Shoka Sunflower, a 24-year-old artist from Johannesburg, South Africa, has built his music around emotional honesty, self-reflection, and a desire to inspire authenticity. His journey began at age 12 when his older brother introduced him to music, sparking a creative fire that would shape his life. By 16, Shoka committed to pursuing music not just as an art form, but as a vehicle for self-understanding and connection.
That commitment culminates in his new album, For Now Keep Dancing—a project entirely produced by Moo Latte, known for his work with artists like G-Eazy, Method Man, Jadakiss, Freddie Gibbs, and Cordae. Written during a dark period while living in his childhood bedroom, the album dives into themes of emotional avoidance, fractured identity, and the uncertainty of one’s early twenties. Shoka describes it as a mirror of his own struggles: “The biggest thing I realised about myself was my inability to confront things directly. So I made a project that mirrors that.”
The record’s focus track, “Never Miss A Step,” embodies this vulnerability. Shoka describes its creation as instinctive and unexplainable — something that simply arrived, like a Dylan-esque flash of inspiration. Across its nonlinear arc, the album tells the story of The Fighter, a character embodied by Shoka and represented visually as Baby Hake, a boxer whose name nods to South African champion Baby Jake. The narrative unfolds in three fragmented stages — Purposeful Ignorance, Realisation, and Breakthrough — yet intentionally avoids resolution. Instead, the central idea is persistence: to “keep dancing, for now,” even without clear answers.
Extending this vision beyond music, Shoka created a companion short film, Still Kicking: A Baby Hake Character Study. The film immerses viewers in Baby Hake’s psyche, following the newly minted pro boxer as he navigates pain, exhaustion, and the relentless pursuit of greatness. Still bruised from a fight, he forces himself through training, guided by the mantra that “Greats don’t rest.” The film visually mirrors the album’s central theme — continuing to move forward despite the weight of struggle.
Baby Hake represents contradiction: ambitious yet weary, resilient yet fragile, hungry for greatness while haunted by pain and perfectionism. For Shoka, Baby Hake is an anti-hero, a mirror not just of himself but of countless others who keep striving through fatigue and doubt.
Sonically, For Now Keep Dancing draws on the raw lyricism of 90s and early 2000s hip-hop, particularly A Tribe Called Quest’s Low End Theory, while weaving in modern influences like Vince Staples, Jean Dawson, Kendrick Lamar, and Daniel Caesar. Shoka’s simple request to Moo Latte was: “Hard drums and basslines.” Visually, the project is equally layered, referencing vintage boxing posters, the restless energy of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Blue Note jazz covers, French cinema like La Haine, and the funkadelic world of Jamiroquai’s Emergency on Planet Earth.
Beyond his own music, Shoka is also the founder of GUSHER, a creative platform designed to support South African and international artists. His work has already gained global recognition, with support from BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC 1XTRA, Apple Music playlists, and COLORS.
Ultimately, For Now Keep Dancing and Still Kicking form a portrait of an artist in motion — choosing persistence over closure, documenting the contradictions of youth, and proving that even when the fight feels endless, the only option is to keep moving forward.
