Early B (rapper)

Earl Swartz born (17 January 1991, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa) professionally known as Early B or Earl is a South African rapper known for being a member of an Afrikaans hip hop duo, Earl & Agemi back on his early times of his career. He gained prominence after he released his hit single Cerebellum and Ben10 and landed him a deal with Universal Music Group. This hit singles featured on his hit debut studio album titled Aangename Kennis which was released on August 10, 2018 by Universal Music Group Ltd.

Earl Swartz born 17 January in a small town situated in Port Elizabeth called Bloemandal, he is one of two children and sees himself as an introvert. Some of his best childhood memories is that of his father playing the harmonica and the wonderful exposure to music he got in church. Entertaining his friends and mimicking American rappers, is something he enjoyed doing from a very young age. He was part of the group Earl & Agemi for seven years, after which he launched his solo-career. He recently landed a record deal with music giant, Universal Music , and lists this achievement as one of the great highlights of his career so far.

“Afrikaans Hip-Hop has always been my favourite music genre, because it gives you a chance to express raw emotion and feelings. I am grateful to the Lord for the talent he has blessed me with and will always build on that to the best of my ability,”

he says.

He has become a regular performer at some of the country's biggest festivals and concerts, over the past nine years, including the KKNK. He has also worked with big names in the industry, like Grammy award-winning music producer, Darryl Torr , and local talent such as Emo Adams , HemelBesem and Pierre Rossouw . He is best known for his hit, Cerebellum, for which he received a Ghoema Music Award for Best Hip Hop Song in 2017. The song also peaked at number 1 on the Hip Hop charts of various big radio stations.

Port Elizabeth -born Afrikaans hip-hop artist Earl Swartz, better known by his stage name Early B, has a lot to celebrate.

Originally from Bloemendal in the northern areas, Early B is riding the wave of success after bagging two Ghoema awards – edging out all other Afrikaans artists to snatch the coveted award for the most streamed online purchased album for his commercial debut Aangename Kennis.

The album also spawned the hit single Ben Ten, which won for Best Hip-Hop song.

In 2017, after recording his music in his bedroom for more than 10 years, Early B, 30, shot to stardom when he secured a record deal with one of the world's biggest labels, Universal Music Group – becoming the first Afrikaans hip-hop artist to have been signed by the group.

The YouTube sensation's music videos have been viewed millions of times on the video-sharing website.

The clip for his 2015 song Lekke Djy has been viewed more than 1.4-million times, while the official music videos off his Aangename Kennis album, Ben Tenand Potte , have both been streamed more than 1.1-million times respectively.

“I would say hip-hop is very much alive in Port Elizabeth and there are many artists, but there are not as many opportunities for everybody to showcase their talent,”

he said.

“The national hip-hop scene is hard to break through – I’ve struggled to make my mark nationally.”

He stated he had not expected to win at the 2019 annual Ghoema music awards, which were held on April 17 at the Sun Arena in Pretoria.

The 2019 awards courted controversy after several Afrikaans musicians, including Bobby van Jaarsveld and Bok van Blerk , boycotted the event.

The boycott came after sponsor MultiChoice demanded that the organisers drop a song by singer Steve Hofmeyr from the nominee list.

The song, Die Land(The Land), by Hofmeyr, featuring Bobby van Jaarsveld and Bok van Blerk , was nominated in the Best Music Video category.

MultiChoice threatened it would cut ties with the award show due to Hofmeyr's involvement.

The satellite TV service is not the first company to distance itself from Hofmeyr after MTN, Toyota and Media24 earlier in the year pulled out of the Afrikaans is Groot concert due to the controversial artist's participation.

Hofmeyr has been unapologetic about his provocative utterances about race on social media.

In February, he tweeted a photo of himself posing with the old South African flag with the caption: “Good rains. Found a waterproof roof. Mooi ne (Pretty, right)?”

Early B stated:

“It’s the most humbling feeling ever, but it’s also rewarding because I’ve been doing music more than 10 years, so it’s finally paying off. I remember the challenges when I started doing my music in Port Elizabeth, and recording in my room, and trying to make it nationally.

“It’s just a rewarding feeling because of the work that I’ve put in over the years.

“You can say that I’m finally seeing the fruits of my labour.”

His family and the 'Bloemendal community were super proud of him.

“There are people who have reached out to me via Facebook groups and they’ve really touched me with their messages of support.

“Also, I’m very grateful to my family – they have been supporting me since I started.

“I’m proud to say I’m from Bloemendal.”,

Earl stated on the Herald Newspaper.

Studio Album (s)

• Aangename Kennis (2018)