SA’s Youngsta ‘a smash’ in Australia

Besides performing, Youngsta’s music is getting playlisted on popular digital music service Spotify.

Youngsta, whose real name is Riyadh Roberts, is taking his music to Sydney, Wollongong, Melbourne and Canberra. Before he left the country, he shared his excitement on social media.

“For us as the Y?GEN to be traveling to Australia and making my first appearance there as an artist is a dream come true,” he wrote. “I'm excited to share my music and my culture with the locals and learn as much from the trip as I can. It's an opportunity for me to spread the Cape Town stories and make crowds aware of my people.”

Youngsta has already made his first Australian show “a smash”. “I'm on tonight in Melbourne, we doing it for Kaapstad [Cape Town],” he said before Thursday’s performance.

The music trip has also given the 22-year-old rapper an opportunity to be interviewed on Australian radio where he spoke about his music.

With a career spanning more than ten years, Youngsta made a mark on the country’s music scene by recording more than 150 songs in 2010. In 2012 he released 24 mixtapes followed by the release of the ‘Salutas’ single in 2014.

He then received a number of invitations to open shows for big hip hop names. The rapper has been the supporting act for Lil Wayne, Talib Kweli, Hudson Mohawke, DJ A-Trak, Young Guru and South African Afrikaans artist Jack Parow. Youngsta has also performed at well-known South African festivals including Rocking the Daisies, the Cape Town Electronic Music Festival in 2013 and 2017 and the 5 Gum Experience.