ANATII IS BACK OUTSIDE

What was a blisteringly hot summer day just a few hours ago has quickly given way to gloomy clouds and the plashing patter of steady rain on the roofed enclosure. In front of me is Anatii, who’s playing host to my sister and me on the veranda of his residence in Benmore, Johannesburg. 

The last time I was in this house, back in 2018, it was just days before he released his critically acclaimed sophomore album, Iyeza. Unbeknown to me at the time, the album wasn’t quite ready. It wasn’t until a day before release that he submitted the final files, he recalls. 

Anatii lights up a joint as he regales us with the story behind Iyeza’s uncertain and exhilarating release week. 

“I had the listening session on that same Thursday and the original venue, which was an art gallery, had just turned their backs on us at the last minute …. And then we had to go and do it in a venue where we’d just shot one of the scenes for Ntloni. Everything was just like boom, boom, boom, even when I was making the album, because it’s just a moment. It’s a feeling; you have to capture a moment.” 

You wouldn’t know from the calmness and control of Iyeza, which firmly established Anatii among the most gifted artists of his generation, that it was created against the backdrop of such chaos. 

Two months ago, the 30-year-old creative multi-hyphenate, who was born Anathi Bongo Mnyango, emerged from a musical hiatus with Amadlozi, his first solo release since Iyeza. When I ask him when Amadlozi, which features LOOKATUPS, was made, Anatii starts, “Amadlozi was made in …” then he pauses. “Hectic, shucks. I just stopped myself from revealing when it was made,” he continues, laughing. 

“This is wild, I know it’s going to sound esoteric to readers but we’re already in the future. When you’re creating magic, and all of these things from thin air, you’re already in the future. Like the ancestors are just giving you all sorts of gifts in the future. 

“If I told you when the sound was made you’d be, like, ‘What?’ It’s wild, but it’s also about the timing. The timing was right. And I saw the 11:11 for the 11th of November and I was like, ‘Okay, boom!’” Amadlozi was released on 11 November. Anatii is big on numbers. Earlier, after a few weeks of trying to set up this interview (Anatii is notoriously reclusive), he’d requested that we meet at exactly 4.44pm. 

He explains that his appreciation for numbers comes from deep understanding, learning, scripture and wanting to understand how this universe works. “It’s all maths, it’s all numbers, it’s all an equation, this whole entire construct that we’re in. For you to understand, not even the meaning of life, but the method of life and the way things work, there’s always numbers involved. So I started paying attention to the numbers and pattern recognition is a big thing. My memory is crazy, it’s photographic.” 

This philosophy is evident in his music, too.

 “If anybody goes back right now and they look at, let’s say, the length of the tracks …” He pulls out his phone and goes on Spotify. The first song he looks at is the Iyeza intro, Wena. That’s 4:20, he says, prompting laughter from my sister and I — in cannabis culture slang, 4:20 represents marijuana and hashish consumption and is also often associated with cannabis-oriented celebrations on 20 April. Then he looks at Ntloni, which is 3:33. 

Numbers also influence the BPM he records his music on. “I like recording some songs lately on 93, and I was born in 1993. Also symmetry and things like that play a part and just the way I see things. I wish there was a clearer explanation for it.” 

That’s clear enough. 

In conversation, Anatii often takes lengthy pauses, as if making sure he picks his words carefully and presents his thoughts clearly. The word “like” operates as a filler of sorts when he can’t quite find the right words. 

When we speak about his upcoming album, Anatii speaks cautiously as he processes and decides how much to divulge in real time. 

“I don’t know if this is wild to reveal, like, how long I’ve been listening to it … cause then to people it’s gonna feel like maybe it’s …” he pauses. “Like it’s old?” I offer. “Yeah, but it’s not old. I mean I’ve been listening to it for a few weeks now, you know.” 

So, does that mean it’s done? 

“It’s honestly never done. I have updated songs before, like The Saga on Be Careful What You Wish For. The mix, the everything. So, maybe it’s never done. Maybe I’ll just put out an album that I’ll keep updating.” 

After a moment he laughs, then adds, “Nah, I’m kidding. But on a really serious note, it’s there. I don’t know what another word for that would be. It’s just more so, like, not even figuring out, but just laying out the way that people will receive it, that’s where we’re at. Like, how do you actually receive this medicine? We need to figure out the dosage.”

Back to his album. I ask him if he feels pressure to replicate or outdo Iyeza. 

“I have songs that are in that atmosphere, that frequency, that vibe, but you can’t go recreate it. It’s like why would I be there? I hear people, I acknowledge them, it’s gratitude. The thing is to have the ability to create magic, when I say magic, I mean something from thin air which is music — why would you want to keep doing the same tricks? Why wouldn’t you want to learn something new and keep expanding? 

“And I’m more about expansion. We need to keep unlocking our minds and our ears and our hearts and our spirit and our energy on the highest level so we can really elevate ourselves in terms of our consciousness. And I’m not trying to be deep, but for real. And we can still have fun while doing that.”

In December, Anatii headlined the first iteration of Cotton Fest Cape Town. As a long-time friend and collaborator of the festival’s late founder, Riky Rick, it was a huge moment for him. 

“Powerful! It was just a magical moment. The spirit of Riky was there on the highest level. The whole entire space was sanctified in terms of there wasn’t any negative energy. Just beautiful people there for an amazing time and enjoying themselves and connecting with the performers. It maintained the integrity and the legacy of someone like Riky. 

“The fact that someone can live through moments like these and be immortalised through an event and it selling out, that’s intense. It was intense.” 

With Anatii now taking shows for what feels like the first time in forever, I ask him if he’s done hibernating and is fully back “outside” now. 

“I mean hibernation seems pretty extreme because it’s not like I wasn’t doing anything,” he says, before pausing to reflect. “That’s actually wild, the concept that if you stop using social media, then people will think you’re not doing anything. That’s crazy. When you’re really busy, you don’t have time to say that you’re busy. 

“Do you know what I mean? I can’t stop the conversation now and be like, ‘Oh, sorry, I’m busy.’ No, I’m busy creating something, doing something, learning, healing, growing, evolving. So, when I say I’m back outside, I mean that people will get to experience me in many different forms.”

A few weeks after we speak, Anatii hosts a private listening session at Opera, in Rosebank, to preview some unreleased music. A few minutes before he heads to the DJ booth, he stands alone anxiously, his eyes searching through the crowd. Music executives from Universal Music, Sony Music and Africori, as well as industry friends like Sjava, Nomuzi Mabena, Moonchild Sanelly and Msaki, are scattered around this small restaurant eager to find out what he has up his sleeve. 

Eventually, Anatii quietly heads down to the decks and presses play. Low and behold! It’s Anatii on amapiano for the first time. Within moments, cameras start flashing and bodies start dancing. Behind the booth, Anatii smiles and bops his head as an entourage of friends and collaborators gather around him. When I ask him when we can expect the new album, he gives me a wry smile, and says, “Which one, the first one or the second one?”