El Phoenix is a Cape Town-based Afrikaans rapper whose raw delivery, lived experience and unapologetic lyricism capture the heartbeat of the Cape Flats. He carries the torch of storytellers before him while carving out a lane rooted in honesty, community and cultural pride. His music reminds us that Afrikaans rap is not just sound—it's identity, survival and testimony.
Short history of Afrikaans rap:
Afrikaans rap emerged in the late 1980s and 1990s with crews like Prophets of Da City (POC) pioneering socially conscious hip hop that spoke directly to the realities of apartheid and township life. In the early 2000s, groups like Brasse Vannie Kaap (BVK) brought Kaaps slang, street humour and local flavor to the mainstream, setting the foundation for a unique Cape Hip Hop identity. Since then, Afrikaans rap has evolved into a diverse landscape where artists from different regions express pride, resistance, storytelling and celebration through their own dialects and rhythms.
