Thato Saul has established himself as one of South Africa’s premiere rappers currently releasing music. His ultra-vivid and often chilling portrayals of gangsterism and life in Pheli have captivated thousands, garnered millions of streams and racked him an Album of The Year win at 2022’s South African Hip-Hop Awards. Our selection from Life is Gangsta is a love song that provides a refreshing change of pace to the often steely rapper, Kick It With You.

Kick It With You is a grand display of affection that finds Thato Saul trying to show how serious he is about a girl. It is finely-tuned hip-hop soul that doesn’t relent on Saul’s general optics in its pursuit of romance, and that’s really what makes this such a captivating listen for me. This isn’t just a love song, it’s a Thato Saul love song tightly fitted to his image. I mean this is how the second verse starts “Many curves with the hazel eyes, lowkey too and it may surprise… My nigga if you shoot your shot I’ll shoot mine but to your demise. I’ll kill a nigga for this Sosha thing of mine, the only whining you do is dine. Got you trying to intertwine, my niggas told me I’m tripping I’m really blind.” When Saul says Life is Gangsta, he means it in every space! It barely took a full listen for Kick It With You to be added to my list of iconic gangster love songs with the likes of 50 Cent’s 21 Questions. Mashbeatz really knows how to make a grand intro as he sets Saul up with a luxurious stage to sweet talk. Marcus Harvey provides peak crooning with a winning chorus you can’t help but sing along to.

Kick it With You just feels good. It’s expensive hip-hop that’s packed with personality and lived-in style. Thato Saul has already proven himself to be an incredible gangster storyteller so it’s exciting to see him more lax and having some fun adding more textual colours to the scope of his persona.

Read the full Top 22 of 2022 here. Read more Thato Saul related content here, Marcus Harvey here and MashBeatz here.

Listen to Thato Saul’s All That Yazz Feature here, and his Sound Engineer’s (Feziekk) interview here.

Thato Saul Fun Facts: 1) Thato Saul is tied for the most appearances of any rapper/singer on this year’s Next Gen Greats list. This year he shares this distinction with Blxckie and Maglera Doe Boy who all appear 3 times. 2) Thato Saul is also one of only 2 artists to gain top honors in all three years we’ve done this list, the other artist is Tyson Sybateli.

MashBeatz Fun Facts: 1) Mashbeatz is tied for the producer with the most production credits on our 2022 list. He shares this distinction with Shooterkhumz and DoouShii who all carry 3 production credits. 2) Overall, MashBeatz appears on the list four times when you add his artist appearance on DJ Sliqe, 25K & Maglera Doe Boy’s Goat Talk.