The name Simbulele Ngumla, also known by his stage name, SimulationRxps, is known all over Langa, a township in Cape Town. SimulationRxps is slowly gaining traction around the rest of Cape Town and the hip-hop scene as a whole with his unique voice, raw delivery, and authentic music videos.
Langa, a township situated in the Cape Flats of Cape Town, means ‘sun’ when translated from isiXhosa. IsiXhosa is also the most commonly spoken language in Langa – an area designated for black people during South Africa’s segregation during Apartheid.
IsiXhosa also happens to be the language that Langa-born rapper Simbulele Ngumla raps in. Sim, as he is known by those closest to him, only “started to take [rap] seriously about three years ago”, according to him.
“Music saved my life, without music I feel like I wouldn’t be here,” says Simbulele Ngumla who has dedicated his life to his craft after only starting to do music three years ago. PHOTO: Keanan Hemmonsbey
Simbulele’s stage name is SimulationRxps. The name came to him rather haphazardly. “I wanted a name that had Sim in it. There was a day I took a dictionary, I sat down with it and I got to ‘Simulation’ and thought, ‘This makes sense’,” he says.
25-year-old Simbulele has now amassed more than 60 000 plays on Apple Music, 40 000 plays on Spotify, and 100 000 views on YouTube. “I’m building,” he says with a view on how he can keep increasing his number of music streams.
“I think Youtube is so popular because it’s raw. People like authentic stuff. Maybe it’s not in the market [as much] but people like listening to raw music,” Simbulele says about why his YouTube views are almost the cumulative amount of his Apple Music- and Spotify streams.
“Black parents don’t [usually] believe in what we’re doing, this art, being a musician thing. They don’t believe in it”
The journey to get from a few hundred downloads to thousands of streams was extremely challenging, according to Luxolo Ngumla, Simbulele’s younger brother and DJ. “At the start, no one’s listening to your music but now the traction is starting to pick up. I’m just grateful for what he’s done now and where he’s at now,” says Luxolo about his older brother.
Shooting with the stars
A large contributing factor to Simbulele’s YouTube views is because of his most popular song and video, Ezay’ Zolo, which features model, actor, photographer, and Instagram influencer, Theodore Afrika, with whom he has since become good friends.
“I got into music through my friends. Everyone around me was making music so I just made music. I used to enjoy playing soccer first but everyone around me was making music so I just started doing that,” says Simbulele Ngumla about his nonchalant introduction to the music industry. PHOTOS: Keanan Hemmonsbey
“He posted something on Instagram saying people must tag him to local music and everyone tagged me [in the post]. Then he used my song [Ezay’ Zolo] in a Mr. Price advert he did,” says Simbulele about how their relationship started.
“After that, we’ve since become homies…we’re super cool. But it all came from that [Afrika being tagged in the song],” says Simbulele.
Ezay’ Zolo did not have a video to accompany the song at the time so Simbulele timeously arranged for Afrika to be a part of shooting the music video.
Simbulele, along with the director of the music video, Christian Mangachena (Mvjor Plvg), had to be creative in reworking the concept of the music video because of their lack of a budget, according to Mangachena.
“I thought we’re just turning up and just suiping,” said Afrika when he showed up on the day of the music video shoot, according to Simbulele.
“Since we didn’t have money we had to think on our feet. We came up with the concept the night before [the shoot]. [Afrika] played the role of the friend and he agreed to help any time in the future,” says Mangachena.
“There’s kids in the township with big numbers. Big numbers. People in the township will mess with you but people outside of the township they won’t respect that,” according to Simbulele Nguma about the divide in Cape Town’s hip-hop scene. PHOTO: Keanan Hemmonsbey
A lack of capital did not hinder Simbulele and Mangachena from producing a music video that accumulated more views than either of them expected. “We just do what we can and look at how far we took it. We took it far, we got 72 000 views on that video,” says Simbulele.
Life from Seventy-four Sixty-five
Simbulele stopped studying towards a marketing degree at Cape Peninsula University of Technology, after three years, when he only had a few modules left to complete his degree, he says. “I told my mom I’m stopping school, I’m going to finish [my degree] later on,” Simbulele says about how he told his mom about his desire to become a rapper.
He remembers asking, “‘Can I have this opportunity to just do this?’ And she just said ‘okay’,” he says.
“I represent Langa. My township. The Seventy-four Sixty-five, that’s my township”
Simbulele and his mother have a close relationship, however, he is still not sure if she completely supports his music career, he admits. “Black parents don’t [usually] believe in what we’re doing, this art, being a musician thing. They don’t believe in it,” he says. “So whatever money I make, I make sure I give her at least 25% of whatever I make.”
“I don’t have to fit into anyone’s language. I’m doing me. I’m staying authentic to myself. Music is subjective, as long as I know what I’m making and I relate to what I’m making, that’s all that matters,” says Simbulele Ngumla about staying authentic to his sound when making music. PHOTOS: Keanan Hemmonsbey
Most of the music Simbulele makes is to impress his mother, he says. “If you understood my language, you’d know I mention my mom all the time,” says Simbulele. “I’m working on a project now, the first person who speaks on the project is my mom, even before me,” he says.
The project, which Simbulele hopes to release early next year, is called Life from eLokshini “which means ‘life from the hood’,” he says.
The forthcoming album is a different sound from anything Simbulele has produced before, according to Sibuyiselwe Koyana, Simbulele’s fashion designer. “He gave me a preview of the album… It really is ‘Life from eLokshini’. I live there, I know exactly what he’s talking about, it really is life from eLokshini. Langa. Seventy-four Sixty-five, that’s the postal code,” says Koyana.
From Langa to the world
A divide in South Africa still exists and this perpetuated in the hip-hop industry in Cape Town, according to Simbulele.
“If you’re from the township, you’re from the township, the [industry] won’t mess with you. If you’re from the suburbs, you’re from the suburbs, the [industry] will mess with you. It’s split,” he says.
Simbulele has received praise and support from both the ‘township’ and the ‘suburbs’, but he admits that it is rare. “Me, personally, I’m trying to break that. I’m in the township every day and when I come [to the suburbs] it’s the same love, same energy,” he says.
Townships are filled with talent, according to Luxolo. “What Sim’s done for the past few years is just crazy for Cape Town music as a whole… There’s a lot of talent, it’s just they sleep on us but now, my brother, Sim, has done his part in putting Cape Town out there,” says Luxolo.
“Everyday life inspires my music. I can see someone while I’m at the shop buying bread, and they do something crazy, that might inspire me,” says Simbulele Ngumla about where he draws inspiration from to create music. PHOTOS: Keanan Hemmonsbey
Despite where his support comes from, Simbulele pays homage to his hometown in his music. “I represent Langa. My township. The Seventy-four Sixty-five, that’s my township,” he says.
“My music is me, my music is my township. I might slide in some English but I am my language,” he says.
Simbulele’s authenticity is what got him noticed to perform at events and venues outside of just Langa such as at Prime event at The Waiting Room in Cape Town’s central business district, according to Alex Michelsen founder, booker and marketer at Prime.
“Sometimes you just hear a track and know that’s a fucking banger and that is something I wanted as part of my space. In trying to create a black and brown space, obviously, I’m going to have a look at guys who have a good sound and it’s not just this American, cheesy, knock-off thing. It’s a genuine, local approach and it’s good too,” says Michelsen.