Native Soul | Teenage Dreams (2LP)
- Released 9/24/2021
- Format: Vinyl
- Catalog: ATFA043lp
In common parlance, the two producers who make up Native Soul would be considered “ma2000”—or, born after the onset of democracy, having never experienced Apartheid—by virtue of their age. Kgothatso Tshabalala is 19 years old and Zakhele Mhlanga (DJ Zakes) is 18. Their 12-track debut electronic music album, Teenage Dreams, is not easily dismissed as a project that shows their age, though. Teenage Dreams presents a youthful, experimental sound, but the arrangement of each song and how each of the project’s composite parts are put together demonstrate an artistic maturity beyond the two producers’ respective ages.