What’s The Hype: Meneer Cee on the Amapiano movement, collabs with Early B and his gold status track

September 3, 2021

Check out his full interview with GoBinge

Meneer Cee, sometimes knows as “Big Afrikaans” has secured a strong foothold in the local rap scene. First making name for himself after dropping his track,  “Wie Se Kind Is Die”, Meneer Cee went on to release several other hit songs that have caused him to gain quite a following and fan base. “Wie Se Kind Is Die” reached over 1 million views on YouTube and bagged a gold status.

GoBinge decided to host an interview with Meneer Cee to get to know the person behind the catchy rhymes and contagious beats. 

Originally from Cape Town, Meneer Cee now finds himself in Johannesburg. Speaking about the difference between the Cape Town and Jozi music scene, he said that the biggest thing is the diversity of genres in both cities. In Cape Town, he argues, one gets a lot of genres unique to that region.

“Hip hop is also still thriving in that side,” he said. “But in Johannesburg, let’s get real. It’s AmaPiano dominated! It’s gotten to a point where AfroTech and AfroHouse DJs are forced to even pump.”

He also added that the local AmaPiano movement is something that inspires him and that “it is something he can live by”. The fact that some international artists have now started using AmaPiano beats in their own music is a sign that the genre is bound to garner further success, according to Meneer Cee. 

“The way I see AmaPiano is not that it is a new genre. It’s gold. It’s on the grandstand and it has reached the world stage now,” he went on to say.  

For Meneer Cee, he loves the South African music scene as a whole, because it leaves room for emerging artists to make their mark. Clearly, he sees himself in this statement as not too long ago, he was also a musician trying to make it.

“Every new emerging artist is someone that goes against the grain. It’s someone that has tried something new and tested the waters with something fresh. The simple creativity of South African produced music – that’s what I love about it,” he explained.

When asked which local artist he really wants to collab within the near future, he immediately said there is no one else he’d rather work with than Early B, who of course needs little introduction in the Afrikaans rap industry.

“Early B is the pinnacle of where I’m trying to be in the Afrikaans rap space. Early B was one of the first viral artists. He went viral via Bluetooth! If that is not something special, then I don’t know what is,” Meneer Cee said.  

Meneer Cee is also very aware that his debut single plummeted him into a sustainable career path. He mentioned that the song’s surpassing of the 1 million views mark is, to this day, the highlight of his musical journey.

“And I did all of it independently. We are the label,” he said.

When asked what advice he would give to up-and-coming artists, he said that they need to “stop valuing the opinion of others”. He said that these opinions mean nothing and that this is the chief reason why artists trying to break into the music scene should not be too phased by negative feedback. Instead, they should soldier on and build their dreams.

Watch the full interview below.