Music
Why YoungstaCPT Is One Of The Most Stylish Rappers In South Africa
Throughout his career, he has been able to thread the needle between fashion, music and culture and demonstrate the implicit nature of these connections. Read on to learn more:
Ever since YoungstaCPT stepped into the game with his Nike Air One shoes, he has been one of the most formidable and polished hip-hop artists on the scene - not just on the music front but with the fashion end as well.
Born and bred in Wynberg, Youngsta CPT, real name Riyadh Roberts, has always had fashion around him. His mother was a stylist and model who also worked as a merchandiser for Aca Joe. She had the know-how to dig through racks, and half-price clothing bins and sift through reject clothes to find good pieces and transfer them to her young son. The Roberts household didn’t need an occasion to dress up.
“Sometimes she would dress me in the house and take photos - like I was some sort of a model or doing some campaign for her work. You can see that she would have loved having a girl to dress. She styled me crazy. And because she was a single woman with a child, work funded her wardrobe and her family. My grandfather, my father, my uncle and I wore Aca Joe. The neighbour’s kids wore Aca Joe. My wardrobe was never short of style in that sense,” said Roberts.
The most memorable outfit he recalls is the one he wore when he was three years old. His mother put him in a polo neck with a denim set and a chocolate belt. He still has the picture in the house. But as he grew older, he would take more ownership over his aesthetic. As a teenager, he was obsessed with hip-hop magazines where rap artists would promote their clothing labels. Think Jay Z and Rocawear, G-Unit and their Reebok sneakers, or Master P with No Limit Clothing, etc. In that era, rappers wore fitted caps, baggy shirts and jeans which influenced Roberts’ style. As he became more confident, he would figure out how to express elements of his culture and identity and marry it with the hip-hop aesthetic. As an artist, he takes pride in not ever having a stylist and creating his clothing brand, Y?Gen which has a store in Cape Town and hosts several pop-ups across the country.
01
Watch His Latest Red Bull 64 Bars Episode
3 min
YoungstaCPT ft Shaney Jay By Red Bull 64 Bars
The Mother City's rap king, YoungstaCPT, drops another banger over a mystical beat by Shaney Jay
02
The Lowdown
YoungstaCPT spoke to us about his love for fashion and how it relates to his upbringing, culture and artistry.
If the aliens came down to South Africa and wanted to know everything about Cape Town, where would you take them and what would you show them?
I’d keep it simple. I’d probably bring them to Wynberg. I only say that because a lot of what I rap about is based in this environment.
I wouldn't necessarily put them on a red bus and have them sight-seeing through Cape Town, I could have them at Wynberg main road - whether it be by my store or by the taxi rank - showing them all the places that I frequented as a child. And on the fashion side, Wynberg is known for having general outfitters, these old school tailors, and mom-and-pop stores - shops that have stood the test of time and have changed people’s style over the years.
If the aliens want to eat, I’d take them to Golden Dish or like cosy and well-established eateries. I’d take them to Luxurama, which was the first cinema for Coloured people and people of colour during apartheid times. It’s located close to my shop so I would be able to show them what I started.
In studio
© Tyrone Bradley / Red Bull Content Pool
How would you dress the aliens so that they don't look out of place? I know we’re putting them in Y?Gen gear but what else?
I’d keep it cool. I wouldn't want them to stand out too much. Maybe just throw them in like a two-piece tracksuit, something that matches and doesn't attract too much attention. We don't want to get the aliens on Area 51’s radar or any government operation. Maybe a little cap to go with it.
You represent being Muslim in your music and your aesthetic but it’s not typical. How do you go about transforming traditional silhouettes and garments to match your taste and sensibilities that are rooted in hip-hop?
Obviously, I grew up in a Muslim family. Days like Eid - which we celebrate after Ramadan which was not too long ago - are very important in terms of your dress code. I know that I have to wear a shirt instead of a t-shirt and I know I have to wear formal pants instead of my baggy jeans and maybe a nice waistcoat or blazer- something that cleans up the image.
