Former Cashless Society member Snazz tha Dictator has fallen on hard times.

The Hottentot Hop 1,2 and Taxi Wars legendary rapper has been roaming the streets of Pretoria "slinging weed" for four months but also working on music every night in the quest to bounce back.

Cashless Society arguably ruled the roost in the mid-2000s and the group won three South African Music Awards (Samas) in 2004. Snazz won the 2007 Sprite Emcee Africa freestyle battle. In his heyday he opened for international artists such as Snoop Dogg, Ja Rule, Talib Kweli and The Roots.

But now the 38-year-old father of one, real name Julian du Plessis, finds himself down on his luck.

"I sell weed to survive, that is the truth. The fact is, it's raw like that but I'm trying to counter-balance that with positivity. I'm trying to put on my own shows. I did a free show at the fire station so that I could get the venue again for a bigger show. One thing I learned is that people in Pretoria don't play around when it comes to money," he says.

He lives with former Cashless Society colleague X-Amounts in a flat that doubles as a studio in the CBD. He says he sleeps under a microphone stand and draws inspiration from it. He uses it to record his comeback album which he has already titled Snazz the Dictator Presents: Coup d'État.

"My birthday is in March so I'm hoping to coincide the release of the album with my birthday. I'm still in the process of writing the album. I'm on track two.

"It's like building a house, once the foundation is laid everything flows. I'm f***** with underground producers. I strongly believe that an actual rapper with something to say can still make it in this country," says Snazz.

"Every night, I write rhymes. Every night, I make beats. I can bring back the glory days but I'm trying to do it solo because it was very hard with the group . the rehearsals and everything else. Working solo, I can work faster and make better organisational plans."

His daughter's mother died five years ago and the child lives in Johannesburg. Snazz says he longs to see her.