Kay Faith, is an award-winning engineer-turned record-producer, who’s worked with some of the biggest hip-hop artists in the country such as YoungstaCPT, Da Les and Maglera Doe Boy.
She is mostly known for her mixing and mastering artists’ work but now she is stepping into the limelight with her own music.
Born Karien Barnard in Cape Town, the artist has now given the world her debut album, “Antithesis”.
In 2017, she released her EP “In Good Faith”, which featured artists such as Ginger Trill, Uno July, Big Star, YoungstaCPT, Patty Monroe and Dope Saint Jude.
“Antithesis” is an evolution of Kay Faith’s sound and creative ability. “A mash-up of sound and cultures, backgrounds and visual ideas,” she shared.
Dear world,
— #ANTITHESIS (@Kay_Faith_SA) July 22, 2022
I present to you, my debut album,#ANTITHESIS
The story if don’t judge a book by its cover,told by one of Cape Town’s best kept secrets.
Available everywhere.https://t.co/PP5EpqBHG0 pic.twitter.com/F8q4TXWRGL
Leading up to the release of the album, she released singles, “Amamenemene”, featuring hot new artists Bravo Le Roux and Venus Raps, and “Township Deluxe”, where she features Blaklez, Maglera Doe Boy, KidX, Kaygizm and Airdee.
“Township Deluxe” stems from Faith’s love of kwaito, which is influenced by growing up on shows like “Simunye Grooves”.
As a lifelong lover and scholar of kwaito music, Faith takes listeners on a journey to show that she can vibe with the styles and sounds from the other side of South Africa.
On “Township Deluxe” she not only showcases her versatility while embracing different local sounds but also maintains some key elements that have shaped her journey so far.
“I’ve called it a new-age kwaito song because it’s pretty much a melting pot of styles and artists and flavours that kind of exist because of kwaito in South Africa.”
Blaklez, Maglera Doe Boy, KidX, Kaygizm may be hip-hop artists but they do have kwaito influences making them fitting features.
“Amamenemene” (meaning crooks or compulsive liars) is a record centred around young artists and their pursuit to stardom. It’s about them paving their own way in an industry sometimes riddled with fake people who sell fake dreams.
Her album’s title “Antithesis” is quite an interesting name. The word means, “a person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else”.
“In an article someone wrote ‘Kay Faith is the antithesis of hip-hop’. I was like what does that mean and I googled the word and I saw the meaning of antithesis. I was like I really like that, it’s a really out there statement to make. Then I was like, ‘That’s it, I’m going to make a project and call it ‘Antithesis’,” she said.
The project has been years in the making and undergone several changes to get it to its final stages. Faith had initially thought 2020 would be the year she dropped her project but Covid and the hard lockdown had other plans.
“The vision behind this project is to continue my experimentation of taking contrasting elements and getting them to work in unity to create something beautiful in all aspects, not just audible, but also visually. Taking artists out of what is considered ‘their sound’ and fusing them with something different that can still be consumed with ease and most of all, enjoyment,” shared Faith.
“Antithesis” has 10 tracks. There are songs on the album that have some interesting behind the scenes stories such as “Shark Week” featuring Maglera Doe Boy.
Faith recalls having to send an Uber Connect with blankets to the Airbnb that the Free State born rapper was staying at, during the time he was in Cape Town to hit the studio with her.
The track “Proudly Capetonian” is called that due to the way Youngsta and her work well inside the studio. The song is personal for Faith as it is one of those songs she made at the start of her producing career.
“Proudly Capetonian” features EJ on the original version of the song, Youngsta’s vocals were added when the song was redone. However, EJ was unable to be recorded due to him being in jail at the time.
The album also consists of a feature from the legendary DJ Ready D, scratching on the decks. Faith shared that DJ Ready D was more than willing to assist her when she reached out to him for the track “Sugar Water”.
The album artwork which makes anyone stop and take a look was created by renowned South African artist African Ginger.
“Antithesis” is currently streaming on all digital platforms.