I’ve been fasting since the age of six so that’s a lot of Eid’s to celebrate. By the time I’m 18 years old, I’ve developed my own Eid look that I like. Maybe I’ll put on a shirt and maybe wear some jeans with Timberlands. There was one Eid where I wore {all} white with this cool bomber jacket and a pair of Jordans. I’ve always tried to include a smart casual look with Eid but still keep it hip-hop and that’s carried over to my music career. I have to exist in a place that’s westernised but I’ve been taught a Middle Eastern religion that I have to practise and also think about the rapper image. It’s combining childhood traditions with the hip hop aesthetic, finding the balance between the religion and the more fashion-forward aspects.
It’s interesting you say that because other rappers don’t combine the aesthetic. They either go one way or the other. Mos Def is an example. After he converted to Islam, you don’t see him with the straight-back hat and the baggy jeans anymore.
Yeah, it’s a fine line that I tip-toe. I could be the first rapper of my generation or even in South Africa period because I don’t remember DJ Ready D, Brasse Vannie Kaap or any of those guys doing anything like this. They went straight hip hop which is graffiti, B-boys, and turntables which are the roots of the culture but I added in this Islamic element. I’m making songs like Alhamdulilah, 786, Arabian Gangsta and Crazy Arabian and all these songs are in the same family and cloth. When I get into the Muslim bag, I think it’s very unique in terms of a rapper doing it. You don’t see it. Even when I was growing up, I didn't see it. Yeah, here and there, you had subtle hints that these guys were practising or converted to Islam but none of them were doing what I’m doing now.
I wish that there was a guy who spoke to me as a Muslim Coloured laaitie growing up in Cape Town. But there wasn’t. So I guess I created that because I don't want the next kid at home who is Muslim and who listens to rap music to feel like there’s no place for them in this thing.
Shaney Jay and YoungstaCPT
© Tyrone Bradley / Red Bull Content Pool
You love some shades and they are a consistent feature in your styling. What is behind the obsession?
Well, Sunglass Hut has been endorsing me for five years so thanks to them, I never have to worry about a pair of glasses ever again.
I would say that growing up, I saw my mother, her friends and people of that age wear glasses. I think the 90s was the era for that. They always wore the Oakleys, the glasses with the yellow lenses, the silver ones, the space station ones and so on. Remember that people also loved Ray Bans and the party scene influenced the trend of the glasses. So a lot of my family members used to wear the glasses with the hectic spikes and go to the rave parties. Those glasses became part of their outfits and my mother had a heavy collection back in the days. I've been around it for a long time and since my mother was a model, she probably got them from the set or they gave them to her so wearing glasses just comes naturally.
What made you venture into creating your own clothing label and what are the differences between developing your own aesthetic versus developing an aesthetic for a business model?
I knew from an early age that I was going to make my own clothes because of the magazines where they had editorials with Phat Farm, Sean John and Rocawear would use all the Rocafella artists to model the clothes and I made the connection. I always knew that I was going to do that. From a young age, I’d always customise my clothing by painting my sneakers or I’d ask my mother to sew things to my t-shirt or patches on my jeans.
I’ve realised that people aren’t as fashion-forward or adventurous as I am so I have to strip down a lot of my ideas. And yes, people want to dress like you because they see it on a stage with lights and music or when watching a music video but it gives them the impression that if they put on what you wear, they’ll look like you but sometimes when they wear it, they realise that it doesn’t work.
I had to simplify a lot of stuff for the people. If you look at the communities that we come from, I would say people’s favourite brands are Nike, Levi’s and I see people wearing Fabiani and Uzi. If you look at those brands, they have basic prints on their shirts - it’s not out-of-the-box stuff. It’s also very fitted. You know, slim fit kind of thing. So I have to keep that in mind even though I love the baggy era of hip hop and that’s how I dress. But I have to remember that not everyone wants to look like that. I’ve had to put myself in people’s shoes and think about what they like.