Fresh Voices in Hip-hop: Spoek Mathambo

City Arts recently highlighted Macklemore and Shabazz Palaces, two Seattle musicians pushing hip-hop forward in 2011. Both bring to the genre a calm and confident blast of Pacific Northwest air.

Macklemore's earnest flow is excited and breathless, like he's laying down rhymes while kite-surfing on his birthday. Shabazz's Ishmael Butler delivers cryptic couplets as if they were beamed in from another galaxy over the spaceship intercom. These bars just aren't spat; they're carved from an impressive depth of insight and creative integrity.

With this ongoing series, City Arts illuminates other hip-hop artists around the world who are doing the same: standing apart from the rest.

In Sub Pop's latest move to champion otherworldly and future-forward hip-hop, on Friday the label announced the signing of 25 year old Nthato Mokgata, better known as Spoek Mathambo (roughly translated as "Ghost Skeleton").

The South African rapper, DJ, and graphic designer was previously part of Soweto jackin' house outfit Sweat.X and has recently guested on a slew of bassy dance cuts, including Diplo's Mad Decent remixes and Brighton, UK's Evil Nine breakbeat stompers.

Mokgata's debut album Mshini Wam—released last year on BBE—embraced DIY electro and political raps and featured the surprising Afro-goth cover of Joy Division's “She's Lost Control.”

The title track (translated to "My Machine") bounces on warm synths, balmy bedroom-programmed dancehall drums, a sultry slow kwaito rhythm, and a heated interpolation of a traditional Zulu folk song. The track is firmly planted in the future-retro township tech of South Africa rather than the catch-all pan-global music bin that is "sounding a bit M.I.A."

The video shows an Africa we're rarely accustomed to seeing. Here the focus isn't on poverty or safari, it's a celebration of South African youth culture and the continent's burgeoning new wave of 21st century electronic dance music. No rented Bentleys or Ciroc-filled swimming pools for this shoot either, instead Mokgata raps to camcorder from discount shoe shops, hairdressers, and playgrounds. During the chorus the screen dissolves with what looks like presets from an early copy of iMovie. It's a ton of fun.

Look for Spoek's Put Some Red on It EP in late July on Sub Pop, and expect to hear more from this rap visionary in the future.