Find all my music on Spotify:
http://sptfy.com/kidnap

For all enquires: sophia@tinysaturnmusic.com

Kidnap is an artist whose music overflows with emotion - rich and powerfully evocative.

Recording in London, Kidnap (real name Matthew Relton) likens his process to that of a sculptor, starting with a block of sound and chopping away until a shape emerges. As such, each song exists ornately carved with a handcrafted subtly.

Still just 33, Relton is already something of an industry veteran. Releasing his first single in 2012 kicked off an eight-year stretch of global touring that came to a grinding halt when the pandemic put the world on pause.

2024 marks a new chapter for Kidnap, with his next body of work on the horizon. Set against the backdrop of a changing world and the arrival of a baby daughter, Relton offers a bittersweet reflection on the passing of time. ‘It’s about looking back on the last 12 years — the touring and the friends and the sleeplessness,” says Relton, “and realising that in order to embrace the life I have now, I need to let it all go.’ The music shimmers with nostalgia. Signature sad melodies dance deftly around commanding synth lines, altogether sounding like an artist with a new found sense of purpose.

Born in Cape Town, Khayelitsha as Anele Mbauli he grew up with a great love for music. So later he was introduced to FLStudio in 2003 by Point2 (Backyard) and thats when he started making his own beats. But later that year he stopped and only got back in the game in 2007. He then met with 2 house producers Lilo & Mambush who then introduced him to Myalezo (a dope MC from Site-C). And thats how the 1st eX-Hoza was formed. He then later met Rezevo who introduced him to Index & Rabeezy (at that time they were known as the "Demolition Boys", the eX-Hoza family grew. After that a very talented female artist by the name of Mel-J also joined the group. The group worked for a while but then there were differences and the group was split later that same year.

Having given up on starting a label and rather being an individual producer he met Cycastiq who convinced him to restart the group eX-Hoza and they took in Index & Rabeezy with them. He continued working with the group and later when he started college in 2009, he met Ruffest through a fellow classmate and deejay, Phiello. He recorded his very first kwaito track which was also their first track, Siyabenzela. He continued to work closely with these two groups and in 2011 he went to produce a 3 track EP for Ruffest which was included in the Redbull Studios website and later that year he produced eX-Hoza's first Mixtape "Medal of Swag." The mixtape was greatly recieved by the public and Ace Vee made a name for himself in both the hip-hop and kwaito genres. You can find most of his work on the albums of these two groups eX-Hoza as well as on Ruffests album "Sesingenile."

Recently he has worked with the likes of Hip-Hop DJ Leo Large, Master Lu (former Jozi member better known as Crazy Lu) and Deep Level. The works are still in the pipeline so look out for these albums.

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