The Durban Indie, Hip Hop and R&B contingent has been putting in a solid shift in terms of producing a high calibre of work. Truth be told, this is arguably the best pool of talent the East Coast city has seen since Shekhinah, Nasty C and co. blew up. The paradigm has certainly shifted, the city has taken a different approach than its familiar Trap algorithm. Producing acts like Rhea Blek, Vogue, Vicci Martini, IV & Neptune, Slim Ego, the list certainly goes on, but all these acts sound different from what you’d expect from Durban in the recent past.
Another inductee to this list of brand new talent the city has to offer is 19-year-old alternative Hip Hop act Chris Snakes. Born Thabiso Christopher Khanyile, he grew up in Montclair on the south side of Durban. He started writing raps over his favourite rapper’s beats. He decided to start rapping at the age of 12, forming a group called Soul Fetiche with his childhood friend Mecca.
Chris would move on to pursue a solo career after dropping his 2017 well received single $picey, the Slowavex produced song would go on to grab the attention of acts like Durban’s Aewon Wolf, he followed that up with the release of NoNo. Chris would later feature on Aewon Wolf’s Supermoon EP for Saucy Things alongside Garde and Aewon Wolf earlier this year.
In July he dropped his biggest single to date titled Dial It, growing more and more comfortable with his sound. The Durban audience has slowly been warming up to the young rapper. Recently getting a chance to perform along Aewon Wolf at Nasty C’s Ivyson Tour.
Chris is currently working on his debut project titled Who Dat Velvet Boy (WDVB). The concept of his debut project is based around the texture of velvet – the soft feeling of sound. Chris is planning to experiment with different sounds on his release, enlisting producers such as Garde and U.Beyond. Chris will use this project as a means of letting his audience know him more as the Velvet Boy. For now you can catch up with him on his Instagram and Twitter.
