16 years ago on the 19th of April in Vaal South of Gauteng a dope musician and rap artist was born. His name is Katlego Kalanke, better known in the game as Kat Scavenger.
He started writing lines at the age of 13 with no intentions at all of getting into the studio.
Two years later he found himself getting behind the mic on a single titled You broke My Heart, which was produced by Young Hluga.
“I wasn’t someone who is into hip hop at all, but I was influenced by my brother Kay Shatta who is also a hip hop artist. He was always playing the latest hip hop music out there, so I was inspired to listen as well and I started to be interested in hip hop” said Kat Scavenger.
After the single Scavenger continued to record music and in 2016 he blessed the hip hop game with a mixtape titled Kea Hana Mixtape.
The mixtape included tracks such as Impilo yam,Banana ba batle, Seja bana and Kea Hana to name but a few. The mixtape name Kea Hana is a Sesotho phrase meaning ‘I refuse’ or ‘I disagree’.
He explained that he chose this name for the mixtape because although he is doing trap music he feels that he should still pass a positive message by disagreeing with the poverty conditions the society is facing and the wrong doings of us young people such as drugs, blessers and other risky behaviours.
The mixtape was dropped in 2016 under a record label that he is working with, namely Starlight records.
“My ultimate favorite track on the mixtape is ‘Impilo yam’ because I wrote it a few weeks after my dad passed away, it is a very emotional song where I rap about what I was going through”, explained Kat Scavenger.
While weekends mean parties and taking a rest from a hectic week for many people his age, for Kat Scavenger it’s a whole different story.
For him weekends mean work and more work because that is the time whereby he is not in school or too busy with homework but instead he gets busy with music.
If he is not in the studio cooking up new music he is out there on stage pushing his music and sharing his passion with the crowd.
“I get a lot of support from my family especially my brother. You know gigs are not the same for us upcoming artists and the money is not always pleasing, sometimes I need to take money out of my own pocket to get to a performance.
So my brother is someone who at times gives me money for transport to get to the events I perform at” said Kat Scavenger.
Scavenger strongly believes in Sesotho hip hop, and rapping in Sesotho. He feels that artists that rap in Southern Sesotho are not getting enough recognition.
Expressing his views about vernacular rap Scavenger said, “In my opinion if all of us rappers from Vaal could rap in Sesotho more it would take Vaal to another level in terms of the music industry”.
Although he does not do any night events on Sundays due to having school the next day, Scavenger has performed at a lot of venues in and around Vaal. He stated that his greatest moment in the game yet has been sharing a stage with Slugos.
“Slugos is a very popular house musician here in Vaal. He is someone you find at most events in Vaal and I felt proud to have been on stage with him”, said Scavenger.
A couple of months back Kat Scavenger dropped a single titled 24/7 Masente, where he features his brother Kay Shatta, and Caustizzy, who is another promising talent emerging from the Vaal.
“Caustizzy is by far one of the artists that I have enjoyed working with the most. His input on that song and his creativity is amazing, he came up with suggestions that were quite valuable and I respect him as an artist”, explained Scavenger.
Like any other talented individual on earth Scavenger has that someone he looks up to and is inspired by in terms of the music industry, “for me that artist is Maraza, I really think he is legendary, he is the type of rapper who kills any kind beat regardless if its trap, kwaito or underground”, he explained.
Kat Scavenger prides himself in being someone who puts in the work, and most recently he has dropped yet another dope single titled Let Me in (Ntlwelle Ke Kene).
“When I say Ke Kopa Le Ntlwelle Ke Kene (Let me in) I’m not knocking at people’s homes saying they should let me in, instead I’m talking to people from my surroundings who have what it takes to assist an artist like me to penetrate into the hip hop game. What I’m asking for is a chance to prove myself” said Kat Scavenger.
The single (Let Me In) is available for download on data file host, and is a single leading up to Kat Scavenger’s second project titled I Believe. The release date of this E.P had not been finalised by the time this article was published.
He is also working with a new management team from Soweto known as Ezase West Entertainment. To find out what Kat Scavenger has been up to, you can catch him on social media as Katlego Kat Scavenger on Facebook and kat_scavenger on Instagram.
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