Apple Music Up Next South Africa's latest artist is Cape Town-born, Durban-raised rapper and songwriter Lucasraps (real name Luke Duncan Malong).
“I’m grateful to have been selected for Apple Music Up Next South Africa! I assure you 031 To The World will be the most phenomenal sonically superior South African hip-hop project,” said Lucasraps. “This is why God chose me, this is why I'm the Y.O.G."
Lucasraps' first taste of mainstream success came in 2019 when he collaborated with Dr Peppa and became the breakout star of a song called “What It Is”, featuring Riky Rick and Chang Cello, which gave him his first South African Hip Hop Award nomination. This encouraged him to enter the Sportscene X Puma Put Me On competition where he ended up taking top honours.
His friendship with fellow Durbanite rapper, Blxckie, saw them collaborate on “Ah Ah Ah Ah” (2020) and “Big Time Shlappa” (2020), both of which went on to change the underground Hip Hop game and push the genre to the forefront again in South Africa.
He is Def Jam Africa’s latest signee and one of OkayAfrica’s 13 South African Artists To Watch in 2021. His breakout debut single, “Derr Boy” is what made him a force to be reckoned with on the charts.
Lucasraps' debut album, 031 To The World (2021), available to stream on Apple Music, pays homage to his upbringing, struggles and victories over 11 tour de force tracks. A fusion of hardcore rap, laidback grooves, and dancefloor tunes, the album features a plethora of heavyweight producers: Gemini Major, Christer, Vaughn Fourie and Nash.
As the latest Up Next artist to be spotlighted in South Africa, Lucasraps will be featured across Apple Music’s South African Up Next playlist apple.co/UpNext-Playlist. The curated Up Next playlist features a dynamic class of new and emerging artists, thoughtfully hand-picked by Apple Music editors from around the world.The playlist is genre agnostic and represents a line-up of artists our global editors are passionate about and eager to expose to a larger audience.
