Just below the glittering facade of suits and skyscrapers lies the rough, violent reality of Phara City, named after the township slang term for junkies or substance abusers who resort to a life of crime—except in veteran South African rapper K.O’s vision, it’s graduated from seedy underbelly to an inextricable layer that’s permeated all aspects of life. “I feel like, unfortunately, the country has progressed, or maybe regressed, in a way where it’s almost like everyone is just left to their vices,” K.O tells Apple Music. “And when we are living in a society like that so many things seep through the cracks—unemployment skyrocketing, crime skyrocketing, and all these other social economic issues. We know pharas to be the outcasts that we see on the streets. And some of them are actually homeless people who are just trying to find their way in life, and unfortunately, they become isolated and stigmatised. But if we are actually being honest, there are plenty other pharas, the more you move up the social ladder. Government officials, corporates, and entrepreneurs; there are people who have that phara mentality—they just seem to hide it really well. Just because you are educated or you have moved up the social ladder, or the corporate ladder, you’re still practicing phara activities at a high level—you just look different from people who are on the street.” It’s a snapshot of the reality the rapper born Ntokozo Mdluli captures both in the album’s artwork—where he plays the role of a waste collector outfitted in a Karl Lagerfeld suit—and its sound. “I wanted the album to almost be a musical image, where, when we reminisce 10 years or 15 years or 20 years from now like, ‘Do you remember 2025?’ And then, when you play some of the songs from this album, it takes you literally to this very moment,” he explains. “The person that I am today, I’m comfortable in being and actually walking like the leader that I have been for a while within the space. I want to own up to being a leader, to being an OG, to being someone who literally has the brains to do what needs to be done. I’m settling into that role. And I want to be comfortable enough to call myself a great.” Here, K.O talks through key tracks from Phara City. “Phara City - Intro” “The intro has this gospel sample I found on Instagram, by an artist from Zimbabwe called Bryan K. When the world is going through times of turmoil, we lean towards religion as a form of therapy and as a way to cope. Then there’s a beat switch, and it goes into a soul sample. On the verse, I’m literally just talking about the fuckery that plays out in Phara City—where you’re most likely to get mugged if you’re walking around too boisterous; you’re walking around with a price on your head if you have issues with other people. And also just talking about what the role both men and women play; the sinister intentions; the good intentions. Even our law enforcers, and how they are also split into two—there are ones that feel like what they take home every month is not sufficient, so they end up delving into other things while they’re on the job, behind the badge. That’s unfortunately the harsh reality of what our country is. So I almost am playing a tour guide.” “Cross Night” “This has a little Afrobeats element, and I was trying to channel a vintage Mase, Fabolous, early-2000s cadence in terms of the flow. It’s a feel-good record. In this country, when you study overnight, and you end up literally staying up all night, we used to call that ‘cross night.’ But in this instance, it’s actually being used within a party setting. We are on our way to turn up all night and just have a jol and have a great time with the people that we love. As much as there are these sinister things that happen within Phara City, we also know how to have a good time.” “Ma 11” “Things take a dark turn for a little bit here. The interview is a clip [from 2008’s Law and Disorder in Johannesburg, where Louis Theroux interviews Mosimanegape “Maleven” Moleta, who was sentenced to life for murder in 2021] that has made the rounds. It speaks to the ultimate cold-blooded individual who’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants. I’m a social commentator, and we are conscientizing people to look out for themselves. Here, I’m portraying myself as the ‘Ma 11’ of hip-hop. But, obviously, I’m putting it in my own context, where it’s not solely just about those vile things that he does. And then [later], there’s a beat switch again, and the girl that comes in is enticed by the lavish lifestyle that a male figure is living, and she’s just singing that guy’s praises, not because she is authentically in love, but she’s attracted to the fluff, she’s attracted to just what’s on the outside, what’s being portrayed. These are trigger points, but it’s also just conscientizing our women to be more street smart and savvy, and look out for themselves.” “Pharadise” (feat. Young Stunna) “Young Stunna and I have made some great history with ‘SETE’ [from 2022’s SR3], alongside Blxckie—it was a love song, and it was more lighthearted. This one is very heavy-hearted, building on the social ills that we are subjected to. I’m also speaking in first person, where I’m justifying some of the bad choices that I make, whether it be an armed robbery; whether it be me not being there for my family because I want to go have a good time with the girls, instead of making sure that there’s light at the house, or there’s food on the table for my mom—putting material things over survival and taking care of the family. With the title, I was pulling from 2Pac’s ‘I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto,’ and I think that there’s a heaven for even those type of individuals who do certain things.” “No Chorus” “‘No Chorus’ is probably maybe the cheekiest one on the tape. I feel like I’ve settled into my role as a veteran artist, as a veteran MC. And sometimes we become so humble and so self-orientated within the space, that we end up not necessarily calling out certain things—like people not putting in the effort to become the people that the likes of the Kwestas and the Casspers and the Nasty Cs did and went out to become. This is me [acting] as a big brother to some of the [younger] artists to say, ‘Hey, man, get your house in order, or someone is out there taking advantage of you. Someone is actually going to pull the rug from under your feet unless you get it together.’ And I hardly do those type of things, but I’m at that stage—I feel like being ‘the elder statesman’ within the movement, within the hip-hop fraternity, I just had to do what I needed to do.” “Thokoza” (feat. Naledi Aphiwe, Emtee & 25K) “‘Thokoza’ is one of my favorite tunes, featuring Naledi Aphiwe [who was sampled on Chris Brown’s 2023 track, ‘Shooter’]. We had met her at an awards show, and she was just so keen to do something. It takes people through this emotional escapade where you’re thinking, ‘Maybe this song is just going to be like an R&B ballad or something,’ and then boom, it just switches up into this super-trappy high-energy beat, with heavy 808s and with the chorus. And of course, Emtee and 25K just took this whole thing to the next level.” “Supanova” (feat. Cassper Nyovest) “It’s a very special record. Whenever I link up with Cass, I just love the competitive spirit, but at the same time, I think we just complement each other because we understand the mission. This song features a sample which is part of the holy grail of South Africa’s musical legacy—Lebo Mathosa’s ‘I Love Music.’ Just the idea of sampling a song like that is near blasphemous, but we actually went out of our way to mirror the quality of the original. If you do touch something like this, you have to give it more than justice. That allows people to go and visit Lebo’s catalog and get acquainted. That’s how we get to sustain history within our country for some of the greats. Because we need to pay homage to our predecessors.” “Push It” “‘Push It’ was actually the first thing that we put out top of [2025], just to set the tempo of where I’m at right now sonically. It has elements of what we did with [the 2014 single] ‘Caracara,’ that whole DJ Mustard sound, and it just turns out that we saw Kendrick Lamar also bringing it back recently. I try to stay on top of things, and on all the latest trends and everything else that plays out in music. When there’s Afrobeats happening, I try to bring that in, in my own way, and make it work. When there’s obviously hip-hop, whether it’s trap or XYZ, trust me to be there to learn new ways. That’s basically how I operate when I’m in my creative process.”