T.U.R.K. Releases Debut Album, Better Late Than Never.
I have had the pleasure of knowing T.U.R.K. for close to a decade. In that time, he has made an impression on me as an incredibly talented Mosotho rapper, who from an early age, was acutely aware of what he wanted when it came to rap and hip hop. He understood his place in the rap game then, as much as he understands it now. Hearing T.U.R.K. for the first time was a little scary because he was so good and so young, most of us fronted on him because it was the easier thing to do, instead of admitting that if this guy grew up with the same kind of hunger and confidence he exhibited — we was all done.
What’s interesting is that when he came out, as a teen going by the name Swagga, he was never satisfied with just being pigeonholed as the young cat who just happened to rap well. He made it clear that he felt like he was the best young cat rapping at the time, bar none. And fair enough, the whole idea of being the best rapper to ever rap is like a rite of passage for every single person that has ever rapped. One has to believe that they are simply the best. T.U.R.K. is no exception and that notion has preoccupied him well into the young adult years he’s in now.
It is that ideal — of being the best, that populates his stellar debut album, much to the limitations of the breadth of his talent. This is isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it sure does rob us of a mind that’s clearly brilliant, if only it could allow itself to expand its scope. On Better Late Than Never, there are moments of genuine introspection (“Letter To My Lover”) and insightful commentary (“Black Genocide”, “1984”), that give us a glimpse of the dark-skinned virtuoso’s thoughts beyond his ability as a rapper. But they are few and far in between and tend to sound a little laboured at times.
Nonetheless, you can’t deny how masterful he is when he really gets in the bag that he is most confortable in — shitting on all you rappers and telling you that he is the best MC rapping. The flow on “Nothing To Something” is some of the best command of rapping technique I have ever heard. He has also managed to craft a sonically superior album to most albums that have ever been released in Lesotho. This speaks to how painstakingly serious he was in putting together this album. The experience he amassed throughout his long career has proved to be beneficial in helping manifest the vision he had for this album.
At this point, there is no debate that T.U.R.K. has long joined the pantheon of great Lesotho MCs. He has also proved that he is one of the few that can succefully build themselves into a viable brand. If nothing else, Better Late Than Ever proves that T.U.R.K. is the one — the one who made it out from just being a dope young rapper, to becoming a fully fledged, well-adjusted adult rap star; he is the one who took book-smarts and street-smarts and made them co-exist to his benefit, attaining that elusive sweet spot and delicate balance most of us have struggled with. He’s the one that’s going to make it, if he hasn't already.
Here is conversation I had with him about his debut album:
This is by no means your first time at the rodeo. How has the journey you have walked so far prepared you to get to this place - where you’re finally releasing your debut album?
Absoulutely. You know, for as long as I could remember, the goal has always been to release my debut album at a point in my career where I felt I was “ready” to. I knew that I’d KNOW when that time came and indeed, it has come. Some factors that have helped me gauge whether I was ready to or not — these include my overall confidence in my craft, which I have been working on and continue to do so; growth from a musical and artistic standpoint; establishing a fanbase or listenership that warrants the release of an album; having the financial muscle to create, distribute and promote an album appropriately, which requires a team to help push the T.U.R.K brand further and assist in areas I may lack business-wise. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not where I want to be regarding all the aforementioned factors, but I’ve come far enough and have done enough to necessitate the release of my debut.
What makes this particular body of work different from any of the projects you have released over the years?
I have an extensive catalogue dating back to 2008 when I first began my journey as a recording artist and since then, I have always been cognizant of the fact that there is a particular sound and level of musicianship that I I’m chasing. I am finally at a point where I feel like I have elevated my skillset and have access to the kind of production I have always wanted to rhyme and create music over. This body of work is simply the culmination of all the work I have done in the past and is a full-circle moment in my career, the latter of which has been displayed through how I narrate my experiences throughout the various stages of life since birth. I heard someone say that it takes you your entire life to come up with and record your first album, unlike the ones to follow, and that has always stuck with me as I’ve prepared to share and tell the story of my life. Throughout the duration of my career as an indie rap artist, which spans a decade, I’ve steered clear from album discussions so much so that although it can’t be categorized as a mixtape or EP, I went as far as to categorize my 2018 release “1 9 9 X” as a “project” instead of referring to it as an album (although many do). This is because I’ve always understood the weight that comes behind the term “debut studio album”. With all that said I am certain that although not perfect, this is the moment I have been waiting for and building toward.
Was it always your plan to take so long to release your first official album when you started your career, or would you say it’s an idea/strategy that you developed over time? If so, what are some of the things that prompted you to choose this path?
Again, releasing my first official album has always been one of my goals since I started my career. I recall walking home from school as an adolescent and internally discussing possible album names (which at the time included “1 9 9 X”), mapping out concepts, pretending I was on the Breakfast Club and answering interview-style questions I would ask myself, and so forth. Growing up, albums were more than just songs thrown together and sold for a quick buck. As fans of music, we can all pinpoint certain moments in our lives with the help of certain songs and/or album, which in turn shows the power of music. I’ve always had a burning desire to create an album that I can be proud of and one that will be heralded as a great body of work over the years to come. It goes without saying that we live in a microwave single-orientated and condensed EP streaming era, but I wholeheartedly believe that full-length projects and albums that are well-put together will always hold a place in the hearts of all music lovers and fans, myself included, for generations to come.
