Museke found out a ton about Koldproduk and Simba Bako tells us more!
Museke: Sawubona! Unjani?
Simba: Ngiyaphila, m’fowethu.

Museke: How are things?
Simba: Not bad at all: God’s good.

Museke: Can you tell us about your background and family?
Simba: I was raised in a moderately liberal, Shona-speaking Christian household in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, where hard work and education were the backbone of what drove us.

Museke: How did you get the name Koldproduk?
Simba: Together with Wayne Berger, Mic Mann, Kaspa and I came up with the name and defined the elements that characterize a “koldproduk”. And for that reason, we’ll always remember what we were at the stage when we entered this entertainment industry – underdogs.

Museke: How did you get into music and what was your first break?
Simba: I was heavily influenced by my older brother Kelta, and my first mainstream breakthrough into the music industry was with the Koldproduk Project, when started recording with Uproot Records in 2005.

Museke: What record label are you on and how is that going?
Simba: Uproot Records is open-minded and has given us a lot of freedom to grow. They have put our music on a variety of platforms and expanded our reach as artistes.

Museke: Which African musicians did you listen to growing up?
Simba: Growing up in the 80’s in Zimbabwe we were exposed to a variety of styles and artistes from all over the continent e.g. locally we had Oliver Mtukudzi and the “jit style” he popularized along with the “Afro pop” genre he’s broken ground in, and there were a host of “sungura” artistes like Chopper, System Tazvida. Plus we had early Hip hop groups Piece of Ebony and Zimbabwe Legit from the early 90s.
From outside of our boarders we learnt about “kizomba”, “kwasa kwasa” and artistes like Papa Wemba, Salif Keita, Angelique Kidjo, and Magic system; in the 80’s South Africa presented us with various pop styles and stars, namely PJ Powers, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and in the 90’s we were introduced to“kwaito” and it’s stars like Aurthur, Mdu, Trompies.

Museke: Which foreign musicians did you listen to growing up?
Simba: From the rest of the world we were similarly well-exposed to all of the major artistes in just about every genre of music there is: for example, Bob Marley came to perform at our independence celebrations the year before i was born.
And of course each home environment differs, and in ours we took to anything that was mainstream, especially from the U.S. because a lot of their entertainment culture was filtered to us. So at some point we listened to a little country music because of my cousins who loved it and we learnt about Dolly Parton and Don Williams; then the differences between reggae and ragga and dancehall were outlined to us and we saw the rise of crews with the likes of Shabba, Junior Reid, General Degree, and Capelton and Sizzla Colange and the rest of them.
Our favourite genre was pop music and it reached us via Madonna, Pet Shop Boys, Men at Work and Michael Jackson, and the latter had a huge impact in our lives, especially on my older brother, who used to emulate him and later began songwriting. That’s how i got drawn from just being a listener to playing an active role in it.
Personally, my parents’ old records from the 70’s played a big role in what i appreciate now, and those funk and disco tunes and all the others that had peppy rhythms and evoked dance kept me excited during the times when the other genres that i mentioned above came and went.

Museke: Which African musicians do you idolize or admire (presently)?
Simba: Youssou Ndour, Angelique Kidjo, I admire for their international appeal and the fact that they remain ambassadors for Africa. In South Africa I admire FreshlyGround and Tumi and the Volume, The Parlotones and Seether for hustling in S.A. and abroad.

Museke: How long did it take you to do your first album?
Simba: It took us just over two years with the recording process of our 18 track debut album All Under Heaven, and that process in itself was a journey of exploration and challenges, failures, successes, diggings and findings, perfectionism, and ultimately: completion.
We reached as deeply as we could and delved as far below the surface as was possible, and when you listen to that album you will find something new each time. So when we tell you to turn in up loud, we know what we’re talking about!
Go out and buy it, get it online, bootleg it, save the image on your desktop, the come and catch us performing live to see how much further we have translated those various ideas and come another step into our madness.

