Renowned rapper, MC, songwriter and producer. Sizwe Moeketsi, best known in the Hip-Hop scene as Reason and in the Amapiano community as Sizwe Alakine has managed to dabble between the two genres effortlessly. He recently released his 14-track Hip Hop album titled Audio 2D: Dear Darkie and is booked at the DStv Delicious Food Festival this weekend with both aliases Sizwe Alakine and Reason.

THE WORST YEAR EVER

If he had to choose, he would much rather stick to the name Sizwe Alakine. "There are too many rappers especially overseas also named Reason,' he said. "So the Sizwe Alakine name is different.' The Reason name also carries a lot of past frustrations of being a struggling rapper, despite Hip-Hop music being his first true love. The beginning of the year 2023, was the worst, as he was not making much of an income through music and had separated from the mother of his twins, Luthando Loot Love' Shosha. "That was the worst year of my life. I was depressed, down and felt stuck.'

It was when he was introduced to Amapiano that his life started changing.

CHANGES

His life changed when he got into Amapiano and he feels the song that changed his life was Imithandazo by Kabza The Small, Maphorisa, featuring Young Stunna, Mthunzi and Umthakathi Kush. "I didn't plan to go over to Amapiano. The only reason we are here is because of Imithandazo, It changed my life,' he said. "Once I did the experiment of going that side it was important to come back. I needed to prove my point to myself on the other side and not limit myself, and it worked,' he added.'But I also left Hip-Hop bruised and unhappy.' He doesn't feel pressure to pick a side as people have asked him to. "I'm an artist, I can't be boxed.'

FATHERHOOD

In the new project, he features the song Tata dedicated to his stepfather who raised him as though he was his own. "I had to write a song about my dad and for other dads who are trying to be good fathers,' he said. "This song is personal too because he wasn't even my biological dad, so it's very important for me to document one story of at least one good guy. I aspire to be that type of a father.'