South African Rap Group PHFAT Will Shake Your Ass And Your Mind With New Single “Lights Out”

It’s probably not everyday you meet a rapper with a psychology degree. But then again, if you’re friends with Mike Zietsman, I guess you might. Zietsman (aka Smooth Mike) is one half of electro-rap duo PHFAT. He has framed qualifications, a complete hip hop education, and the skills to subsequently become a psychologist. Together with beatmaker Nazieg Iseppi (aka Narch) the two Cape Town residents, have only just become a full time act in the last two years, and already PHFAT has become South Africa’s biggest independent rap act. They sell out shows all over the country with just their name on the flyer. They’ve opened for Public Enemy, and played at basically every established alternative music festival in South Africa.

Being independent also means they can pretty much do whatever they want when it comes to releasing music. All their music is available for free on their site, and people can pay for what they want, if they want. Whilst being independent may seem like a risk, it has given them huge success. There have been some changes and challenges, including the unforseen departure of a key member last year, but Smooth Mike and Narch have accelerated their engines, continuing to create music and tour. 

 Most recently they visited Australia on a self-funded tour to promote their new single ‘Lights Out’ feat. JungFreud. Whilst here, I hung out and chatted with them at the studio they were staying at.

Thump: So how are you guys enjoying Australia?
Smooth Mike: Fucking lots. It’s awesome.

Is it what you had expected?
Smooth Mike: No! It’s more similar to home and at the same time way more foreign than I could have ever imagined. It’s definitely a completely different place to what I kind of imagined in my head. Like, it runs incredibly. I’ve never been somewhere that runs so amazingly. When people here complain about public works, it’s like, “woah, what are you guys complaining about?” But at the same time, South Africa’s got this super hardcore wildness to it.
Narch: I really dig the art here. Went down this alleyway and there was a b-boy contest, which is dope.
Smooth Mike: There’s a lot more street art here than at home, and a lot of good quality street art.

How would you describe your new single “Lights Out”, and how did it come about?
Narch: It was a fairly organic process.
Smooth Mike: It was just like any good track, a fucking perfect accident (laughs).

What was it like working with JungFreud (Nonku Phiri) on the track?
Smooth Mike: She’s the best. She’s like one of our best friends now, just because of this. The process we went through was beautiful and the way the track happened was really cool. I think next time we come back, we’re definitely going to try and bring her with us.

An interesting fact about you Mike is that you’ve completed a psychology degree?
Smooth Mike: Yeah, I’ve done my honours in psychology. I started off as a student with a music problem and finished as a musician with a studying problem. Psychology is what naturally interests me. If my rap career fails, which it fucking won’t because I wont let it happen, I’ll go do my masters and become a psychologist. I’ll have to change my name though, motherfuckers will know I’m a dirty ass rapper otherwise.

So when you aren’t creating music, where do people find you?
Smooth Mike: Skateboarding in Cape Town or doing things in nature.

With changes in the group, how has the dynamic changed creatively?
Smooth Mike: It just means that we can make more music with less decision-making. There’s less negotiation and it’s kind of cleaned up the process quite a lot. We’ve been able make more music and actually, in a way, make shows more versatile.
Narch: It’s a simplified democracy.
Smooth Mike: There’s only two votes that need to happen.

If you were a drink, what would it be?
Narch: Tequila and soda water
Smooth Mike: If I was a drink, I would be a Lift drink, I don’t know.
Narch: I’d be a Polish Crime.
Smooth Mike: Do you know what a Polish Crime is?

No!
Narch: It’s a secret (laughs)
Smooth Mike: It’s this drink we drink back home. It’s…what is it? It’s cola, tonic, rum and lemonade.
Narch: And mint.
Smooth Mike: If you don’t put mint in it, it’s a fucken shit Polish Crime!

What’s your favourite dessert?
Narch: Marble Pudding.
Smooth Mike: (laughs) Only Thugs eat Marble Pudding. I don’t know. I don’t have a favourite dessert. I’m very versatile.
Narch: You don’t get Marble Pudding here do you? It’s a South African dessert.
Smooth Mike: Have you heard of it?

No! What is it?
Smooth Mike: I’m sorry to hear that you guys don’t have marble pudding because it’s fucking good. It’s like a caramel cake.
Narch: It’s like a spongy, soft, syrup sponge.

Kind of like chocolate soufflé?
Smooth Mike: No. It’s like a deep baked cake, like rich the whole way through.
Narch: It’s like a caramel flavoured chocolate fondant.

What would be your go-to dance move?
Narch: I don’t dance.
Smooth Mike: I think with dancing, there’s two ways  to go. You can either be super planned and have funky synchronised moves and mad isolations of body parts, having talent and skill. That shit’s beautiful to watch sometimes. But my favourite type of dancing is when you just kind of forget people are watching and you just shake your fucking booty so hard. It’s not even about shaking your booty, it’s about cutting loose and moving whichever body part gets told to move by what’s happening.

And finally, to people who haven’t heard of your music, how would you describe it?
Smooth Mike: Rap music you can dance to.
Narch: Synth hip hop beats
Smooth Mike: Hot sex sexy hot jamz, with a Z not an S.
Narch: But, people can make their own opinion.
Smooth Mike: It’s easy to listen to. It’s fucking easy to listen to. All you need to do, and I’ve been telling people this, all you need to do, is go on to Google and type in PHFAT and fucking hit search and you can find it and hear it!

Practice your internet skills, and check PHFAT’s new single here