On the sequel to his 2020 sophomore album, The Journey, Soweto amapiano pioneer DJ stokie retains his mellow sound, and a plethora of vocalists maintain its defining soulfulness—like Sino Msolo, Boohle, Nkosazana Daughter, Sir Trill and more. “I like my ’piano to sound like R&B, have a message and be listener-friendly,” DJ Stokie tells Apple Music. “I started working on the album after the release of My Journey. But when the time came to release it, me and my manager Neo sat down and decided some of the songs needed to change, because they felt dated. The wave of ’piano changes almost everyday. So, we made sure to give the songs the current feel, the current log drum and bassline.” Below, DJ Stokie breaks down key tracks from The Journey Continues. “Siphesihle” 9feat. Murumba Pitch & Sir Trill) “I made this song for my wife, Pretty, and my daughter, Siphesihle. The three of us were sitting in the house, and I thought, other artists had made songs dedicated to their partners and children, but I hadn’t done that. When deciding who to work with, I thought of Murumba because we are close; we speak everyday. I got him and Sir Trill and briefed them that whatever they come up with, it must be about my wife and daughter.” “Skhathi sakho” (feat. Ndoose_SA, Russel Zuma, Jay Sax & Sipho Magudulela) “We wanted a different feel. Russell Zuma has that thing—he talks to the women. We wanted someone who would sing and the message would touch the hearts of all the women out there. Sipho [and his] guitar gives the song more flavour. The beat was made by Ndoose, an up-and-coming producer signed to my company, Exclusive Music.” “Kota” (feat. Tycoon & Mkeyz) “This one was recorded while we were in Durban for the Durban July. In this song, someone is admiring my fashion sense like, ‘Hhayi uyayishaya ikota, you dress so nice.’ ‘Kota’ is a Pretoria term [for drip].” “Soweto’s Finnest” (feat. Mkeyz) “We made that song last year in Durban while there for Durban July. We took our studio equipment and drove down, we got a house that side and we invited amajita, it was like a recording camp. We were with Mkeyz and Tycoon. It was around 3am after our gigs, and Mkeyz decided to record the vocals and we said, ‘Soweto’s finest is invading Durban’ and that’s how we named the track.” “Makuvela ilanga” (feat. Dj Nnana, Sobzeen & Boohle) “It has that deep-tech feel. We used house elements and managed to get Boohle on the vocals. I’m more into deep house, so my ’piano is different.” “Silent Killa” (feat. Sipho Magudulela & Jay Sax) “Sipho plays the guitar and Jay Sax the saxophone. Since I’d featured a lot of vocalists, I decided to make an instrumental song for the ama grootman [grownups]. I wanted it to have a feel, such that even when I play it for iAnkel yami [my uncle], he would say, ‘I’m not really a ’piano fan, but this one I like because it has jazz elements’. So that’s why we decided to not put vocals on it.” “Stokie Dlala” (feat. Jobe London & Murumba Pitch) “Jobe London was hospitalised and after being discharged, he was always in the house. We were like, ‘You need to go outside and see people. But, since you are not ready, come to the studio.’ And when he came, he found Murumba. We already had a beat. Murumba started writing. Jobe hadn’t been to studio in three or four months, so he was a bit shy. But he ended up jumping on. So, this song is special; I’m proud to say it restored Jobe’s confidence.” “Imbuzo” (feat. May Jack) “May Jack is from East London. He DM’d me. I receive a lot of DMs. When I get time, I listen and hear them out. I decided to work with May Jack. He told me he was in Joburg and I invited him to studio. He’s from Eastern Cape, he speaks isiXhosa, so I asked him what ideas he had around what we can do that has IsiXhosa. So, he wrote and we worked on the song.”