Cape Town rapper illRow, finally released his long-awaited debut album titled The Cape Doctor which impressed many with his powerful storytelling ability.
The Cape Doctor: What to expect?
illRow finally dropped the project on the 21st of March, with the project sharing the same day as the rapper’s birthday.
The rapper is a talented lyricist who has the ability to express his emotion and thoughts through his creative use of lyric choice and impressive wordplays.
Being the sound engineer and producer he is known for, the rapper also brought some beautiful beats to the project, being produced by Row himself, which really felt like a tribute to the legendary Cape Flats hip-hop sound.
However, the album was filled with different genres like Reggae and AfroPop sounds, especially on the track For a Minute alongside the Xhosa vocalist SoleCPT.
The beats on songs like Rolling, Chains, and Pray were enjoyable tracks to listen to as the rapper graced the beat with his hard bars over the bumpy tunes.
The project featured multiple Cape Town features like MrHeinzCPT, SoleCPT, the vocally talented LhiRhyxe, and the powerful Reggae star DaFaith all impressing in their guest spots, really displaying the talent Cape Town is blessed with.
The album is stacked with 21 different songs, including an interlude, with a satisfying run time of 58 minutes.
Row impressed many with the release of his debut album which takes the rapper’s growth as an artist to another level.
What message was illRow trying to send?
It’s pretty clear that the Cape Town artist has a lot of his own thoughts and opinion on the state of not just his hometown, but the country as a whole.
Although some tracks like Good Vibes or Minieta Again were fun and enjoyable tracks on the album, most of the project involved Row stating his opinions on the state of South Africa.
“The Cape Doctor” aims to inspire those with unfulfilled dreams due to the lack of opportunity within the Mothercity. The album diarises my life of being an independent artist in The Cape of Good Hope” the rapper wrote on Twitter.
He touches on situations like gang wars that plague his hometown, the inequalities people of colour face, and the reality on how difficult the journey is for people from disadvantaged backgrounds have to go through just to live a comfortable life.
The project will leave one to reflect on everything Row had touched on and hopefully leave the listener realising what the true state of the Mother City.
Go listen to the album, available now on all platforms.