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Penny Penny dips toes into hip-hop music

Picture credit: Supplied.
Picture credit: Supplied.

In a bid to evolve and move with the times, Shangaan disco king Penny Penny is releasing a hot hip-hop song tomorrow.

The song, titled Gold Bone, features Rafiki - a two-man band made up of DJ Godheaven and pianist Juliano.

Penny Penny, who has also become a TV star with his popular reality show Papa Penny Ahee on Mzansi Magic, says the song celebrates the dark beauty of Africans.

The single already has a video in production, and Sunday World saw some of the behind-the-scenes shots in which the veteran musician was surrounded by a bevy of sexy women while smoking a cigar and drinking expensive spirits around a swimming pool.

He said it was important for veteran musicians to move with the times to stay relevant.

"When you are a legend, move with the times and people will never forget you. Don't do the same thing forever, and when it no longer works, you complain about government not taking care of artists," he said.

Describing the song, he said it sounds like both hip-hop and house music.

"With this song, I am introducing a new genre called 'heavy gum' which I invented. My music was referred to as 'bubble gum' in years gone by. So I decided to call this 'heavy gum' to symbolise a gum that remain sweet forever.

"For a long time the music industry did not know the genre of my music and as a result I have never won major awards such as Samas and Metro FM awards," he said.

He said his music has often been called Shangaan disco, something he does not understand "because there is no such thing as Zulu disco or Sotho disco".