Photo Credits: Kgotso Modikoe | @modikoekgotso

MeccaMind has carved out a place within the music industry for a genre of their own creation. Their latest release, #Vol.2, is an explosion of unique, high-energy beats that build a body of work with defiant spirit. For MeccaMind, music is not only a means of expression, it’s a tool that helps them create safe and inclusive spaces for Black alternative youth and serves as a launchpad for emerging artists and collaborations. To learn more about MeccaMind and their latest release, read on.

Where are you based?
I’m MeccaMind. I’m from Bloemfontein, South Africa, but I’m currently based in Johannesburg.

What inspired you to start making music? What’s the story behind MeccaMind’s formation?
I started making music when I was about 16. I’ve always been into anything expressive because the city I’m from there really isn’t much to do, it’s a pretty small city so you don’t have a choice but to make the fun for yourself. So, I used to part of the small skate culture, and obviously that goes hand in hand with music. I got so inspired by the music I was listening to around that time I thought “why not make something I would actually listen to” and yeah that was the start of everything. My music really caught on amongst the skaters in my city, then a lot of other artsy outcast kids who I guess also resonated with my music started picking it up and that was it the birth of MeccaMind. I started hosting shows with my friends in high school almost every winter or summer holiday and those helped me out a lot, got my name really out there in my city.

You’re known for having created your own distinctive genre of music called “swaggaboi” music. How was this genre born? Are there any musicians or cultures that influenced its creation?
So, swaggaboi music is just a mixture of what I think was the golden age of my city, Bloemfontein. So I would say from 2009 till maybe 2017, as much like I was so young, I remember that era vividly. So, my city is small, there really isn’t much to do there, so YOU HAVE TO BE THE FUN. I guess that’s why people from my city are so expressive. So during these era there was a lot of dance crews, a lot of rap crews, and they’d be rocking the bright colored skinny jeans with the Vans Authentic and they’d link up on the rooftop at the mall to have battles and socialize. You know, that era was so fun it was all about swag and how good you looked, you know, so that sound is just an homage to that era of my city. It’s inspired by the likes of New Boyz, Morafe, and Khuli Chana had a song called “Freshe” and it embodies what I’m trying to describe perfectly even the music video the sound and feel it’s SWAG you know so yeah that’s what inspired the whole term, sound, and feel.

Your latest project titled “Volume 2” was recently released. What was the inspiration behind this project?
So, #Vol.2 is a high-energy, dark, and defiant body of work that captures the raw, ungoverned spirit of pirate radio. Built on the edge of chaos, it draws from piracy, the dark web, and the digitally vile—worlds where rules dissolve and everything feels alive, dangerous, and immediate. The project reimagines the thrill of tuning into an illegal broadcast at 2 a.m., when the static clears and you hear something you’re not supposed to—something that feels like it belongs only to you and those lucky enough to catch the signal. Sonically, #Vol.2 is a collision of murky underground club textures and warped frequencies: garage, jungle, and heavy baile funk layered over muddy, speaker-knocking drums. It’s a space where melodic psychedelia floats above gritty rhythms, and Setswana blends with English in an unfiltered, alternative form of Motswako. Thematically, it’s a love letter to the rogue creators who broadcast without permission, the backroom DJs spinning in sweaty basements, and the restless energy of a generation looking for its own frequency. Like a smuggled signal cutting through the noise, every track on #Vol.2 feels urgent, forbidden, and necessary.

After listening to a lot of your older work, I have to say I think “Volume 2” is some of your best work yet. How has your process of making music grown over the years?
I would say with every project I mature, and I mean a lot. Each project is a reflection of where I am in life, it’s like a time capsule. I went to university to study digital design and there they’d drill it in our head that whatever you do HAS TO START WITH A CONCEPT, it is basically your guiding star. And a concept can’t be birthed without research and referencing, so over the years my approach changed. Because of that, I started being able to articulate and express myself better, because I’d spend so much time listening to music from all over the world, reading and watching literally whatever I find interesting, literally letting it consume me, then after that I just literally start expressing all of these things, like literally exploding a whole mix of these things I’ve consumed and I swear overtime the period it takes for me to make a project or just create became shorter. It went from two years to a year you know, but I’d call all these projects I’ve done so far mixtapes. I’m still yet to make full length album. I think that’s the true test for an artist and I feel like I’m going to be one of those artists with only like six albums, but they’re REALLY REALLY GOOD six albums. I dream and aim for a short, but impactful discography.

Authenticity is a really important aspect of your music and artistry. Why is authenticity so important to you? How has the idea of authenticity influenced your music?
Authenticity is everything. it has been drilled in my head since birth. Like I said, my city is small and there isn’t much going on so YOU HAVE TO BE FUN, you have no choice. I swear that’s what people from my city are know for, the way they speak and walk it’s just expressive. It’s TRUE, I guess when there isn’t a lot to do you have a lot of time to actually build a character. You know not only that, but my family as well, I come from a family of very charismatic people, people who are unapologetically themselves regardless of the situation, you know, so it came naturally to me. Like to say, I’ve always known who I am, you can ask anyone from high school to now, I’ve always known who I am. I just, you know, grew and developed and what not, but I’ve always had a base and a firm one. You can hear it in my music as well, I’ve heard multiple fans who meet me in real life and say I sound and look exactly the way my music is, there’s no disconnect, everything I say on the music and the way I say it is exactly who I am. Even the stories and experiences, it’s all based on true stories, you know, and I feel like authenticity is so important in this thing we’re doing, because it’s not only easier on you to just be yourself, cause you don’t have to keep up with anything, it’s all natural, it’s also very important for the people who are watching or who are inspired, you know, they’re able to do the work and self reflection and find their rhythm to their drum, and this leads to them inspiring someone else to do the same.

