South African rapper LUUKHANYO’s debut album, ‘LUCKY UU,’ moves through R&B, soul, funk and jazz. In this exclusive commentary, he talks about the making of key tracks from the project, sharing how the tracks “Hii ROLLER” and “The Midnight Wanderer” mask complex lyrics with “groovy” music. The track “Open Casket” is a meditation on material success and “the things that really matter” in life. Lead single “Venture” was inspired by the death of a beloved cousin, he says, noting it’s about being a Black South African in a post-apartheid world. “All the emotion just surfaced,” he explains. Throughout his debut album, LUUKHANYO wanted to “tell my story in hopes that we can make room for other people to tell their story, and help create a world where we understand each other.” Listen now.

Voice Notes: LUUKHANYO on "The Midnight Wanderer"

Voice Notes: LUUKHANYO on "Venture"

Voice Notes: LUUKHANYO on "Hii ROLLER"

Voice Notes: LUUKHANYO on "Birth Of Dawn"

Voice Notes: LUUKHANYO on "Sweet Renegade"

Voice Notes: LUUKHANYO on "Open Casket"

I’m walking through the fog of endless thought,  
Each step, a search for what I’ve sought.  
Lost in dreams, but they feel so right,  
Chasing echoes, reaching for the light.  

I question what’s real, what’s made of fate,  
What’s the truth? What’s the weight?  
I think, I feel, I try to see,  
But all I know is what’s inside of me.

I think, I feel, I try to see,  
But all I know is what’s inside of me.  
I think, I feel, I try to see,  
But all I know is what’s inside of me.

In the silence, I hear the call,  
The echo of thoughts that never fall.  
Cogito ergo sum  a spark, a dream,  
But is this thought a truth, or just a gleam?  
I stand in the space between the real and the seen,  
Looking out at a world, yet in my mind I’ve been.  

What’s true? What’s thought?  
I am not defined by what’s bought,  
But by the depths of my mind, where I exist,  
Where the self is born, and reality twists.

I’m walking through the fog of endless thought,  
Each step, a search for what I’ve sought.  
Lost in dreams, but they feel so right,  
Chasing echoes, reaching for the light.  

I question what’s real, what’s made of fate,  
What’s the truth? What’s the weight?  
I think, I feel, I try to see,  
But all I know is what’s inside of me.

I think, I feel, I try to see,  
But all I know is what’s inside of me.  
I think, I feel, I try to see,  
But all I know is what’s inside of me.

I am the thought, the breath, the sound,  
The space between where I’m unbound.  
I think, I feel, I am the key,  
I exist, I am, and I will be.

🎶 “Ergo”［feat. Dre NoxStar］🎶  
Diving deep into the essence of being

where thought and existence intertwine in rhythm.  
The repeating verse moves with hypnotic precision,  
echoing the complexity of self and awareness.  
Soulful vocals pulse through electronic waves,  
charged with introspective energy.

With a smooth, evocative delivery,  
the track explores the nature of identity,  
rooted in the philosophical origin of self-awareness.  
Within the stream of reflection, we remember
the mind shapes the world, and the world shapes the mind.


Ergo 【feat. Dre NoxStar】

I’ve outgrown the place I used to be,  
My future’s a fire that lights the way for me.  
The road is clear, the past’s behind,  
I’m chasing tomorrow, leaving doubt behind.  

I’ve outgrown the place I used to be,  
My future’s a fire that lights the way for me.  
The road is clear, the past’s behind,  
I’m chasing tomorrow, where the doubt can’t find me.

I’m chasing tomorrow, where the doubt can’t find me,  
I’m alive, alive, and I’m moving so free.  
No looking back, only forward to be,  
My future’s a fire, it’s lighting me.  

I’ve been running through the night to breathe,  
Every step a change, it’s all I need.  
Lost in the sound, in the rhythm I feel,  
Chasing the dawn, what’s real, what’s real?

I’ve outgrown the place I used to be,  
My future’s a fire that lights the way for me.  
The road is clear, the past’s behind,  
I’m chasing tomorrow, where the doubt can’t find me.

I’m chasing tomorrow, where the doubt can’t find me,  
I’m alive, alive, and I’m moving so free.  
No looking back, only forward to be,  
My future’s a fire, it’s lighting me.

No more shadows behind my eyes,  
Only the stars lighting up the skies.  
The past is gone, and I’m alive,  
I’m chasing tomorrow, where dreams arrive.

I’m chasing tomorrow, where the doubt can’t find me,  
Chasing the light that’s setting me free.  
No more holding back, no more hiding,  
The fire is burning, it’s time for flying.

🌑 "Eclipsed" 🌕

A soulful journey from shadows to light, where doubt dissolves and clarity emerges. Ava Hart’s voice leads us through the dance of transformation, with a rhythmic pulse that echoes strength and renewal. "Eclipsed" is a celebration of overcoming and embracing the freedom found in change.


Eclipsed

I bent down just to rise, to rise,  
Fell once but I tried, I tried.  
Every fall just a sign, a sign,  
That I’m built to fly, to fly.  

The wind calls my name, my name,  
Pulls me close to flame, to flame.  
Every shadow I claim, I claim,  
Turns into light again, again.  

