This episode takes us inside Tumi’s rebrand to Stogie T. It was a challenging process from both an artistic and personal perspective. But it extended the emcee’s lifespan and has led to some of his most innovative and popular records. Currently, Stogie T is the only rapper who performed at Le Club and can still move the crowd at Cotton Fest and Back To The City. This episode breaks down the science and philosophy of how a rap OG is able to relate to an ever-evolving genre.
Feb 21, 2022
57 min
It’s through the band Tumi and The Volume that Tumi got his first real break. A band that was born out of jamming and improvisation, Tumi And The Volume released their seminal album Live at the Bassline in 2002 which was followed by two studio albums, 2016’s self-titled album and Pick a Dream released in 2010. The latter, the band’s most refined album in their catalogue, is the focus of this episode.
Feb 21, 2022
49 min
Tumi was as much of a poet as he was an emcee. Calling himself The Poet MC to embrace both disciplines, he released his first solo album, Music From My Good Eye in 2006 after feeling overlooked as a rapper in the SA hip-hop scene. Two more albums, Whole Worlds (2010) and Return of the King (2015), followed. In this episode, we explore the significance of each of these albums and how they tell a story that culminated in Tumi’s rebrand as Stogie T.
Feb 21, 2022
54 min
Named after Tumi’s first-ever EP released in 2002, this episode is an oral history of how Tumi got into rap and became a regular at Le Club, a club in downtown Joburg that played a role in shaping the city’s hip-hop scene in the early 2000s. In the episode, Tumi also talks about growing up in exile and how being an avid reader shaped the emcee he would later become.
Feb 17, 2022
53 min