The first time many people took notice of Frank Casino was on Mayo, he scored his first number one record on the DJ Speedsta hit single, alongside then rising acts Tellaman, Yung Swiss and Shane Eagle. The Tembisa rapper was then able to captivate all that attention on him with the D’Artizt and Dellz produced single Whole Thing; Frank Casino had announced himself as a solo act.
The fire quickly turned into a wild fire when Riky Rick jumped on the official remix and the single was repackaged for a wider audience, the indie aesthetic was polished off and shined for a more mainstream appeal. Frank Casino eased himself into being one of South Africa’s finest up and coming super stars. Off the power of Whole Thing, he collaborated with Kappa and Converse, which was a symbol of awesome positioning.
In all truth Frank was more than just a one single wonder. He had an entire sixteen song mixtape, which featured Sawce, the follow up to Whole Thing. Something From Me serves as a narrative to Frank Casino’s life just before the riches. Where on 2021 he drives through the upper echelon parts of Johannesburg in his white Opel Kadett with Parley riding shotgun. He put the cool in the “trying to make it” phases of a rapper. When Something From Me hit the internet late in 2016, the South African market hadn’t been exposed to his tailored hip hop sound and he solidified his standing by collaborating again with acts such as Speedsta, Riky, Nadia Nakai, Emtee, Gemini Major and of course A$AP Ferg.
After a good deal of silence, Heroes Of Tomorrow is the follow up to his debut tape. The four track EP isn’t his most impressive output. It opens up with the official single Come Alive, indeed you can hear that he has moved on from cheap thrills and selling his Opel Kadett finally paid off. Now it’s “69 in that A45”, the rappers lifestyle has certainly transitioned but he doesn’t articulate the story so well. The song sounds like what people wanna hear and lacks any real punch or Frank Casino flair.
The theme of luxury Mercedes-Benz vehicles remains consistent and now he’s talking about moving like a prince in his city in a Black Metalic Benz. Halfway through the project the subject matter still remains about cars and it seems more meaningless as he goes on. He still sounds like he is struggling to translate his success in a way that sounds like Frank Casino. He doesn’t sound like the rapper that wouldn’t conform to industry standards on Rich Is Gangsta but right now the whole of Heroes Of Tomorrow sounds like a stock standard industry EP.
Here We Are is the most unbearable listen on the four song extended play, with Skull-E’s vocals piercing your ears in the most uncomfortable way. The song is an easy skip or you can’t wait till it’s over. It’s hard to deny that Frank is having the time of his life. To wrap things up, he teams up with producer Dellz and Family Tree boss Cassper Nyovest. Cino sounds at home on the production with an airy nonchalant flow, Sudden starts with a sample of TMZ reporter Van Latham addressing Kanye West early this year. It is undoubtedly the standout song on the release, he reminisces a bit and touches on his Kadett days. Truth be told, Frank Casino is a much better rapper than Cassper Nyovest but he still finds himself getting bodied by Cass’. Cassper had one of his best verses in a long time and his guest appearances makes the song a much more interesting track.
Heroes Of Tomorrow isn’t the most memorable release this year. Frank Casino has the ability to produce work that leaves this project in the rear view. Fortunately, this is an EP and the real deal is his debut album that’s on the way.