What do you hope listeners take away from your music?
I hope people use my music as an escape. I mean there’s so much going on all around the world it feel like the stove is on high and the pot is about to explode. I hope my music is that secret room where people are able to forget about that, even just for a split second. I want them to BE, to dance, to sing, to MOVE, to shake all that off just for a moment. I want them to have relief.

You work with your community to host shows that create safe and inclusive spaces for alternative youth, specifically for Black alternative youth, to connect and collaborate. Why are these spaces important to have?
These spaces are so important and I learned this when I was in high school. You know you’re on your phone on Tumblr or SoundCloud, and you’ll find all these niche, cool things, but your environment could not resonate with these really cool and alternative things. They’re usually associated with the western world or maybe white people, you know, these spaces, these shows, are important, because they serve as a safe haven for kids who grew up feeling like me. And the fact that I am able to bring them all together and make them realize yooo there’s actually more people like me out there, I’m not crazy or weird, wow there’s actually even cooler stuff than I thought out there, it’s empowering. It’s reclaiming identity and it is important for black kids to know they can be more than what they’re told or expected to be. They don’t have to sound or look THIS WAY, because it’s how you’re supposed to. You know, you can go against the grain, you can do whatever you want. Alt is not reserved for anyone else, it’s for all of us and the more they see this, the more this idea sticks.

These spaces you create also serve as a launchpad for emerging artists, encourage creative experimentation, and inspire community growth. What inspired you to create spaces like this?
I created spaces like this because I started bumping into like minded people, you know, and I thought surely there’s more out there, they just need a bat signal, a reason to come out and show themselves. So yeah, it first started off with just a few of my friends, who are like minded, hosting a show with just us, then it grew cause of the new people we met along the way. Now, it’s a beautiful thing. I just created something I wish already existed and instead of just sitting and waiting around for someone to do it, I just did it myself, something I learned from my mom.

What changes do you hope to see in the future for the music industry regarding representation? Why is representation within these spaces so important?
I hope they stop boxing us in. I wanna see more rooms made for us, more spaces held for us instead of just putting us in the easiest or convenient box because it’s discouraging and causes a domino effect for the ones coming afterwards. Representation is important because it’s a form of planting a seed, you never know who’s watching and taking it in, you know, so the more representation we have, the more boundaries are going to be pushed because of the next generation of creatives who see ohhhh there’s no limitations, I can do it too. Representation also breaks a lot of harmful and oppressive ideologies, you know, the more black kids see black alternative representation, the more these cycles and ideologies are broken, because they aspire to be more and explore with their identity and the way they express themselves a lot of the ways of thinking regarding the way we view ourselves as black people were never ours and therefore we don’t have to uphold them. Representation allows us to break free from them and form new, healthy, and beneficial ones.

What advice do you have for young artists that are just starting out?
My advice for young artists starting out is STUDY. Always be a student, you know, let whatever you’re consuming, actually consume you, this allows you to push yourself and the boundaries. Also, not only study, but also execute! Find the balance between studying and actually DOING. Don’t be so hard on yourself, everyone started somewhere, even your favorites, when they started they sounded like their favorites, but because of studying and DOING they were able to, you know, find their rhythm and THEIR OWN sound and niche. So yeah, no one is asking you to reinvent the wheel, but always add an element of yourself in everything you do. The more you know yourself, the easier it is to express yourself.

Are there any upcoming projects you are currently working on that we should be on the lookout for?
This year is an exciting year. Because of Volume 2, a lot of doors have opened for me, you know, I got a documentary releasing some time this year called “Illegal Signals,” so be on the lookout for a that, more merch, more world building, and of course more music, super excited to share this with everyone.

It has been a crazy few years, and we expect at least three more. How have you been staying positive?
Hmmm, I won’t lie, it’s a rollercoaster. Some days I ask myself “yoooo what are we even doing dude!?” And I wish I took a more conventional route, then most days I just trust everything is going to work out. I wouldn’t be where I am if it didn’t and I swear there’s always a sign of positivity, you just have to get out of your head and be present. It’ll either find you or you’ll find it, so I stay positive by reflecting, you know, it’s easy to overlook a lot of things, but when you reflect you see that wow, you’re actually doing this thing and you’re getting better and better at it, you’re actually closer than you think you know.

What is your motto in life?
My motto in life is be present and always observe. These thoughts, especially negative ones, are just clouds, you are the sky, you’re only meant to watch them come in and out, not actually hold onto them and actually let them consume you, they’re visitors, they only stay as long as you allow them to.

To learn more about MeccaMind, please check out the links below:
Sync Discovery, I think they’re really really important, very revolutionary and necessary!

Instagram: @meccamind47

Twitter: @MeccaMind

MeccaMind: Authenticity is Everything