Much as DJ Khaled has coined the iconic phrase “another one”, “now this is something special” is repeated consistently throughout the album’s 17 tracks. And special it truly is.
At an exclusive pre-release listening session at the Island Roc studios, People’s Post discovered first-hand what magic can be created in a small home studio, with 19 “misfits” from around the province.
Garth Permall, known by his stage name Hef the Chef, worked with 19 artists to produce a 17-track second album, Class of 2023, to celebrate the culture of the South African music scene, with unique and raw works written by the artists to beats produced by Permall.
With the music industry at something of a standstill waiting for new trends to follow, Hef decided to take a step back from producing his own singles for the year and focused on the album, bringing young and somewhat undiscovered talent together.
“I have been in the industry for decades and it is not easy,” he said. “It takes years to make it. For me, I want to nurture the Hip-Hop; I want to leave a legacy more than obtaining materialistic things.”
With artists from areas, including Port Elizabeth, Northern Cape, North West and the outlying areas of the Western Cape, Hef produced more than 200 tracks and allowed the artists to choose a track that they wanted to work on.
With the group of young talent, those in the Cape Town area could record at the Island Roc home studio, while others recorded at their own home or local studios.
“I had to sift through numerous artists’ social media pages, SoundCloud links, YouTube channels and recommendations from my partners,” Hef said.
“I also faced disappointment from artists I thought were versatile. That’s when I had to return to my research. Class of 2023 represents my cream of the crop.”
What this results in is a masterful arrangement and a 17-track journey through real, raw stories that will resonate with listeners.
The inclusion of simple sounds coupled with the feeling of nostalgia when listening to the mixture of hip-hop and R&B tracks is a great showing of the importance of nurturing young artists’ talents.
Hef said this starts with education.
“When they started working with us we made sure to talk to them about agreements and passing that business side of the industry on.”
Something else that makes this work special is the inclusion of his six tracks in a Showmax streaming series – Spinners, released on 8 November.
“A total of six tracks, I produced, were selected for the series,” he says. I worked with artists such as K.B. The Rapper, Mr MP, Big D and 21 Promo en Pengii. It was such a great moment to let the artists know that their tracks were chosen for this series.
DJ Ready D, from Goodhope FM, who is the music supervisor for the series, first made contact with Hef last November.
“By that time I already had music from my album The Takeover, released in 2021, playing on Goodhope FM and two of the tracks from this album, namely “Blueprint” by Burgz and “Keep It True” by Manfred were selected for Spinners.”
The other four are on the new album.
“It definitely provides the artists as well as the producers/beat makers such as me more exposure to the industry,” Hef said, “but if you don’t make use of this exposure to build on your own career then it doesn’t do much. Your music must be properly mixed and mastered. Your music must also be cleared of any sampling so that it can be played across the world.”
For the release, he has worked with a local music streaming service, 1Two1Two, for the sale of the tracks or complete album, allowing each person the opportunity to create their own playlist of what they like.
The album-release party was held on Saturday 4 November.
Class of 2023 is now available via the 1Two1Two official store.
