Pedi rap is unique and has a lot of chance takers but King Solomon II is the man who is proving worthy to take Pedi rap to new and unchartered heights and introduce it into the mainstream.
Born and raised in Limpopo, Schoonoord. Real name Solly Phahlamohlaka aka King Solomon II is a self-taught rapper and producer who handles everything from music production to mastering his own songs.
He creates music that caters for everyone from pure lyricism that savours every word without a drop of substance to the throne for rap royalty, no one is crafting street shit this thorough.
My first encounter with King Solomon II was on his 2015 mixtape, Take Me To Your Leader (TMTYL), which included tracks like “Sho Bafosa and O seke wa lla” when I first heard this tape my thoughts were ”This is an absolute essential for any head who’s really down with this underground shit.” He mixes old Pedi idioms and new age township slang and barrage of wordplay and jaw dropping rhymes.
Like most cats, King Solomon II fell in love with Hip Hop at a very young age, when he was 12, “My first encounter with Hip Hop was in 2002, and my sister was a huge fan of hip hop. She collected a whole bunch of Hip Hop music that we jammed to. I started rapping a year after that.” He said.
“In 2005 my friends and I started a crew called BC3. It was like 7 of us. Only a few of them still rap to this day. I believe being part of that crew helped build my character and it helped me grow lyrically as an MC. Being around people who have the same ambition can motivate you.” Solly said.
In early July, 2018 King Solomon II appeared on Shiz Live to perform his latest single, “Ke Nna” from his upcoming EP “Deleted Scenes” before going to rock the stage at Hip Hop Cares (HHC) in Burgersfort, “I enjoyed performing at HHC and I'm glad the reception was good. There was no major purpose to it, it was all about having a good time with the Hip Hop community.” He said.
King Solomon has a collaboration project “Order & Chaos” with the founder of Kay Beats Foundation, HHCA2017 Producer of the Year, the man Kay Beats himself. He also appeared on a joint collaboration tape between Nose The Capital and Kay Beats “Fabrics” on the song “Militiate” which is basically a textbook example of pure lyricism, intentional or not, this song is a seminal work serving as an antithesis to the warpspeed cadences, delivery methods Nose and King are exchanging.
As a Hip Hop head that I am myself, it’s clear that the the deleted scenes happen to be the biggest highlights of his career, and I for one waiting for the EP to drop…
You can use the following details contact to King Solomon II
Twitter @King_Solomon_II
Facebook: I Am King Solomon II
Insta: @King_Solomon_II
pr@iamkingsolomonii.co.za
bookings@iamkingsolomonii.co.za
Reverbnation.com/kingsolomonii
Soundcloud.com/kingsolomonii
Written by Shabba-Pen
