures and small victories around him.

His sophomore album Hard Livings reads like a screenshot of life in the kasi, mob justice, crime, gun violence, fatherhood and a stubborn love for the place that raised him, all laid over warm, sample-driven boom-bap.

Rooted in the lineage of South African storytellers, his work carries the same spirit as the late uMama Busi Mhlongo, whom he honours on the song iNyanga.

From
Nyanga, Cape Town
Language
isiXhosa hip-hop
Albums
Isibhilivane · Hard Livings