South African underground hip hop artist Oro WaAfrika is preparing to close an important chapter in his artistic journey with the release of SHAFT 26, arriving on 25 July 2026. The project serves as the third and final installment in his gold-mining trilogy, following SHAFT 25 and ALL GOLD: THE MIXTAPE.
Rather than using mining as simply a visual concept, Oro has built the trilogy around the idea of searching for what truly holds value. Across the three releases, gold becomes a metaphor for self-discovery, resilience, and learning to separate what matters from what does not.
Speaking about the project, Oro explains:
“These three projects, SHAFT 25, ALL GOLD: THE MIXTAPE, and now SHAFT 26 are centred around the world of mining and digging for gold as a metaphor for finding what’s most valuable to us. The journey through all that seeking is what helps us navigate who is who and what is what, sifting away the coal and leaving gold.”
While the concept stretches across all three releases, SHAFT 26 carries a particularly personal significance. The project draws inspiration from Oro’s own family history, connecting the symbolism of mining to real-life memories from his childhood.
Reflecting on those experiences, he shares:
“I recently reflected with my mother about how there are family members who used to really dig for gold at our homestead. I remember waking up to the sounds of picks and shovels hammering right where my grandmother’s garden was.”
That personal connection gives the project deeper emotional weight, grounding its themes in lived experience while continuing Oro’s commitment to honest storytelling.
The EP brings together a diverse lineup of collaborators, featuring Bunjoyi, BABA KUSHI, Tony Dangler, 500., Baq Faith, Kijana Damu, Teru Nerfetari, and Ghost. Together, the collaborators reflect the community-driven approach that has become a defining part of Oro’s work.
Based in Gauteng, Oro WaAfrika has steadily established himself as one of the country’s promising independent voices in underground hip hop. A genre-fluid producer and artist with strong rap foundations, his music combines soulful melodies, layered percussion, and contemporary sampling techniques to create immersive listening experiences. As he has previously stated, his goal is to create music that feels like “you’re stepping into a new world.”
With SHAFT 26, Oro WaAfrika brings his gold trilogy to its conclusion, offering what he describes as his most personal body of work to date. The project will be available on 25 July 2026, marking the final chapter in a series that has explored identity, purpose, family history, and the search for what is truly valuable.