Ntokozo Mdluli (born 13 October 1978), known professionally as K.O, is a South African rapper,[1] songwriter, record producer and businessman He began his career as a member of Teargas, a hip hop group which released its debut album, K'shubile K'bovu, in 2006,[2] followed by Wafa Wafa (2008),[3] Dark or Blue (2009)[4] and Num8er Num8er (2012).
[5] Born and raised in Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, K.O obtained a National Diploma in Public Relations Management at Vaal University of Technology.
[7] K.O's second studio album Skhanda Republic 2 (2017)[8] was released in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment Africa.
[15] After completed his studies, K.O spent two years unemployed before his mother sent his CV to the South African Police Service but he never followed up.
[16] In 2004, while he was employed in Public Relations, K.O, Ma-E and Ntukza decided to form a hip hop group called Teargas.
[19] The fifteen-track album featured "Chance", a hip hop song chronicling a life of a township gangster seeking redemption, was reminiscent of the early days of Kwaito.
[5] In the fifteen-track album, they worked with 2Face on "Turning Tables",[26] with Lilly Million on "Forgive Me",[27] with Toya Delazy on "Paradise"[28] and Ziyon on "Put U On".
[30] In 2013, K.O joined forces with Teargas bandmate, Ma-E, and music and marketing executive Thabiso Khati to form an entertainment company, Cashtime Life.
[34] In March 2014, he released a second single from his debut studio album, "Caracara", and it garned over one million views on YouTube.
"Caracara" won Record of the Year and Best Collaboration at the 20th annual ceremony of South African Music Awards.
[35] In addition, "Caracara" was nominated for Best Hit Single, Best Collaboration and Best Music Video at the 14th Annual Metro FM Awards.
In September 2021, he announced his upcoming fourth album Skhanda Republic 3, and released "Playback" on October 15, 2021.
[62] His manager, Thabiso Khati, denied those rumours, stating that K.O had undergone a strict diet plan and was exercising regularly.
[63][64] K.O later released a statement regarding his health and posted a picture of his blood test results on his Twitter and Instagram pages showing that he was HIV negative.