The Boy Before the Door

Before I Knew It Was the Dark:

Who was Mpumelelo before the door?

Let’s take it back a bit…

There I was, a boy who had spent all his years playing with his little sister.

Because I went to private school, I would see my friends at school, but we all lived in different areas.

So the problem I had was… how do I make friends in a community where everyone knows everyone because they either schooled together or used to play outside together?

That was my disadvantage.

I didn’t play outside unless it was with my little sister.

And I was over that.

If I wasn’t playing with my little sister, I was watching movies or chatting with my girlfriend as we figured out how ditching everyone during a hockey tournament got us in trouble.

The same girlfriend my parents couldn’t stop telling my extended family about…

“Mpumelelo is dating a white girl.”

While I was solving that issue with her, prepping how we were going to answer the interrogation questions thrown our way when the school holidays ended… another thing was boiling inside me.

Then my subconscious made its first communication with me.

“Remember you have a Grade 1?”

Nothing but excitement on my face.

I got his numbers.

We talked.

And after so many years… we hung out again.

The first difference I noticed was how well connected he was.

Then a thought followed:

If I didn’t go to private, I’d be this connected too.

Days passed.

Then he introduced me to Starom.

The three of us chilled together. Before I Knew It Was the Dark

When Mpumelelo Became Puff

As more days passed, my Grade 1 friend saw that I was posting my rap songs.

So he linked me with another group of homies in town called Mandraxx.

And just like that… I went from having one friend to having 10 friends.

I got introduced to a person by the name of Mocat.

He charged R150 to record a track.

So I started saving my lunch money.

Saturday… I recorded.

One of the members from Mandraxx was impressed that I had written a five-minute song alone because, at the time, they preferred having others take different verses.

Seeing that it could be done had an influence on their confidence.

If he can, I can.

That’s when my first nickname was born.

Puff.

Through the way I ended my last verse with… Puff.

Puff is short for Puff Adder, my stage name.

But in the streets… I was Puff. Before I Knew It Was the Dark

When Prince Entered the Picture

From our crew Mandraxx, my poi Prince entered the picture.

We clicked from the get-go.

It wasn’t even because of me.

He made the first contact.

And how we really started hanging out was because of a WhatsApp status.

I posted a picture with a weed aesthetic.

At the time, I didn’t really have an interest in weed.

I just loved the aesthetic.

But I smoked cigarettes at that time, and none of the crew knew because I didn’t see a reason to tell them.

They didn’t smoke.

Until Prince commented on my status:

“Shit! Bro, you smoke weed?”

In my mind, I didn’t know weed like that.

So I said:

“No, I don’t.”

Then I asked him if he did.

He said yes.

Prince broke the mirror.

His confidence in his answer was the reason I came out of the closet about smoking cigarettes.

Then I changed my statement on weed because I wanted to be politically correct.

In my defence… I had smoked weed before in a hubbly when I was near Kimberley, where the extended family would take ourselves out.

So Prince set up a date for a blunt session for when I got back from Taung.

Agreed.

And just like that… I pulled through. Before I Knew It Was the Dark

He came with another brother, Mr Newton.

Newton rolled a Titanic blunt.

And that was my first time properly smoking weed.

Ten minutes later, while listening to Flatbush Zombies… the weed was doing damage.

I was so, so high that I didn’t know how I was going to get home.

As I sat there, I didn’t want to make it seem as if I was going through the most.

Two joints by Newton.

Cigarettes flowing after blunts.

That was it for me.

I looked over… Mr Newton was busy with a third joint.

I was like:

Nope. This is my cue to leave.

I hit my cousin, who didn’t smoke but had been playing on Zakes’ phone, and we left.

Not far from the two I had left behind, I told Thami:

“I’m seeing stars.”

I asked him if he could see them too.

He said no.

Then I fell into a bush.

For five minutes… I lay there.

Not knowing how I was going to get home.

But I did.

By this time… my network of friends was building. Before I Knew It Was the Dark

When Music Needed a Home

As the months went on, my crew and I started plotting on creating our own studio.

Mocat was expensive… especially because we wanted to record a lot of tracks.

We had our producer, George.

He was the operating system.

FL Studio. Mics. Audio box.

Saint is my family, literally, and he was building the place from which our craft would come to life.

Being tied with Mandraxx got my name circulating in OHS at the time.

Names like Asum Connect were also making waves on the street.

And I didn’t even know who he was.

Anyway… for our independence, we only needed an audio box.

That’s when my connection with my private-school friends truly pulled through for me.

My boy Juice had another boy’s audio box with him, and neither of them was using it.

So I didn’t waste time.

I went for it.

Juice agreed.

That Friday, we had to walk for like an hour before we got a taxi because Juice didn’t want to waste his money.

He lived in Klerksdorp… in a gated community.

That’s when I first realised Juice was rich like that.

It was a surprise because the way he carried himself didn’t give off rich-boy vibes.

Listen… when I say Juice made us walk… he made us walk.

One would think he came from a place like Orkney.

We arrived.

His father’s Ferrari was parked next to a charcoal-black Audi.

And that was the first time I touched a Ferrari with my finger.

I couldn’t resist.

Anyway… we went into the mansion.

I got the audio box and mic stand.

Juice gave me money to catch a taxi back to the CBD.

So I did.

I got home. Changed. Then went over to my new crew.

Producer George connected everything.

Fingers crossed all around the room.

And just like the operator said… we had our first studio setup. Before I Knew It Was the Dark.

When Puff’s Name Started Travelling

Oh yes… I finally met Asum for the first time.

