On coming across the album title, 'The Johannesburg Files', one is very likely to know not what to expect exactly even though it apparently portends something out of the ordinary - and sure it is! In bearing testimony to the universality of music, The Johannesburg Files draws its contributors from South Africa, Nigeria, the USA, and the Netherlands.

Ugoccie releases 'Man on Fire', a song off her EP, 'A Piece of Me'. Ugoccie’s ‘Man on Fire’ comes as something fresh and refreshing – completely out of the box. Most striking is the realisation that the song kicks off with the narration of a story – storytelling being a vital quality of a traditional entertainer. This attribute of the song makes listening to ‘Man on Fire’ a serious business.

‘Fantasize’ is a grandiose rant in which Arlen airs his discontentment with his station in life as well as the socio-political climate at the time of his writing, while defiantly daring to dream big.  He began writing the song during his gruelling tenure in medical school when he truly began questioning his purpose in life. Lesroy ‘A.P.’ Byers of the Oakville Collective captures perfectly in the production, the sentiment of Arlen’s hopeful helplessness.

In Sitka, Alaska, musician, and artist Nicholas Galanin creates music as Ya Tseen. Imbued in his new record, and across all of his creative output, is a conscious effort to shift the narrative away from painful histories of Indigenous peoples. "Indian Yard" humanizes Indigenous experience in the world in a society that has historically dehumanized us.

This new album is a concentration of energy and sincerity, a beacon to the illusions and lies perpetrated by man, and it is on the stage that ROOTWORDS intends to proclaim his vision of the world, by spontaneous communication that is alive and rich in vibrations.

The intro comes on, atmospheric and quite theatrical, setting the mood and building into the song proper. Rhythmic and boastful of a pace that's both instrumentally catchy and flowing, the song captivates and sweeps along, flooding the attention and keeping it afloat at once. Instrumentally, 'Tekila' scores very high in artistic value, way above average.