Anyone claiming South African hip-hop has lost its spark has clearly not been paying attention to Usimamane, born Omuhleumgungu Simamane.
The Durban-raised rapper surged into the spotlight after his smash single Cheque achieved multi-platinum status. Since then, he has teamed up with Sjava for Uvalo and won the 2025 Metro FM Music Award for Best Male Artist.
The 22-year-old is preparing to release an album titled Tai Lung, featuring American R&B star Jacquees, plus rappers Blxckie, Emtee and Tony Dayimane. The project will also open with a 10-minute introduction featuring Zawadi Yamungu.
Usimamane held an album listening event at Side-Step in Rosebank, where he also revealed a new partnership with Playboy Clubwear.
Kid X, Zingah Lotj and Blxckie were among the fellow rappers in attendance.
While hip-hop remains at the heart of the record, Tai Lung moves across several sounds, underlining the artist’s range.
He says Tai Lung represents an alter ego inspired by the animated character. “Tai Lung is a cartoon character; he’s angry and has lost people close to him, and I connected with that,” he said. “That’s why I make music in the way I do. At the beginning of the year, I think I was angry, but now I feel like I’m myself again. I’m not angry anymore — but the music still is, you know?”
Though he has not announced a release date, Usimamane is confident the album will leave a lasting impression. “People should keep watching my Instagram. This will be amazing — I can feel it, because I’ve never had this feeling about any other project.”
International Recognition
Jacquees appears on the song My Baby, and Usimamane says their time in the studio was especially enjoyable.
“Jacquees is a real n***a. He enjoys food and going out to eat, so, out of everybody, he is probably the person I had the most fun working with,” he said.
It is not the first international collaboration of Usimamane’s career. He previously enlisted hip-hop heavyweight Rick Ross for Dangerous II, which appeared on the deluxe edition of his debut album. The pair filmed the track’s music video in Cape Town.
In many cases, it is the bigger names who approach him first — a development he sees as proof of his growing influence within the scene. “Respectfully, I don’t have money for a feature right now, so the fact that all of them somehow find me is genuinely a blessing that I never take for granted,” he added.
Usimamane believes his journey is only getting started. When asked about the local and global artists he hopes to collaborate with, he said, “Jabulile Majola was supposed to do the intro, but it did not work out. That is fine, because the intro became one of my favourite parts of the album. Ziwadii killed it, but I would still really like to work with Jabulile.”
“I’d also love to collaborate with Thando Zide, Nasty C and Gunna.”
During his thank-you speech, the rapper warmly acknowledged his mother, a church singer, and his siblings.
“The support has been amazing, and I never take lightly the things I’m able to do that make them happy. My mom is truly one of the real ones,” Usimamane said.
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