I was like:

“You are Asum?”

And he was like:

“Oh, you’re Puff?”

Nothing but respect from both sides as my boy Prince introduced us.

Back at the studio… the hubbly burned throughout every studio session.

This person records.

Then the next.

Then the next.

Our own studio as Mandraxx allowed me to connect my private-school crew with my group, Mandraxx.

Those were the days.

Prince was something else.

Prince could get along with everyone.

The way he clicked with my private-school boys from the get-go was magical.

But… that’s Prince for you.

The Rapper Who Made Me Better

For me, the best rapper I’ve ever worked with was Kumar.

Kumar had a mean flow.

What I realised about his songs was that the ones where his subconscious bled the pain of heartbreak were my favourite songs.

Or when he allowed his ego to purge.

I didn’t have the lyrical ability he had.

The flow. The vocabulary.

The way he controlled his breaths between long flows without choking… was unbelievable.

The first question was:

How does he hold his breath?

Because I couldn’t hold mine for more than two bars without breathing aloud.

Then I asked myself:

How is his vocabulary so wide?

Kumar had me reading the dictionary.

I had only two choices.

Be jealous of Kumar… or learn from him.

So I studied his songs.

How he breathed.

I practised breathing exercises.

At first… no ROI.

But the more I did it, the more I learned how to run fast flows without running out of breath… in a way that matched my style.

Not blatantly becoming another photocopy of Kumar.

From choosing to learn from Kumar… I turned into a beast.

When the Circles Got Bigger

I met Kumar’s gang from Kanana… Bandana Clan.

Me and Prince were very tight.

And that’s when one of my disrespectful punchlines entered the music scene in a song called I Don’t Care, where I featured Dexxter.

Dexxter, me, Kumar and Dustin, or Asliax at the time… we were close.

And ironically… me, Kumar and Dexxter each belonged to our own rap crews.

I even got the chance to record at Dexxter’s crew studio in Klerksdorp.

Blunt session.

Hochie Killer was there.

Sadboy Jay, who used to give me fire beats, was there too.

And the beat for I Don’t Care came from him.

Now let’s take it back…

I got the beat from Sadboy Jay during break time at school.

When I got home, I was like:

Let me feature Dexxter.

I texted him.

He agreed.

I sent him the beat and told him:

“You can get the second verse. I’ll make the hook and first verse.”

We agreed.

Three days later… Dexxter made the first move.

“Bro, listen to this.”

I listened.

He had made the hook… and killed his first verse.

To be honest… I was glad he did that.

Because his hook was on another level.

I added my verse.

Recorded it at his studio with his clique.

And after my verse… the studio went crazy. Before I Knew It Was the Dark.

Before I Knew What Music Was Opening

After my verse… the studio went crazy.

Those were the moments I lived for.

A fire beat. A blunt session. Someone recording. Someone else waiting for their turn.

Different rappers from different crews meeting in the same room… and somehow… music made all of us make sense together.

For me, that was all it was.

Music.

I wasn’t sitting there analysing the environments I was entering.

I wasn’t asking myself what kind of people I was meeting.

I wasn’t thinking about where all these connections would eventually lead.

Why would I?

I was Puff.

And Puff was having the time of his life.

The boy who once wondered how he was going to make friends in a community where everyone already knew everyone… wasn’t wondering anymore.

One person knew another person.

One crew knew another crew.

One studio led to another studio.

And somehow… my name was travelling with me.

“Oh, you’re Puff?”

That feeling was different.

Especially for someone who once felt like everyone in his own community was already connected without him.

Now… I was becoming connected too.

And the funny thing is… I never knew it was the dark.

I was looking for beats. Studios. People who could rap. People I could learn from. People I could make music with.

That was it.

At least… that’s what it looked like to me at the time.

Because music has a funny way of opening doors.

And back then… every time another one opened… Puff walked through.

Conclusion: Before I Knew It Was the Dark

Looking back now… I understand why I never noticed anything changing.

Because from where I was standing… nothing was.

I was still going to private school. Still going home. Still Mpumelelo to the people who knew Mpumelelo.

But somewhere else… I was Puff.

And Puff had solved the problem Mpumelelo couldn’t.

Remember the boy at the beginning?

The one wondering how he was supposed to make friends in a community where everybody already knew everybody?

He wasn’t wondering anymore.

Now people knew him.

Different crews. Different studios. Different parts of town.

One person knew another person… who knew another person… who knew another person.

And music kept connecting the dots.

There was no warning sign.

No moment where the music stopped… the room went quiet… and somebody pulled me aside and said:

“Puff… pay attention to where all of this is taking you.”

Life wasn’t that polite.

Instead… the beat kept playing. The hubbly kept burning.

Someone finished their verse. Someone else stepped towards the mic.

Another number entered my phone. Another face became familiar. Another studio became somewhere I could walk into.

Another door opened.

And Puff walked through.

That was the strange part.

I wasn’t walking around thinking I was getting closer to something called the dark.

I didn’t even know there was something to get closer to.

I was doing exactly what I had wanted to do from the beginning.

Making friends. Making music. Becoming better at it. Finding my people.

And somewhere between the private-school boy who couldn’t understand how everyone knew everyone… and Puff walking into rooms where people already knew his name… the problem had disappeared.

I had finally found my way into my own community.

I just didn’t know yet… how deep into it music could take me.

So if you asked Puff what was happening back then… he wouldn’t have told you some story about the dark.

He probably would’ve looked at you confused.

Because as far as he knew… he was just making music.