Weekend Turn Up’s interview with MC Reggie didn’t exactly go as planned. It was way more fun.
Five things he can’t live without? Seven, actually – but gotta love his enthusiasm. And his optimism. And his work ethic, which would kill-off anyone less committed and energetic. This Durban musician is a prolific song dropper. And he’s totally independent: no co-signs or record label to account to. He’s in total control of all his work, shoots his own videos and arranges his own events. Respect.
Even though Durban/KZN seems to be the epicentre of up-and-comings, hustling in Durban is the hardest thing ever. “Evah,” he emphasises, “evahhh! We lack resources. We lack an industry that has the finances to fuel an evident abundance of talent.”
So how did he get started? Basically in Grade 6 (2008) when he and some friends remixed Soulja Boy’s Crank That for a class assignment on children’s rights. “Then,” he says, “in high school I met people who were like ‘I’m a poet. I’m a writer,’ and I gravitated towards them because I was interested, then started doing it myself, which evolved to where I am today.”
Where he is today is in the zone, his zone, although trying to pin down his sound “is like trying to explain colour to a man who was born blind,” he says. “It comes directly from who I am.” He then tries to define what that means but cracks up laughing because he’s just heard his own words and they sound so … so … nah, we can’t explain it either. Watch the interview.