'I've conquered so much within music' - K.O wants to raise the bars higher

When Skhanda King, aka KO, gets into studio, he always wants to keep his signature sound alive. It's been less than six months since the official drop of K-hova and he is back with another single.

Playback, which dropped on Friday, sees the rapper dabbling in the more melodic side of music.

Speaking to TshisaLIVE about the release, the rapper said he wanted to keep it fresh but still sound like the K.O his fans have grown to love. 

“The sound still has some of the signature elements K.O is known for. But I also try as much as possible to keep it fresh. When you hear it, you'll hear that it's evolved a little bit. Its more melodic, musical, but we always try to make sure that it still sounds distinctly South African, because that’s the main thing about the whole Skanda sound.”

Leading up to the drop, the rapper took a trip down memory lane. He had selected tracks from his rise to stardom and titled it the next chapter.

“The concept is just me planting the seed that this is another version of me. People have seen me evolving, my entire evolution from Teargas to what we did with Cash Time, with Caracara,” he said.”

He dyed his hair blonde so people could see his persona when he was working on his third solo album, and the rapper says with each album there's something distinct he has to do.

“So I always try to keep it fresh and exciting by just doing different things each time I come out.”

“Just as part of the rollout of the next project this was also it. So it was almost like just a play on it. It was an open-ended statement saying hey, next chapter, what people can expect to see from K.O in 2021 going into 2022 with the album.”

K.O has recently turned up a notch and his label surprised him with a collage of his works that have gone platinum. His new album, however, has been put on hold.  

“The album was initially slated to be dropped this year fourth quarter, but I've since moved it to the top of the year 22, because there are plans that we have with the Skhanda world label, so we just wanted to give room to the other artists that we have in the roster. 

The Cararaca hitmaker plans to become a better entrepreneur and an all-rounder in the industry. He wants his eggs in different baskets, from fashion designer, to world record exec to world influencer.

“I've conquered so much within music; there are things that I'm pursuing as an artist and for my brand. My main goal now is also to focus on other things and evolving and just showing leadership in other spheres related to my brand,” he said