Would you say you’re a perfectionist? If so, tell me more about your thoughts around this idea of perfectionism.
Funny you should ask, this is a question I ask myself often and I am yet to arrive at a conclusive answer. I will say that over the years I’ve learned to take my craft seriously and in turn, this has resulted in me nitpicking the finest of details when it comes to my creative process. I believe that it has affected my trajectory as an artist, both positively and negatively. Some may consider this as perfectionism, but I would go as far as to say that it is the result of wanting the best of AND for myself. I am truly my biggest critic therefore I take external criticism, whether constructive or not, with a full spoon of salt. I could relate the idea of perfectionism to a hamster wheel because you can chase perfection and even come close to it for as long as you possibly can before your legs give out, but unlike in a race where there is a ribbon you can run through to signal that you have reached your destination, there is no finish line that reads “PERFECT”. I tend to wonder if perfection in its truest form actually exists or whether it is a construct in our minds that emanates from what we individually consider to be perfect. What IS perfect? Who knows… Ideally, perfectionism is great because it gives you something to work towards and strive for; however it, along with societal expectations, can also be detrimental to your psyche and can deter you from your goals. It’s a two-sided coin that has its positives and negatives, no matter how how you flip it.
Taking into consideration how long you’ve had your career, and this only being your debut album, how would you like people to receive the project? In relation to everything you’ve ever done thus far?
Looking back at the career I have had, it goes without saying that it has been riddled with a lot of procrastination when it comes to creating and releasing music. This is an overarching concept/theme that is sprinkled throughout “Better Late Than Never” and is one of the factors that give meaning behind the album’s title, which plays into how long it has taken me to produce and release my debut. That said, I want people to receive it with open arms and ears, and to really listen beyond the surface of the lyrics/bars. I’d like to believe that I am really something, past all the lyrical-miracle lines that may warrant that screwed up face or mean-mug of approval we rappers tend to seek as validation. I expect different reactions from different listeners. I expect the listener that is familiar with the T.U.R.K discography to immediately pick up on my growth as an over-all artist and to enjoy the little nuggets on the album that are tied to lyrics I have said in the past. And for the new listener, I have made it a point to ensure that by the end of the album you will walk way feeling like you know who T.U.R.K the artist and Bataung Moeketsi the person are. In relation to all the work that I have put in and the music I have released thus far, this is by far by the best product I am yet to release and from this point going forward, it’s only going to get better. Lastly, in the words of Ms. Erykah Badu — “I’m an artist and I’m sensitive about my sh**” and so I can only hope that the album is received well considering how much of myself I chose to pour into it.
What are some of the major takeaways that you hope people leave with after hearing the album?
Is a lot really, but one thing I would like to point out is that, inasmuch as being an MC’s MC has always been my strong-point, on this album, I intentionally pushed my boundaries as an artist and focused on writing and performing melodic choruses and verses, all the while incorporating all of the elements that I believe make for a great listen. To this point, I really drew from and was inspired by albums and artists that I grew up on and love to this day. The album also leans into my story-telling abilities, all the while displaying the various rap skillsets I have accumulated over the years. Getting back to my earlier point on production, I believe that on this particular body of work I was able to source the kind of music that will captivate the listener and allow me to float however way I so please. Generally, what makes this body of work different is the meticulous approach behind its conceptualization and the overall execution. I was intentional each step of the way, unlike in the past where I was rapping for the sake of being a “rappidy-rap” rapper.
If you could categorise all the projects you’ve done thus far, how would you describe them, in the context of the stage you were at in your development at the time that you did each one of them?
Simply put, I would categorize and describe all the projects (solo and joint mixtapes, EPs and so forth), singles and feature appearances as building blocks that have gotten me to this point in my development. It has all been and continues to be a construction process, akin to building a house. I consider the preliminary stage of my development in my adolescent years (when I went by the long-since dropped pseudonym Swagga/Swaggalicious) which resulted in the release of my first mixtape dubbed “The Definition Mixtape Vol. 1” in 2011 followed by my joint project with Kat-Law titled “We Got Next the mixtape” in 2012, along with a myriad of freestyles and singles that precede and follow them, as the phase where if I was an architect/builder, I would have gone to the store to buy all the materials required to build who T.U.R.K is today. Then, following my introduction as T.U.R.K with the release of “T.U.R.K the mixtape” in 2013, having also worked on a joint project titled “The Format EP” released in 2015 and my appearance on the “Basali All Star Remix”, this could be considered as the foundation, plinth beam and slab laying phase. Moving on, the anticipated release of “1 9 9 X” in 2018 and that of the “BLUNTSANDRAPS EP”(2020), “SAY LESS (Unmastered)”(2021) and “The Loud Pack”2021, are what are would categorize as the substructure and bricklaying phase. At this current juncture that leads us to the release of my debut studio album, “Better Late Than Never, we now have a structure that is standing firm and I have moved on to a phase where my attention and focus is split roofing, wiring, internal and external design, flooring and painting. I don’t know much about the built industry, but I understand that the latter stages of construction are somewhat of a continuous and never-ending process because as the pain chips away, wiring gets old, new designs get introduced and the roof suffers from water damage, these can be revisited and improved. And that is how I look at my career going forward. I endeavour to continuously and consistently build on all that I have done before and keep finding ways of bettering myself as an artist and individual.
Listen to T.U.R.K.’s debut album Better Late Than available on all digitial media platforms: linktr.ee/ThatRapperKidd