Museke: What is the inspiration behind ‘All under heaven’?
Simba: Part of our inspiration was to display some of the very best that Africa has to offer in music and entertainment. We all listen to and draw a lot from various genres and styles of music, and we let that to filter into our musical process.
This was because we didn’t lock ourselves into being a “Hip hop/pop” group, and approached each song with no preconceptions, allowing us to define the album by shooting broadly and with an open mind each time we were in studio.
During the recording process all of us involved in the project were heavily tested by life, and had happiness thrown at us, learning experiences and ultimately different levels of consciousness were revealed.
All of these influenced the music and gave it character and depth, which is why All Under Heaven offers so much and is damn hard to put down.

Museke: Have you featured on any other albums?
Simba: Since we have gotten onto the market many artistes have expressed interest to work with us, and that has already started materialising, but we haven’t yet featured on anyone else’s album except for T*Spark’s forth coming album.

Museke: Do you consider yourself as a hip-hop artiste?
Simba: Yep, and a student of Hip hop as well.

Museke: How is Koldproduk different from its colleagues, fellow rappers?
Simba: Apart from the supernatural God-given talent, which gives us an unfair advantage, we try to awaken a different part of the imagination than our counterparts. Also, our ability to operate in genres outside of Hip hop keeps things interesting not only for ourselves but for our listeners.
Plus we’re compulsively obsessed with continuously improving our product, rejecting mediocrity and remaining humble. Always.

Museke: How different is South African hip hop from Kwaito?
Simba: Kwaito depends heavily on the instrumental and is predominantly delivered in vernacular and induces a dance atmosphere. Hip hop has slightly broader appeal because it taps into the English-speaking market and has a more universal reach. The culture in S.A. is growing in strength but the industry’s got a lot of room for growth.

Museke: What is your take on the hip-hop lyrics coming out of South-Africa? Are you concerned about the content?
Simba: S.A.’s going through some socio-political ups and downs and 2012’s a common destination for us all and it aligns a lot of different people’s goals to one focus. Hip hop here is bridging many gaps especially amongst the youth and its message and purpose have never been as crucial as nowadays. Our influence on youth culture is not to be undermined and i believe our lyrics over the next couple of years will have a last effect because this is a significant period we’re going through; we have to talk about more important things than rims, money we don’t have and lifestyles we can’t relate to.

Museke: How popular are mix-tapes and compilations in South Africa? Have you been part of any?
Simba: They’re still not considered with the same esteem as full-length albums, but they do serve the purpose of raising awareness. But more financial investment needs to be committed to to Hip hop in order for it to grow.

Museke: What is the inspiration for the songs you write?
Simba: Some of it is ambition for things we wish we had, or for a life we’re reaching towards. All of them have some sort of message and we deliver these via our extraordinary lyrics and rhyme formats in a sound that’s both street and intellectual.
Many of the hooks and lyrics i stumble upon on occasion. I listen to a lot of music and take lots of notes and tips and study what others successful in the industry are doing; and i’m strict about not biting or regurgitating even my own material. Plus i write a lot and freestyle a little in order to challenge myself– the music has to keep me interested, then i can keep sharing with you fresh, unexplored magic.

Museke: Most of your songs have been in English. What is your take on hip-hop in African languages versus English?
Simba: In Africa we have so many different languages and by delivering localized languages you limit your reach to only that particular group of people that can understand it. The benefit of a more universal language is that it opens your reach internationally and addresses a broader market. And that makes sense because as rappers we’re all just trying to be heard, right?

Museke: Your Hush video has been hailed as the one of the best to ever come out of Africa. How did you get it to snow in South Africa?
Simba: Mic Mann and the team from Mann Made Media prepared each shot for a month before the two days of shooting for Hush, which involved some green screen on-set. Then they followed up with three months of post-production, where the 108 special effects shots were converted into the award winning debut video that has made us so recognisable.
Their hard work is so believable and also has a lot of depth, and visualizes a lot about what that song and koldproduk is about.

Museke: Which musicians would you love to collaborate with?
Simba: I’d like a chance to work with admire H.H.P., 2 Face, Timbaland, Will.I.Am, Kanye West, Akon, Beat Maker, Ootz, and a few more crazy artistes and producers here in S.A.

