AKA is not one to get comfortable with what works. He’s forever challenging himself. The rapper’s latest single “One Time”, which he performed on SABC 1’s music show LiveAmp last week Friday, is proof of that. The feel-good song, which oddly comes at the end of summer, sees AKA singing on autotune throughout, over a loungey beat with a rubbery bassline and kick – something like his hit single “Congratulate”.
His previous album, the gold-certified Levels (read our review here) had a uniform sound – he was mostly sampling dance music. It looks like his next album will be a new sound altogether. Right after performing the song on TV, the rapper explained his new direction in a series of tweets. “I hereby renounce my throne as the prince of SA hip-hop,” went the first one. “You will now address me as the king of pop,” he continued. “I no longer want to be confined to want to be confined by the boundaries that come with being labelled ‘rap’ or ‘hip-hop’.”
Watch the live performance of “One Time” below and read the tweets underneath.
*Update: The video has since been made private
Please stand by for A ROYAL ANNOUNCEMENT 🎺👑🎺👑🎺👑🎺👑🎺👑🎺 ….
— AKA (@akaworldwide) 12 March 2016
I HEREBY RENOUNCE MY TITLE “PRINCE OF SA HIP HOP”🎺👑🎺👑🎺👑🎺
— AKA (@akaworldwide) 12 March 2016
YOU WILL NOW ADDRESS ME AS ………….. “THE KING OF POP 👑”
— AKA (@akaworldwide) 12 March 2016
MICHAEL F JACKSON …… PLEASE SAY THE CAPTION!!!!! 😂
— AKA (@akaworldwide) 12 March 2016
I NO LONGER WANT TO BE CONFINED BY THE BOUNDARIES AND EXPECTATIONS THAT COME WITH BEING LABELLED “RAP” or “HIP HOP”
— AKA (@akaworldwide) 12 March 2016
POP STANDS FOR “POPULAR MUSIC” …… And that’s what I make.
— AKA (@akaworldwide) 12 March 2016
WELCOME BACK. LONG LIVE ZULU MICHAEL JACKSON. ✊🏽 https://t.co/uyM8BEvBHw
— AKA (@akaworldwide) 12 March 2016
Follow AKA on Twitter and check out the hashtag #OneTime for what people thought of the single.
