Exclusive: Reason on the industry, Azania and his twins

“My album, Azania, is really about telling the SA story. For the most part I’ve always dedicated myself like any other hip hop artist to telling my story, but I’ve never really focused on telling the story of my people. There’s a lot of social commentary on the album, there’s a lot of social relevance, so it’s generally my take on the experience of being a South African black man, as a musician, a businessman, a brother, a father, a boyfriend, as all these things that I am but trying to narrate a story that a lot of people can relate to.” Reason proudly says that the album has been doing well and the purpose of the album was to speak a different narrative. “I feel really good about the album, Azania, was more of a personal project for me, it’s about giving the people something different that they don’t normally consume on a commercial level.” 

“Working with Mam' Sibongile Khumalo was humbling, she was very open, eager and willing. She reminded me that creativity has no age. She gave her all on that song and I’ll forever be appreciative of that. She was nice enough to allow me to be on the same level with her as creatives which was very humbling.” Says Reason. “As a person who grew up listening to Swiss and Mam Sbongile, working with them was a relived dream.”  

“If #Azania doesn’t go platinum, I’ll quit." This is a Tweet Reason sent out last February.

Almost a year later, the rapper still shares the same sentiments.

 “I definitely still feel the same way I did about quitting the game if the album doesn’t go platinum. The album is such a great product, there’s so much energy and effort that’s put behind it. For me to even do this interview and have a conversation with you guys is a sign of how serious I am about making sure that as many people get to know about the album. An album like Azania needs to be received by at least 20 000 people, if not 40 000 or 50 000 or 100 000. I guess the best way to put it is that I’m not going to release another album until this one is reached and accepted as it should.”

“Honestly I don’t handle negativity, my biggest concern when it comes to these typa things is the reality. We’re talking about a young artist who’s going through something they think is unique to them, it’s something everybody goes through. I tried to step in and intervene, I was trying to show some sense of direction as a person who’s got experience, only to be taken as an enemy. It’s very easy for me to just fall back and just allow things to happen because I’ve seen this happen many times, we’ve experienced it, we’ve seen people fail at it, we’ve seen people succeed at it. My mentality right now is to not entertain conversations that are misdirected and used as some sort of clout chasing. And this is not just for Flex, it’s everyone in general, you can’t really take everything personal, you gotta look at how it is, say what you gotta say and keep it moving. I’ve got bigger and far more important things to handle, however at the end of the day I’m still just a man, and he disrespect me and my family, that’s something I had to address.” 

Speaking of family, Reason and his girlfriend, LootLove, are expecting twins. The TV personality almost broke the internet when she announced the amazing news on social media last year.

“The blessing on having twins is something I actually still can’t wrap my head around, because the reality of it and experiencing it is just something else, it’s out of this world. I’m very excited, I’m nervous, I’m curious. I want to know who they are, what they’re about. They have an older brother and sister who are also very excited about them and looking forward to knowing who they are. I’m optimistic about what’s going to happen because the legacy and the family is growing, I’m truly excited and I am up for the challenge, I’ve been up for the challenge since the day I found out because it’s such an amazing blessing. Beyond that, I’m humbled that something so special could happen to me. The woman that I have, walking this journey with is so strong and so powerful in actually making sure we keep a sane mind, making sure everything is done so we can be the best parents we can be. We’ve never been parents together, I’ve never raised twins before everything is kinda new. I’ve had babies before but I’ve never gone through this journey before and it’s an exciting one. A scary one, but definitely exciting.” 

“Get a job, being a musician is very expensive, there’s money that needs to be spent for recording, money that needs to be spent for the videos, the clothes, the mixing, the mastering, the covers, the PR, everything is just so expensive so it’s very necessary for you to have some sort of income. If you’re not in a position where you have money coming in so you can invest in yourself, you’re going to drown because every cent that you make from the record, you’re going to have to put back into what it took to make that record. Get a job, get a business person, get a record label, do whatever it takes to make sure that cost doesn’t impact you because it’s an unavoidable cost, there’s nothing you can do about it, it exists. There’s no way you can become an artist by just recording a song and singing it at home, the song has to come out and produced, mixed, mastered, promoted and that is an expensive exercise, so it’s very important for artists to make sure that they get their money right before you get into the game as opposed to getting into the game just to get your money right.”