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"In an age where 808's, synth's and vocoders have practically taken over the world, it is refreshing to know some soldiers have weathered the storm and kept it streets. Im talking that dirty downtown vibe that transforms any mc's script into super conceptual mode, im talking Kanif's beats y'all "
             - Jaqamba Mlenzeni, Hype Magazine

 
At the bottom of Yeoville, the old trendy suburb turned ghetto, on the top floor of a building, in a old apartment, is Iapetus Studios: a small studio dedicated, for the most part, to making hip-hop. It is also the creative base for Iapetus Records, an independant record label that has been releasing local hip-hop in its purest form over the last decade. Behind a moniter, in a room that looks like something off the set of Kubrick's Space Oddessey, surrounded by beeping machines and piles of dusty old vinyls, you will find Kanif the Jhatmaster. 
 
Kanif first appeared on the SA hip-hop in scene in '97, as an MC on the Electron album 'African Werewolf in Japan'. By 2001 he had managed to put together his first basic studio setup, buried beneath a collection of thousands of LP's. Submerging himself deep into the world of acoustics and inspired by pioneers such as Terminator X, Ultraman, Dj Krush and Tricky, Kanif began mastering the alchemic art of sampletology.
He has since produced for some of SA's most respected artists, working with the likes of Hymphatic Thabs, Robo, Shorty Skilz, Gin-I Grindith, BMP, Bravestarr, Dj Raiko, Zetina Mosia, Simphiwe Dana, Thandiswa Mazwai, Yugen Blakrok and Fifi the RaiBlaster to name a few. He has also collaborated with some of SA's greatest jazz musicians such as Herbie Tsoaeli, Sydney Mnisi and Mduduzi Mtshali, as well as international artists such as world renouned UK hip-hop/theatre icon Jonzi-D, Copywrite, Boxguts and Jak Progresso.

 

Kanif has also released several albums alongside fellow Iapetus artists such as Hymphatic Thabs, the late great Robo the Technician, Bravestarr, Zetina Mosia, Yugen Blakrok and Fifi the RaiBlaster. He has also released two experimental instrumental solo projects, The Hashimite, a Dub and bass infused ode to the Dub greats such as Scratch Perry and Prince Far I, and Flight of the 50ft Virmana, an eastern inspired seven track album.

He has toured Europe several times as DJ for Yugen Blakrok, notably as the opening act at Hip-Hop Kemp 2016, in Czech Republic.

Aside from producing music for Iapetus, Kanif has scored several Theatre peices, Films and documentaries, such as Thirst, directed by James Ngcobo, the award winning Blues for Tiro, by Steve Mokwena, and the first two seasons of Ngempela (SABC 1).

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As a producer and an MC, Kanif is also one half of the esoteric hip-hop outfit Witchcraft alongside legendary emcee, GrandMaster Shorty Skilz.
 

With his signature smoky breakbeats and atmospheric soundscapes Kanif creates music free from the conformities of Hip-Hop... Instrumentalism from beyond the spheres.