Here are 10 Things You Should Know About K.O, one of the biggest SA Hip Hop acts of all time whose real name is Ntokozo Mdluli
1. Growing up in Piet Retief in Mpumalanga, K.O (real name Ntokozo Mdluli) dreamt about becoming a world-renowned MC
2. K.O looked up to West Coast greats like Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg from an early age
3. K.O met future Teargas members Ntukza and Ma-E at Vaal University of Technology
4. K.O was born in Soweto
5. K.O and Teargas blazed their own trail and laid the foundation for the next generation of SA hip hop to thrive.
6. Their four critically acclaimed, award-winning and commercially successful albums K’shubile K’bovu (2006), Wafa Wafa (2008), Dark Or Blue (2009), and Num8er Num8er (2012), ensured their status as SA hip hop royalty and established K.O as a charismatic, breakout star.
7. Alongside Teargas member Ma-E, K.O formed entertainment and lifestyle company Cashtime Life in 2013, releasing his scene-changing SAMA-winning debut album Skhanda Republic (2014) soon after.
8. K.O’s “Caracara” completely changed the game, capturing a mood and signalling the birth of The Skhanda sound. Mixing kwaito and hip hop, The Shkanda sound defined an era that many consider to be the peak of SA hip hop.
9. Carcara became the first song to top all 5 EMA charts – SA Local Music Top 40 Playlist, SA Local Music Top 40 RAMS, SA Television Top 40 Playlist, SA Top 100 Playlist and SA Top 100 RAMS, at the same time. It was also the first SA hip hop song to reach 1 million views on YouTube.
10. K.O won the SAMA for Best Collaboration and Record of The Year (a first for a hip-hop song) in 2015,