Focalistic Speak On His Relationship With Major League DJz And How The Pandemic Affected Him. Amapiano star Focalistic who has been hitting the industry for a while now has made it through the boarders of African countries with his S’pitori rap—a vernacular spoken in Pretoria townships. Rapping over amapiano beats means he meets the people where they are, and now he has officially introduced amapiano to the rest of the world.
When his career was just taking off, the star paired with the Major League DJz where they released some of the biggest amapiano hits when the yanos was at the urge of blowing up. The twins dropped a six-track EP alongside Focalistic in 2019, titled Ase Trap Ke Pina Tsa Ko Kasi. The title loosely translates to “It’s not trap, it’s songs from the hood.” The EP contained a song like ‘Shoota mo’ which became a hit in December 2019.
When asked if he was ever signed under the Major League DJz, the star said, “No. They were my mentors, there was no paperwork. I think we met over the internet, the same way I’m still doing… I posted a freestyle video and they were like, ‘This dope, you need to get into studio.’ Then there was a show by Homecoming Events called SA’s Most Wanted and they were partnering with Major League and Family Tree, and I performed. I remember one of the twins was standing on the stage watching as I was performing. And he was like, that was crazy and I never thought the energy would be like that, and for me that’s when I even realised, “ase trap, tse ke pina tsa ko kasi”; the streets. Our greatest power is the streets so it’s never in your face, but when we pull up you will understand.”
Speaking on the pandemic and how it affected him, Foca said, “There’s a song where I say I blew up ka Corona, so the wave is a pandemic. So for me it’s like, it’s still the same even after the pandemic, we’ll still be doing what we have to do, touching people’s hearts. I’m not that person, I never think of this might have happened and that’s why “Ke Star” was dropped during the pandemic and went gold during the pandemic. So, I’ve always been a person of fighting the norm so yeah.”