For his 2023 project, Umlazi-born, Pretoria-raised rapper and producer Tyson Sybateli chose to focus on the moment—and let that dictate what came out of the booth. “I'm not a fan of EPs,” South African rapper Tyson Sybateli tells Apple Music. “I'm a project artist. I really like full bodies of work. But I wanted to do a mixtape, because that’s hip-hop. It's about being present, being in the now, focusing on the moment. I don't want to focus on what I've done in the past, and I don't want to put too much emphasis on what I expect from my future. I just wanted to make music that makes me feel good, because I'm in a good mindset.” Across eight songs, Present finds Sybateli completely at ease and embodying a carefree approach—yet one that’s hardly unconsidered. Unlike his 2022 project, Home, where he used water imagery and sound effects to illustrate an idea of home that was everywhere, and reflected in what surrounds us, Present finds him leaning into the compelling nature of fire. “A fire is the most present thing ever,” Sybateli explains. “A fire serves its purpose, and soon as you're done with it you cut off the fire. There's no future for a fire, there's no past, it's present. That was the physical description of this going into every song. It's got to feel like right now. So in that same aspect, because we are trying to do more present joints, of course I had to look at the landscape of music as well. What music sound is present? What's more present than the urban contemporary, your 808s driven, your fast tempo kind of records, because that's what we are hearing currently, that's the driving sound in hip-hop.” Here, he talks through the mixtape, track by track. “Playing With Fire” “The intro was about, 'Let's excite them'. Let's give them, one, what they know me for, abd two, the new world we're in. What people know me for is that lo-fi rap, 70 to 80 BPM rap, boom bap-ish drums or luscious chords, whatnot. Lots of emotional vulnerability, and that's the first half of the song. Once we've nailed that verse, that's so descriptive of where I am currently in my life, what I'm going through personally. Then we shoot into the second half, where now you hear the sobering talk and then the explosions. And now, the fire actually starts. It sounds like [in] the first half, we're fetching the matches. The second half is, now, we light the thing. Now the tape begins, all explosion. Now that's where the high energy picks up and goes. It's taking off and now it's just trailblazing, shooting new flows. I introduced this new vocal inflection; I want a featured artist to do this kind of energy, but I don't know anybody who has this kind of energy, so I just did it myself. It sounds like fun.” “No Comment.” [Tyson Sybateli & Thato Saul] “I was trying to make another record that I wanted to get Thato on. But before I could make that record, he and I are on the phone and he’s like, 'So dog, what you been working on?’ I'm like, ‘I have these other songs. Let me send you that to listen to.’ I sent him this one and he lost his mind. He was like, ‘Yo, what are you doing today?’ I'm like, ‘I'm going to studio at two o’clock.' He came through and he added a verse and we're just chilling, talking about other stuff. We made the record, it was fun. We played it. And we're just chilling. It's very much fun for both of us. We just talking, we are just bragging on our verses. That's it. Just fun, bragging and we're keeping the energy going.” “2-Up.” [Tyson Sybateli & Nanette] “I like making R&B joints. This was fun because the verse was very much about getting into character. The first and the second verses paint out simple pictures of trying to get someone's interest, in different settings. They really play out like a story. Some lines are about me, but the rest are like just we are getting into character and with fun. I can't tell you what [the phrase] ‘two up’ means. I really can't. It just sounds good. I was headed to speak at some panel in Jozi, and [met with] Nanette there. I just thought she’d sing the refrain; I didn't expect her to add a verse. It was amazing. I asked for five, she gave me 10. And then we had the producer just bring it up and make it crazier.” “I Can Bet.” [Tyson Sybateli & Priddy Ugly] “Priddy Ugly is one of my favourite rappers. This is a lyrical sparring thing. This is my most bragging song, and I actually take a jab at the industry. These days, the views are fake. The numbers are fake. We're competing for attention with a lot of other artists. I don't think there should be a focus on how much numbers you can get. The quality of what you're doing should be your currency in any market. But people think, 'No, that's on two million streams—that’s the best.' No, it's not. It's very good marketing, just to prop it up as a bigger record than what it actually is. It's like the Instagram effect: it’s a very good picture, but it’s not really what's going on in their life. Everybody's got problems. Please do not be fooled. It's staged. Understand we are all lying to each other and this is all fun—so let's call it out when you see it. And it's very fun to take jabs at the music industry, because it's like someone's got to say the truth.” “It Worked.” “People were busy saying to me, 'Is the song about you?'Is the song about you signing to Sony because it’s working now?’ No. It's about me doing last year's stuff on my own, all independent. Just built my entire career, no manager, no nothing. It's just me, guys, and it worked. I understand the music business, I understand the industry for myself. ‘It Worked’ is very much celebrating how the success of doing stuff on my own paid off for me in the end, in the sense that I'm getting recognition now; I'm finally being given a platform to display myself. I haven't made it, I'm finally starting my journey. This is step one, officially. After all these years, step one the whole time, and now the next thing; step two; step three. That's all it is. It's a celebration of my whole independent journey.” “We Outside.” [Tyson Sybateli & Ben September] “This is where the vulnerability, and the message comes in. It’s very stripped back. I tried to give myself the imagery of hanging from a ledge, trying to make the decision: 'Should I just give up on this dream, or should I just pull myself up and get back in and focus on my life again?' When you throw so much time into your craft and your career, people try to throw their own reasons on why you're being so distant, when really, I'm going through it, I'm the only person dedicated to making this career and my journey work for me, so you've got to understand how much time that takes out my normal day. I don't have time for people like I used to, but I'm trying. It is so sad, but it sounds so good. Ben September is amazing. He could relate, he's like, 'Brother, as a musician, you know how we can't be present in people's lives, how tough it is. I get you.' I was like, 'Yeah, we outside though.” “Phone-Hello.” [Tyson Sybateli & Mochen & Landrose] “‘Phone-Hello.’ is basically about some rapper shit. [Imagine if] you and were bragging right now. Who's on the phone [in the background]? Hello? 'Cause we don't know who they are. Who is this? We're not new to this rap thing. We've got our name out here, we're building our reputation. I called him Mochen, and he jumps on, and he continues that same message that we don't know who they are, this is what we do, and this is what we’ve established. Two days before turning in the mixes, I’m like, 'The song is very short and my refrains repeat too much at the end.' I'm talking to my friend Landrose, based in Soweto. And he was speaking to me about always trying to work with Pretorian artists. He went crazy. And he played to his bag, he's very animated with his delivery and everything. I loved it. He should be a voice actor, actually.” “Pattern Up.” [Tyson Sybateli & Tron Pyre] “I was going to drop this as a single to wrap up my year of independence. It was very much [about] expressing everything that's going on right now in my life. I started writing and my friend Tron Pyre came through just watched me write. And we were talking about life. Everything on the song was a conversation we were having. And I'm like, 'Maybe I wrote too much.' He's like, 'Nah, this is no more a performance record. You're here to vent. Get on the mic, bro.' So I stood up, I got on the mic, I rapped the whole thing in one take. He told me I needed blur some names out though. He's like, 'You need to treat every encounter with somebody like you're going to see them again. So even though they burned the bridge, I don't want you to burn it. I love that song. It was very much a vent; [a promise that] ‘We are not going nowhere’.”