South African rapper Blxckie says he feels relaxed and confident in the foundation he has built as his second album, YENA, arrives after five years of waiting. Speaking a day before the release, he framed the record around range, growth and his wish to see African artists reach global audiences.
Range and growth#
Many listeners first knew Blxckie as a rapper. Releases such as See You Soon, B4Now and 10 Toes show him moving between rap and melody with ease, and he presents that range as his starting point rather than an experiment.
Days before the album, Blxckie posted black-and-white throwback footage of himself. He explained the purpose: “I just wanted to take people back and remind them that it was still the same guy.”
Between B4Now, released in 2021, and YENA, he travelled, featured on other artists’ records and released EPs. He describes that period as growth, “so much sharpening of the skill,” and the freedom that came with it.
He acknowledges that a second album carries heavy expectations, particularly in hip-hop. He used the throwback posts to bring his early supporters along, and he says the foundation he has built means no one asks why he is doing what he does, with the expectations serving as room to move.
The album and its making#
YENA is Zulu for “him,” “her” or “them.” Blxckie explains the title directly: “The album is just me saying that I’m the guy. I’m him.”
The cover carries the idea visually. He appears in dark green, a colour he has used since 2021, when he dyed his hair ahead of a tour for his first album, and he steps toward white light, which he describes as the future.
His ambition extends beyond South Africa. He wants the conversation to move away from who the best rapper is and toward which artists Africa can send out to the world. In his words, “who are the best artists that we have in Africa, and who can we export, globally.”
The album has fifteen tracks, and some of them were shaped by three producers each to build the transitions and the story. Blxckie is strict about the sound. He left a friend’s beat off the album because it did not fit, and the friend understood.
He speaks warmly about “Take Me Back,” made with a producer he met in Atlanta, because connecting sonically with someone so far from home felt rare. He says his R&B (rhythm and blues) “grows naturally” rather than landing all at once.
The album combines trap, R&B and melodic records without any one style crowding the others. Blxckie sums it up: “The Afro song was out, the heavy trap song was out. But in there, there are different stories that I wanted to tell in different ways.”
Collaborators and the wider scene#
“Lonely,” made with Nigerian singer L.A.X, came from how well a voice fits a song, both melodically and culturally. Blxckie has worked with Joeboy before and has more Nigerian records in his vault. He flew L.A.X to South Africa to shoot the video.
His SoundCloud years taught him that “the point wasn’t to go mainstream,” and that building a core fan base mattered more. He is encouraged by younger artists reaching larger audiences faster than his generation could.
He is upbeat about the wider scene. “Hip-hop is coming back really nicely,” he says, pointing to A-Reece, Nasty C and a younger generation pulling millions of views within weeks.
Goals and first-week chart performance#
Blxckie says he is focused on his own shows and on gathering as many of his fans as possible in one room, in South Africa and beyond. His personal goal is “for people to realise how much work has been put into making these songs.” Nigeria is on his list: “I have to do one in Nigeria.”
Asked for one word to sum up YENA, he answered “Sensational.” The first week’s chart results were as follows:
- YENA went to number one on Apple Music in South Africa across all genres
- YENA reached number two in Botswana, Malawi, Eswatini and Zimbabwe
- bonkerz, with A-Reece, topped the hip-hop and rap chart
