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Teargas member Ntukza does it on his own

Ntukza of Teargas fame only found out about Cash Time Life on Twitter but holds no grudge against his Teargas members who he said founded the company behind his back.

He is more focused on establishing his solo career and contributing to the ever growing South Africa hip hop industry.

Real name Bantu Hanabe, the rapper spoke to the Sowetan exclusively about his time outside the successful Cash Time Life clique.

"Cash Time was launched in 2007 without my knowledge, by K.O and Ma-E. This was a year after Teargas' successful first year in the industry." he said.

Despite the secrecy, Ntukza continued working with the company but only until last year.

"I decided to pull out when I saw the name was changed to Cash Time Life last year," said Ntukza. He said he only discovered on Twitter that the Cash Time company had transformed into Cash Time Life.

"If you listen to music they've put out since 'Life' was added you'll hear that I'm not featured in any of their tracks. I think the guys decided on starting the company without my knowledge because I had been receiving a fixed salary as a lecturer, so maybe they thought they should also get income elsewhere."

At the time, Ntukza was lecturing at Ekurhuleni East College, where he taught art subjects such as Graphic Design and Print Making.

It's evident the brotherhood they had while producing smash-hits such as Chance and Mhlobo Wami is no longer there, but Ntukza said there isn't bad blood between him and the two members.

"There's no beef, even though we don't really communicate much. The business relationship is just not there, but we're cool. I don't know if Teargas will release another album again. We’ll see, but I hope so," said Ntukza.

The icy business relationship seems to have also put a freeze on Ntukza's relationship with his biological brother, Ma-E. "It's been a long time since I saw and spoke to him."

Ma.E and K.O could not comment but Cash Time Life CEO Thabiso Khati reinforced what Ntukza said.

"There is no beef between the guys and Teargas is still together," said Khati.  

But when asked about the Ntukza's claims of only discovering Cash Time Life on Twitter, Khati declined to comment.

A reliable source close to the hip hop collective said "Ntukza knew about the Cash Time Life, he didn't want to join".

Ntukza couldn't reveal all details of his album, but with twitter handle saying "AlbumComing2015" said fans should definitely expect a project from him sometime this year.

"Music is a calling; it's not something I did just for fun. I take this serious...I have kids and a family to take care of," he said.

"The album is 85 percent done and I'll have a few big names on it. I'll also have some talented unknown names there," he said.

"The album's going to have a lot of kwaito influences, something like a futuristic Tkzee sound."

He said his album will be released under his record company, 212 Entertainment  which is his grandmother's house number in Soweto.

He will drop his first single with fellow Sowetan rapper Red Button in a few weeks.

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