Soar  I’m higher than before,  
Breaking through the sky I swore.  
Every dream I can’t ignore,  
Now I’m free, I soar.  

Giấc mơ bay trên mây xa,  
Không sợ ngã, chỉ cần ta.  
Nhịp trong tim, cháy không phai,  
Tên tao sáng giữa đêm dài.  

Silence taught me to rise, to rise,  
Pain turned to fire in my eyes, my eyes.  
The ground became my guide, my guide,  
Now I’m alive inside, inside.  

Breathe in the light, let go of pain,  
Fall, then rise again, again.  
(Yeah, rise again never fade away,)  
Every scar became the chain  
That broke and set me free again.  

Không cần vương miện, tao tự bay,  
Bầu trời rộng, chẳng ai thay.  
Ngã bao lần, lửa thêm cháy,  
Tên RHY VŨ chẳng phai.  

Soar  I’m higher than before,  
Breaking through the sky I swore.  
Every dream I can’t ignore,  
Now I’m free, I soar.

✨ “SOAR [feat. RHY Vũ]” ✨  
Ava Hart’s soulful calm meets RHY Vũ’s poetic Vietnamese cadence in this sleek fusion of modern R&B and hip-hop.  
“SOAR” captures the stillness before flight  the tension, the strength, and the rise beyond our own limits.  
A quiet triumph wrapped in rhythm, graceful and deeply soulful.  


SOAR 【feat. RHY Vũ】

Money hums beneath my skin,
softly singing, “let me in.”
It buys the silence, builds the stage 
a velvet cage for my golden rage.
I stitched my fears with diamond thread,
slept in silk but woke half-dead.
These bills were wings that couldn’t soar,
chasing dreams I don’t dream for.

They say the shine can set you free,
but every glow takes truth from me.

Gold in my hand, ash in my heart,
measuring worth like a work of art.
If love had a price, I’d pay it right,
but gold won’t hold me through the night.

I’ve seen the hungry chase the gleam,
turning trust to a currency scheme.
Smiles for sale and peace on lease,
truth gets lost in paper seas.
Maybe gold just loves disguise,
it paints the pain in paradise.
But I won’t trade my soul again,
for comfort built on borrowed pain.

내 통장 속엔 scars and pain,
money talks loud it sounds the same.
거짓 미소, plastic chain,
진짜 마음은 fade away.

가짜 빛에 취한 fame,
truth gets drowned in the gold and rain.
designer dreams, 다 거품 돼,
빈 잔 속에 나를 blame.

우린 다 똑같이 빛을 쫓네,
(but that shine keeps burning veins).
남은 건 어제의 flame,
숨 막히는 paradise game.

We grind all night just to feel that thrill,
but gold can’t buy what’s real to feel.
빛 아래 숨은 상처들,
(ain’t no peace in the life we build).

Gold in my hand, ash in my heart,
measuring worth like a work of art.
If love had a price, I’d pay it right,
but gold won’t hold me through the night.
( “never enough / chasing the shine / lost in the line”*)

Maybe we’re kings in paper crowns,
burning slow while the world spins down.
The louder the sound, the less we feel 
tell me now, what’s fake, what’s real?

Gold in my hand, ash in my heart,
measuring worth like a work of art.
I’ll keep my soul, I’ll keep my light,
no gold can buy this kind of night.

🎵 🌟✨ ASH & AURA ［feat. SUNJA（선자）］ ✨🌟

A journey through shimmering gold and lingering shadows, where the human spirit grapples with illusion.  
Dreams may crumble to ash, yet a faint, enduring light remains.  
SUNJA（선자）weaves poetic Korean-English verses, adding depth and perspective to this tale of light and darkness.


ASH & AURA【feat. SUNJA（선자）】

City lights beneath a silver moon,
Sharing nights in a quiet tune.
Someone’s voice drifting through the air,
Touches soft and lingers there.

Shadows sway between the towers high,
Footsteps echo dreams that reach and try.
Pulling me back to the place we knew,
Whispers of days we once walked through.

Living means holding the warmth we’re given,
A distant hand, quietly driven.
We keep walking through streets that glow,
Tracing shadows where the night winds go.

Looking up at the same moon tonight,
Me and someone far beyond my sight.
Reaching for the stars that turn above,
Life finds meaning in this quiet love.

Light runs soft along the power lines,
Where past and future slowly align.
A tiny laugh, a voice from there,
Settles in and fills the air.

Rain-kissed streets reflect our glare,
Even shadows speak truths we share.
Deep within, a warmth we left there,
Moonlight calls us through the air.

Living means holding the warmth we’re given,
A distant hand, quietly driven.
We keep walking through streets that glow,
Tracing shadows where the night winds go.

Looking up at the same moon tonight,
Me and someone far beyond my sight.
Reaching for the stars that turn above,
Life finds meaning in this quiet love.

🎵 🌙✨ “unknown” ✨🌙 🎵  
A track that drifts through the quiet seams of the city night.  
Emotions flicker between shadows and light, gaining shape under the silver moon.  
The warmth of someone far away lingers like a voice carried by the wind,  
binding the echoes of the past to the faint outlines of what lies ahead.

It’s a moment where unseen hearts brush against each other 
a fragile sensation the moon brings back each time we look up.


Unknown

Just soul, rhythm, and something that feels.

Unknown

Ava Hart

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