Focalistic Details The Now-Famous Line ‘Ase Trap Ke Pina Tsa Ko Kasi’. Pitori’s Focalistic real name ‘Lethabo Sebetso’ is known for his authenticity in his music. His disposition is inked by his now-famous line, “Ase Trap Ke Pina Tsa Ko Kasi’ which translated in English means ‘This is not a trap, it’s songs from the hood, and he uses that as an intro on his tracks. Focaistic is mostly known for his contribution in the amapiano industry, a house subgenre in South Africa which started in Pretoria.
“The Trap/Hip-Hop guys used to be angry at ‘Ase Trap Ke Pina Tsa Ko Kasi’, but when they realized what it was, they gravitated towards the movement,” Focalistic reminisces. “Trap was the glamorous thing, but I was like ‘I don’t want to do that, I want to make music that my mom, my whole hood can relate to and be proud of.’ I wasn’t talking down on Trap, I just wanted to make people understand the origin and purpose of my music,” he detailed.
“I make Trap, but I never lie about having a gun or a gang, I just want to talk about the realities of my hood, you know. People used to think I was shading Emtee, but I wasn’t,” he continues. “Maybe the competitive part of me made me want to carve a niche for myself, but we don’t have a ‘trap’ in South Africa.”
“Don’t get me wrong, there is a version of the trap everywhere, but as I say on ‘Ase Trap Ke Pina Tsa Ko Kasi,’ our trap is called the ‘Kasi.’ There might be shared similarities with the American trap because they’re both elements of the Ghetto, but the ‘Kasi’ is different,” he clarifies. “I just wanted to sync the music with our identity; my identity so that our people can relate.”
