TRAPSTA AC - THE NEWEST LEADER OF CAPE TOWN TRAP
You really are missing out if you haven’t heard of Trapsta AC, and we aren’t exaggerating when we say we believe he is the newest leader of the trap genre in Cape Town.
After one listen through his work, any music lover will understand how vibrant and explosive this artists work is, a sound South Africa has struggled to familiarize themselves with.
We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to speak to AC, getting to learn a little bit more about the finer details in his come up, his experiences, and what we should prepare ourselves for when it comes to his brand as an artist in the Mother City.
For starters, who is Trapsta AC and what does your identity represent?
Starting off our conversation, we wanted to get an inside look at how the young Capetonian maestro came about and why he chose to take on the world of music.
“Trapsta AC is my stage name and I’m a young African versatile artist due to the fact that I was born in Zimbabwe and now that I’m apparently in South Africa, I got to grow up here.”
“I know both sides of the world while I’m still in Africa which is what I believe makes me versatile. I can adapt to any kind of style, sound, or genre. That is Trapsta AC.”
“I’m an artist who can adapt to any kind of sound and my identity as an artist is that I represent music from the struggle. Real life stories, like how we came about, different struggles from the Zimbabwean and South African background, and overall how we grew up in the ghettos of both worlds.”
For any outside listener, it’s easy to identify your music falls under the trap genre. What interested or inspired you into following this specific genre?
Having listened to some of his earlier projects like his “Iconic Mixtape” and “Multiple Bombs” which both released in 2020, we picked up how AC’s style incorporated loud and explosive trap sounds that had our heads rushing.
From this exhilarating listening experience, we had to find out what made AC fall in love with this form of Hip-Hop.
“When the trap sound started booming, probably around 2016 or 2017, when Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, and Famous Dex came out is when I fell in love with how they expressed their stories with their different kind of styles and flavours into Hip-Hop.”
“That’s what exactly inspired me to actually understand that one is able to explain their story in such creative ways.”
“You don’t have to always follow the certain ways as how we knew it.”
What are your plans for 2024?
It’s a question we also have to ask, but with AC having recently worked on the smash EP titled “Rivals” alongside Big5, we had to find out what else he has stored in the vault for his eager followers.
“My plans for 2024 is to stay consistent because I have been quiet for some time, but now that I’m back I need to show that Trapsta AC is back working in the studio.”
“This is due to the fact that I had left the country for about 8 months and I came back, so now I have to put out as much songs, visuals, and content as I can for my fans, because I know they’ve been wondering where I have been.”
“But now that I’m back my plan is to keep pushing my image out there. That’s my plan for 2024.”
From what we’ve seen on your socials, you take your fashion sense very seriously. Can you define your style a bit more and how it correlates to your sound?
The first thing we noticed while scrolling through AC’s socials was his polished fashion taste, wearing some of the most eye-catching garments.
Surely this isn’t a style anyone can simply rock so we felt it’d be interesting to find out where his fashion philosophy stemmed from, and how it intertwines with his music.
“My fashion sense aligns with my family”
“My father and mother are fashion lovers, and actually my mother makes fashion. She makes clothes. She’s a tailor, and she doesn’t do it for a living but she’s talented, and she has made me custom made outfits, so it runs in the family, which is why I think it is a family thing.
“It’s not something that I focus on, and I can’t help that I look stylish. I always feel like I want to have something that the next person doesn’t have. That’s what I call art. Art, to me, must be something that is rare to find, which is why I tend to take my fashion sense a bit more seriously.”
“Me looking representable actually helps me more for people to actually give me a chance, listen to my music, and give their honest opinions.”
What’s been the toughest experience you’ve had compared to the best experience you’ve had as an artist, and how have those escapades made you grow as a figure in music?
Every aspiring musician has the toughest route to making it big and along the way they go through multiple negative and positive encounters throughout their careers.
The trick is in using these episodes as a learning tool and we wanted to know what AC has had to deal with on his path as an artist.
“The toughest part about being an artist is getting people to genuinely follow your music and to tell you the truth about your craft that you put out there. People will tell you you’re dope but behind your back they’ll be laughing and critisizing your songs.”
“Without management it’s hard for people to hear you unless you actually know how to finesse social media. Getting shows and getting recognized all comes with management.”
“On the other hand, once people get to know you the advantages start coming your way like free studio time, free merch, and free shoots. That’s really the best part about being an artist.”
“Seeing people react to your music and relate to your stories, there’s no better feeling, especially when it’s people you don’t even know.” Sometimes I’ll be rapping in my mother tongue yet people who don’t even speak the language still bump my music. It’s universal.”
“These experiences helped me grow as an artist due to the fact that during my toughest times I saw how people can show you love and not show love towards your music.”
“And when people start noticing you, those same haters who never showed you love will start coming back trying to ride on your wave and be close to you because now you’re performing and they want to come to shows for free.”
“We know that fake love man, but yeah that’s what made me grow as an artist because now I know how to differentiate between the two kinds of love I receive and I’m able to read their energy.”
