Cape Town rapper, Lookatups, is no doubt one of the hottest prospects coming out of the Mother City, so it was crucial we linked up with the rapper and ask him a couple of questions.
The interview: What we learnt about Lookatups
We got to learn a little bit more about the rappers’ experience in the game, his goals, his future releases, and more.
How has his experience been in the hip-hop world?
Ups started releasing music since 2018 on Soundcloud, going on to grow his name in the Cape Town music scene and eventually becoming one of the most promising MCs in the Mother City.
We wanted to know how his experience has been as a popping recording artist.
“It’s been very exciting but not all glamorous,” he started.
“You’ll never be where you want to be so you can never be fully happy, and that’s how the experience has been, feeling like I’m not there yet,” added the rapper.
“But it’s been fun and very tricky,” Lookatups concluded.
To elevate the Xhosa rap genre, what are his goals?
Cape Town is known as the home to many Xhosa Rap artists with Bravo LeRoux, Guy Onke, SimulationRxps, Dee Koala, and many more.
We wanted to know what Ups’s goal was in helping boost the Xhosa Rap wave.
“I’ve been seeing Nigerian artists take over like Burna Boy and Davido,” said the rapper.
“The only reason is because they’re themselves and they portray an image of Africa that people overseas already think Africa should be like,” he added.
With such a true answer, the Cape Town rapper went deeper on how he wants to be true to himself and use his mother tongue as his key to finding his success.
“If we can have a Xhosa artist that can just be themselves, like the best form of themselves as they can, I feel like that’s the heights that the Xhosa Rap genre can take to,” he continued.
“That’s where I plan on taking it, to the world as a global genre,” he finished.
Does Lookatups have any plans of releasing a project?
His latest single titled Amadolo alongside SimulationRxps and Flow Jones Jr. is a hit.
After having such a good release by the young rapper, we wanted to know if he was in ‘album mode’.
“Yeah I’m obviously working on a project right now, I’ve been in ‘album mode’ for like a minute now,” announced the rapper.
“I plan on releasing an EP first and then dropping an album after that depending on how well the EP will do,” he added.
“If it does well enough I can extend the content on there and push it until the end of the year and drop an album next year or just drop it end of the year, but I think the album will come next year,” he finished.
How would he describe the sound of his music?
Lookatups isn’t popping for any simple reason, and it’s because of his highly entertaining approach to his music using exciting beats and having a gripping sound.
We wanted to know exactly how the rapper would define his own style and sound of his music.
“I think it’s very inspired by old music, but a new sound,” he humorously answered.
“It’s a new sound that is influenced by old music and old artists from back in the day, so it’s like a modern twist of that,” he clarified.
What does he enjoy most about being an artist?
The young rapper must have an exciting lifestyle in the music world.
In our final question, we wanted to know what the Cape Town prospect enjoyed the most about living life as a musician.
“I’ve had a lot of great moments, up and down,” said the rapper.
“I’d say meeting a whole lot of new people bro because I’m very interested in people and changing people’s thoughts and their perceptions of life,” he continued.
The rapper went on to further express his passion as a recording artist.
“In order to do that, you need to see all types of different perceptions of people,” he added.
“So yeah, I’d say meeting all types of people and just learning about people,” he concluded.
Lookatups will surely continue to grind his way to the top of the South African music scene and hopefully even to the global level.
However, for now, check out his hit-single, Amadolo, available now on all streaming platforms and our Cape Town Buzz playlist on Spotify.