Museke: Do you think that the location of South African musicians by city/province influences the type of music they come out with? There seems to be a lot of different genres in South Africa.
Simba: Most def! The rap in the capital cities is quite different to that from the other cities, e.g. Pretoria in S.A., Harare in Zimbabwe is in some ways comparable to the sound and swagger of the New York style, and the other cities have an even blend of universal styles. Also, Cape Town has lots of Afrikaans influences.

Museke: Have you ever performed in any other African countries?
Simba: Not yet.

Museke: Have you been approached by foreign labels?
Simba: Not yet.

Museke: What challenges do you face in the South African music industry?
Simba: We have a lot of piracy and lack the infrastructure in the entertainment industry that the First World enjoys, e.g. disposable income and access to remote mobile facilities. Also, we have very few radio and television stations.

Museke: What is your take on piracy and paying DJs to promote your music?
Simba: Unfortunately corruption breeds more corruption and even if you have hot material but don’t pay, the djs and vjs who take bribes turn to material of a lesser standard, accept bribes, and in the end that’s what gets broadcast.
And piracy hurts the record label and ultimately your favourite artiste. Sure, you have a copy of his product now, but he didn’t benefit from your purchase and when he fails to put out a follow-up album it’s because of you and your friends. Real fans shouldn’t do that.
The music business keeps changing like how it went from vinyl to cassette, c.d. and now mp3; now people buy the actual song that they want via phone or computer, never mind actual records. So it forces us as players to constantly look out for new opportunities and try to avoid getting screwed in so many cut-throat ways now. Please buy our album and learn the lyrics on the sleeve; don’t just copy.

Museke: Any major plans for the year 2008?
Simba: This is our year of growth and we’re engaging with other musicians and organisations more. We’re already involved with the Levi’s Young Guns Campaign and have shot our second music video with them, where we featured T*Spark on a song called for Eyes Open.
We’ve been doing more live shows and interviews, getting more ringtones, merchandise and material, all of which are available on www.uprootrecords.com as well as other outlets. It’s a defining period for us and we’re doing our best to supply the public with something fresh constantly.

Museke: What is in the future of your music?
Simba: Apart from new material, there will be many remixes and ringtones and we’re getting our music to more new places and growing our listenership and our reach. There will be more dynamic exploration into other genres of music and easier accessibility to the consumer.

Museke: Tell us about T-Spark
Simba: T*Spark is a highly talented unknown R&B, soul and pop vocalist who is working on her debut solo album that is about to be released through Uproot Records soon. You saw her in our Hush video and now she’s on Eyes Open and currently she has a radio single called The Way You’re Looking at me, which is doing its rounds on local radio to introduce her and prepare the world for what’s coming.

Museke: If Kaspa has left the group, what led to this?
Simba: Kaspa had differences in opinion to the project and its current state and direction that had been festering for a few months and ultimately led to him exploring a musical career outside of the project. He’s working on a solo project right now.

Museke: How can South African music expand and sell outside?
Simba: By providing product that is at an international standard so as to compete with the best that’s out there. Already there are S.A. artistes with careers overseas because out there you get a lot more love and support than back here at home.
It’s a shame: in order to sell and be respected in S.A. you have to sell overseas first.

Museke: Do you have any present engagements and works other than music?
Simba: Currently I’m paying my dues in the architectural industry right now while the music continues to grow. Hopefully soon i’ll be in a position to make the career switch to music full time.

Museke: What are your hobbies and pastimes?
Simba: My hobbies have to do with creativity always, and i haven’t stopped drawing or sketching, and developing stories coz i write more than just music. Plus i’ve been teaching myself Spanish and i’m studying more seriously now. Let’s see how that goes.

Museke: Do you have a website?
Simba: Our websites are www.koldproduk.com, www.myspace.com/koldprodukproject and www.uprootrecords.com drop by and tell us from which part of the world you’re enjoying our music.
Also, hit a search for koldproduk on google and see what else we've been up to.

Museke: Give us your Parthian shot (last words)
Simba: All we’re really trying to say to you is go to the record store and get Koldproduk’s HIT album All Under Heaven, then put it in your radio, your mp3 player or car and play it, turn it up loud...and let’s see what happens...
We’ll hear from you when you log on and tell us what did happen.