Komani rapper Jimmy Backwoods celebrates a great year

In hip-hop — often described as a highly competitive “sport” characterised by bravado, self-aggrandisement and machismo — it is rare for artists to pay homage to another artist when it comes to their talents.

So young Komani rapper Jimmy Backwoods (real name Achumile Fulatela) was left stunned when he received warm praise from SA hip-hop legend and one of his inspirations, Cassper Nyovest.

Recounting the experience, Backwoods said a manager at YOLO Lounge in the Eastern Cape town invited him to open for Cassper earlier this year.

After his performance, he was told Cassper wanted to speak to him.

“I was wearing a T-shirt with my face on it, and he was asking me about it and dabbing me,’ Backwoods said.

“He told me I must never give up and that I am on the right track. He said he was impressed by my performance.

“I was nervous as hell because I am naturally shy, but he only had positive things to say.”

Backwoods said 2025 had been a good year for him, adding that he had set out to lay a foundation for himself.

“(I was) raising awareness, just getting my name out there for people to know.

“Overall, it was a good year for me in terms of my career. I believe this year was only the start of bigger things,” he said.

The rising star said he had been “surrounded” by the sounds of hip-hop when he grew up.

Though he was convinced he would end up in the music industry, he never fancied himself as a rapper.

But for those who watched him grow, it was an affirmation of what they already knew: he had the talent to become SA’s next hip-hop star.

“There was this older guy in my hood (Khayelitsha in Mlungisi township) by the name of Sikhothina Busakwe, who would break down bars for me.

“I was probably around nine at the time,” he told Dispatch.

“At home, I was already into music as my mother would make listen to a lot of US artists like Beyonce and Rihanna.

“I was considered somewhat of a genius as I could easily understand their lyrics and sing them out loud word for word.

“People would be amazed, and I would get stopped and people would play songs and ask me to dance or sing to them.

“I always thought I would probably be an engineer or a music producer.

“I have always loved music and even today I cannot live without listening to music.”

In grade 3, he would be selected to represent his school in poetry sessions during eisteddfods, often competing against much older children.

He was also able to read when he was just five years old.

After school, his neighbour Busakwe would make him listen to the likes of Proverb while explaining the use of metaphors and double entendres in hip-hop songs.

He caught on fast and the pair would spend most of their weekends listening to hip-hop together.

He was also able to read when he was just five years old.

However, it was only in 2015 when hip-hop star Nasty C dropped his first mixtape, Price City, that Backwoods started showing keen interest in becoming a rapper himself.

He was just 13 at the time and had lost his mother.

He said Nasty C, his favourite rapper, who he describes as “the best of all time” in SA, had also lost his mother, but “at a [much more] tender age than me”.

“Everything he was saying, I could relate to. I ended up gravitating towards his music more and the more I listened to the mixtape, the more I felt that I could also do it.”

He began attending many hip-hop shows in Komani.

In 2019, at age 17 and while in matric, some of his “hip-hop friends” introduced him to their own music, which they had recorded.

At about the same time he began penning his own hip-hop verses.

When he heard about a local producer who owned his own makeshift studio which he ran from his home, the youngster paid him R50 to have his first song recorded.

“I had never recorded anything in my life before, but the guy went crazy, claiming I had probably been recording for a long time.

“Maybe he was impressed by how I put my words together while rapping to the beat, I don’t know,” he said.

The song was put on Soundcloud where it received rave reviews in its first week.

In 2022, Backwoods made one of his most popular songs, Bloodstain, which was released on many streaming platforms.

Though the song did not immediately “catch on”, he managed to shoot and release a music video for it in October this year.

The video has since become one of the most played songs on Spotify.

Backwoods said he now wanted to take his music to international audiences.

“I feel like I have what it takes. I feel I am good enough [to become a global star like Nasty C],” he said.

Daily Dispatch