King Cobra spits pearls of wisdom

The world is this rapper’s stage

Fresh-in-the-game rapper King Cobra plans to make waves across the globe.

The 26-year-old, whose real name is Sibusiso Mlambo, grew up in rural KwaZulu-Natal. “I grew up in a home where everybody sang and loved music. I created my own studio and began recording actual songs when I was 17,” he says.

The “studio” did not last long as he established his own record label, Cash Lords Records. He admits it has not been smooth sailing as his family took time to take his career choice seriously.

The rapper released a single last year called Oweyo, together with the music video, but says it failed because he did not have the right connections.

He adds that he was nervous to drop the single because his KZN fans expected him to rap in vernacular, but the entire song was in English.

“I’m an international artist. I want to impress internationally, hence why I rap in English,” he says. The video was played on channels such as Trace and Channel O and the song enjoyed airplay on commercial radio stations.

He might make music to entertain his fans, but Cobra says he is not one for the party scene.

The Weeknd and Wizkid are his dream collaborations. He claims that rapper Cassper Nyovest had asked to work with him after releasing Oweyo, but he was left hanging with Cassper saying he was too busy.

“I don’t want to talk about Cassper because we have a history together. We met and you know how artists are like...” he says coyly.

His advice to upcoming rappers: “Be patient, you need a lot of money [to get started]. You must know what it means to sacrifice. You have to have focus,” he says.