YoungstaCPT, left, and Shaney Jay.
YoungstaCPT and Shaney Jay are back with their second collaboration, Suffer For Beauty, a twelve-track album.
It’s a follow-up to last year’s Dreams Dont Pay Bills, which YoungstaCPT says explores the hardships he’s faced through life.
Suffer For Beauty, he says, is about the aftermath of those years, describing what it’s like to survive trauma and live to tell the tale.
The duo say they also took inspiration for the album from the effort and strength displayed by women. The album also explores themes related to the entertainment industry and the challenges musicians face.
Shaney Jay, from Bridgetown, says the album has a very global sound.
The album features Cape Town-based, Nashiefah with Doing Her Hair, along with UK drill artist M1llionz with Catchy.
YoungstaCPT says keeping the features short - to three minutes each - was intentional, but they’re still key songs.
Doing her Hair, he says, is about how women have to portray themselves to the world and the effort that goes into that. It’s a long process - suffering for beauty - but women do it effortlessly, he says.
“Nashiefah is our in-house vocalist so I’m always trying to make sure she gets a spot on my projects.
“Catchy was a stroke of luck. UK hip hop artist M1llionz was visiting South Africa, and we connected when he stopped by in Kaapstad. He came through to my studio in Wynberg, On the Blocc, and laced his verse after shooting a crazy music video in CPT, but basically the song speaks about how today's music has to be simple and catchy or else you’ll be another struggling rapper trying to make it, so even if you’re a hardcore street dude, if you want to make a success in the mainstream, you’re gonna have to compromise your style, in other words, ‘suffer for beauty’.”
He says this album is shorter than the previous one and it has more global appeal.
Shaney Jay adds, “With this project, we knew exactly which way we wanted to take it, and you’ll hear that in the music. With Dreams Dont Pay Bills, we were still building that working relationship, and that’s why every track came effortlessly on this project.“
Youngsta says his favourite track on the new release is Alhamdulilah as it incorporates his Muslim faith into his music even though it’s sometimes frowned upon.
Shaney Jay says his favourite track is Benni McCarthy “because of how Young came through with the drill vibes on this track is crazy, from the hook to the flow/accent switch-up, he killed it”.
Asked what it was like working with each other, Shaney Jay says, “It’s always great working with Young because at the end of every session, I always feel like I’ve learned something new from him. Like I can definitely say I grew a lot as a producer because of his guidance, and that’s something I’ll always be grateful for.”
YoungstaCPT says Suffer For Beauty, “simply put, is to struggle and strive but survive it, beautifully.”
Suffer For Beauty is available on online music platforms.