“Like old people at casinos, I’m here to stay”- A-REECE

Among the most promising rappers to ascend out of South Africa’s flourishing hip hop scene, A-REECE has his mindset on industry domination and is as diligent with his musical output as he is at distinguishing his sound. On March 26 the burgeoning rap star will release his fifth studio album and highly anticipated mixtape, Today’s Tragedy, Tomorrow’s Memory in partnership with Platoon. The album features cameo appearances from fellow 1000 Degrees member Wordz and South African songstress Ayanda Jiya

Morning Peace (featuring Jay Jody), is the recently released second single from the album and has a distinctly open-mic, off-the-cuff lyrical candor that transports the listener along A-REECE’s melodic train of thought. And an interesting voyage it is; the entire album juxtaposes masterful storytelling with throwback afro-beats and jazz recordings, not to mention a portion of Chris Rock’s early 2000’s comedic sketch being wonderfully interwoven between riffs on the track Pride. There’s a natural ebb and flow to his sound that enhances its appeal while eliminating that all too familiar need to fast forward and skip over tracks. 

With just five years in the industry, A-REECE has cleverly carved a niche for himself in SA’s rap genre as the go-to producer for robust synths, rhythmic baselines and endlessly melodic rap bars. Morning Peace sees the artist disrobing the gaudy braggadocio exterior that typically shields most rap music, as he discusses relationship conflicts and the futility of plenty a lovers’ quarrels. When asked about the inspiration for the song, A-REECE says, “‘Morning Peace’ is about how you have your ups and downs in a relationship, and how you can get into a heated argument with your partner at any random time of the day, and it could be in the morning, when you both just woke up, so I speak on how I would rather wake up to making love to my partner, than arguing…”

After racking in over one million streams in the two weeks following the release of his two most recent tracks, Strictly for My B and The 5 Year Plan, A-REECE has recently been nominated at the upcoming 2021 MTV Africa Music Awards in the category of Best Fan Base. By all appearances and the steady flow of accolades, this self-proclaimed “big-hearted bad guy” will reign in the game for the long haul. 

Check out ‘Morning Peace’ below.

Follow A_REECE via @theboydoingthings

Words by Constance Victory