Welcome to Ear to the Sound, a show exploring South Africa’s sonic scenes and subcultures through the work of music makers and audio artists.

Mx Blouse, a Joburg-based artist, singer, and rapper, came into the limelight in 2018 with a genre-blurring kwaito sound—deeply rhythmic, electronic, and steeped in nostalgia. While kwaito remains central to their artistry, their 2024 EP, Emotional Home, marks a shift, trading club-driven beats for lofi textures and introspective storytelling. It’s a project shaped by spiritual reflection, self-awareness, and a new approach to rhythm and groove.

Host of the show, Richard Rumney, connected with the artist to speak about the journey to and through the EP.

All recording, editing, mixing, mastering and artwork by Richard Rumney.

Daev Martian's Digital Feedback is a modern concept album / EP. Rather than just dropping a collection of beats and features, the gifted musician, song-writer, vocalist and producer decided to present a body of work that tells a specific Joburg story cycle of solitude transforming into confinement into human connection into escape and disconnection back into solitude. 

Host of the show, Richard Rumney, I caught up with him to get an overview of this story taking a specific look and listen to the track Circumspection.

Music used in the show:

Richard the Third - Tabby Cats *
Richard the Third - Filter Coffee *
Daev Martian - Cone Falls
Daev Martian - Digital Feedback (ft. Ndugu.Ndugu)
Daev Martian - Gratitude
Daev Martian - Self...
Daev Martian - Never Changes
Daev Martian - Dreams Too Far
Daev Martian - Circumspection (Third Dub) *
Daev Martian - Circumspection

* Not available for streaming / DL yet

All recording, editing, mixing, mastering and artwork by Richard Rumney.

The artist Sió, a singer, songwriter, storyteller, and poet, has crafted and found a unique space as a music maker. This space is somewhere where she can be the artist she needs to be, finding a balance between vulnerable, layered, and ethereal with powerful spiritual energy.

This is exemplified on her track Gaslight (Caught Fire), produced by the exceptional Daev Martian. It comes from deep within her heart and recent experiences with intimate relationships with lyrics that speak to themes of anger, hurt and love.

Host of the show, Richard Rumney, sat down with Sió to speak about the lyrics of the song, breaking them down line by line.

Music used in the show:

Sio - Gaslight (Caught Fire)
Elements of Sio's 'Gaslight (Caught Fire) remixed and edited as background music
Richard the Third - Never Can Say
Richard the Third - A Weak Spot
Dwson - Forbidden ft. Sio (ASMR Dub)

(Not all music is available for streaming / DL yet)

All recording, editing, mixing, mastering and artwork by Richard Rumney.

Jinji's "6PM in Daveyton" is instrumental Boom bap at its best. A day-dreamy sample of Ronnie Law's "Tidal Wave" floats atop head-nod Dilla-esque drums with a field recording of a drunken confrontation from the actual streets of Daveyton washing in and out to add some hype to the ease and swagger of the track. 

Boom bap has come a far way from its roots in the seminal East Coast Hip-Hop scene of the 80s, but has never really changed. The mid-tempo kick-snare, in-your-face combo still makes for some of the most delightful, exciting and mesmerizing music of the last several decades.

Host of the show, Richard Rumney, muses on the history and impact of the sound and chats to Jinji about his own take on making Boom bap by unpacking "7PM in Daveyton".

Other music used in the show includes:

Clifford Brown - Yesterdays (Boom bap edit)
Jinji - Dreamy rework (J Dilla Tribute)

All recording, editing, mixing, mastering and artwork by Richard Rumney.

Kwaito is music that is shifting and moving along with a new generation of artists who envision not only what it is today, but what it can be in the future. 

Makhalanjalo is a performer and artist from Khayelitsha who released his debut single, Thandizito last year. Produced by Insertcoinz, it's a shining example of Kwaito's endurance and continued vibrancy. 

Host of the show, Richard Rumney, managed to catch him while he was in Joburg recently as a part of the country-wide, independent Nine Nine tour and get his perspective on the genre and his debut release. 

Other music used in the show includes:

Mousse T. - Ooh Song (MidTempo Flex)
The Heavy Dee krew - Westside Steppers Mix
North The Jap - Shiya Bang'phethe

All recording, editing, mixing, mastering and artwork by Richard Rumney.

Lilitha is a singer and songwriter whose influences include the venerable  Miriam Makeba and illustrious Thandiswa Mazwai. As a young Xhosa woman with a wide palette of musical influence and ideas, she sees the ongoing possibilities of mixing the folk music of her heritage with the popular music of her time. 

A beautiful example of this, is the track Liyana, born out of a song that has been passed down to her from her ancestors and realized in a way that speaks to her and her fans right now.

Host of the show, Richard Rumney, sat down with Lilitha to speak about the track and the other music she has made and will hopefully still make.

Music used in the show:

Lilitha - Liyana
Richard the Third - Thoughts on Chairs
Miriam Makeba - Quit It (Storm Instrumental Dub)
Letta Mbulu - Nomalizo
Bongo Maffin - Amadlozi
Gregor Salto, Funkin Matt, Lilitha - Not For Me (Club Mix)
Lilitha - Heart Chakras (prod by Ubertothehills)
Richard Rumney - Thin Yellow Lines
(Not all music is available for streaming / DL yet)

All recording, editing, mixing, mastering and artwork by Richard Rumney.

There are electronic music artists who simply have no genre to slot into easily, or at all. Artist’s whose music sounds truly unique and impossible to define according to any one genre. The likes of Four Tet, Flume, Burial, Aphex Twin, all need a whole paragraph just to describe the music they make.

Gauteng producer and DJ, Kimetsu, is that kind of artist. Within his songs, one can faintly hear the influence of genres like techno, house, lo-fi, jazz and even world music, but these are revealed like far-off figures, almost hidden in a landscape of hypnotic, sometimes melancholy, sounds and broken rhythms. 

Host of the show, Richard Rumney, breaks down the elements of Amapiano as an example of how music genres follow certain unspoken rules and then goes on to chat to Kimetsu about his artistic travels that have lead him to this point and his remix of Jinji's '6PM in Daveyton' the track featured in the previous episode of Ear To The Sound.

Other music used in the show includes:

kimetsu - hair (flipped)
kimetsu - isqedasebroccoli (edit)
MHMMD - Motions (feat. kimetsu) [take1]

All recording, editing, mixing, mastering and artwork by Richard Rumney.