FRANKLY SPEAKING:
AKA & Anatii — Be Careful What You Wish For

The word classic is probably the second most overused word in hip hop (genius being the first). Whenever an artist drops a body of work that we enjoy immediately, we the fans rush to call it a classic. The LONGMAN South African School Dictionary defines a classic as “a book, film, or play that is very good and that people have liked for a long time.” I share the same sentiments, to me an album can be dubbed a classic after a prolonged period of time.
It has been just over a week since AKA and Anatii dropped their highly anticipated and long awaited collaborative album, Be Careful What You Wish For. In my opinion it was worth the wait and has completely matched the hype. As soon we heard that these two artists were to collaborate on an album, we all couldn’t wait to hear what they would cook up for us. These are arguably the most musical artists in South African hip hop today.
After living with this album for the last week, I am willing to go against my principles and my opening paragraph. This here ladies and gentlemen is a classic South African album. This is bigger than hip hop, I honestly believe that this album can and will be enjoyed by hip hop heads AND people who are not necessarily fans of hip hop music.
The production and beat selection throughout the album is impeccable, which is to be expected seeing that Anatii is one of the best producers in the country (AKA is no slouch in production either). The fusion of modern hip hop beats, pop sounds and afro beat is wonderfully meshed and makes ALL the tracks radio friendly and somewhat club bangers.
Heaping all this praise on production is not to say the brothers did not bring their A-game lyrically. We have never doubted AKA’s lyrical prowess and he has delivered yet again. His lyricism is on full display on songs like Don’t Forget To Pray, Jesus Plug, Bryanston Drive, How You Like Me Now & Angelz just to mention a few. Anatii brings the melodies as only Anatii can. Surprisingly Anatii came through with some really good rhyme schemes himself. I especially enjoyed when he broke out his raps in his home language of IsiXhosa. Even when he sang “its about time to listen to Boom Shaka” and “asambe siyeMonti”, which was a little funny at first but that made the album a lot more African, specifically South African.
The genius of this album though, is the positive energy that can be felt throughout the album. AKA and Anatii have managed to create an album with very little bravado, braggadocio, misogynistic messages and condoning of heavy drug use. These are found on almost all hip hop albums today. Instead this album is somewhat spiritually uplifting, conveys a message of self belief and acknowledging God. All that without making the album corny (which is usually the case in such albums), still producing hit songs and making a potentially classic album.
Nothing is perfect though. Only three things disappointed me with this album. Firstly, I felt cheated when I heard The Saga on the album. The song is dated and just doesn’t fit the sound of the rest of the album. Not to mention that it was on Anatii’s solo project, Artiifact which dropped LAST YEAR. Secondly, I would have loved to hear more than ten tracks from these two. Lastly, I really enjoyed Anatii’s raps in IsiXhosa. I wanted to hear more of that throughout the album.
In conclusion, Be Careful What You Wish For is a great album. One for the ages. A classic. We’re still going to hear more of this album throughout the rest of the year on our radios and clubs because this album is riddled with timeless hits. I’ll call it right now… BEST ALBUM THIS YEAR. FRANKLY SPEAKING
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Uncle Frank — The Ignorant Journo
