After stepping away from music following the loss of his mother, LINKEN Deep has returned with an album rooted in healing, remembrance and honesty.
South Africa (24 May 2026) – For years, music was the one place where Oreitshenoletse Ntsakisi felt most like himself.
Known professionally as LINKEN Deep, the Brits-born producer spent more than a decade building a name in South Africa’s soulful deep house and amapiano spaces, creating music filled with emotion, storytelling and personal reflection. But behind the releases, collaborations, and growing recognition was also a quieter battle with disappointment, grief and eventually loss.
LINKEN Deep first entered music in 2011 as a hip hop artist and producer before eventually finding his true sound in soulful deep house. By 2013, he had released his debut EP, My Broken Story, introducing listeners to a deeply emotional style of production that quickly started gaining attention.
As the years progressed, his profile continued to grow through collaborations and standout releases including We Go Down, That Thing, Pape Papa, Get Down, Beauty Defined and the fan-favourite Sugga Plum featuring Mr Smanda.
For a while, it felt like everything was finally coming together.
Despite continuing to release music, LINKEN Deep says he slowly began feeling disconnected from the momentum he once had. New songs were no longer reaching people in the way he had hoped and the lack of support eventually left him questioning whether he still belonged in music at all.
That emotional weight became even heavier in 2022 when he lost his mother.
The loss pushed him into a deep depression and left him struggling to reconnect with the very thing that had always helped him process life.
In 2024, he released Baitlatswi, an album dedicated to his late mother. This is a deeply personal project that became both a tribute and a turning point. The album reminded him why he had fallen in love with music in the first place: not for numbers or trends, but for connection, honesty and healing.
Now, in 2026, he has returned with Baitlatswi Part 2, released earlier this month as a continuation of that journey. Rather than chasing commercial success, LINKEN Deep says this project came from a far more personal place. Every track carries pieces of grief, faith, growth and remembrance, all shaped by the process of learning how to move forward while still carrying the memory of someone deeply loved.
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Table Mountain Venue Snags Another World-Class Win for South Africa!To celebrate the release, he recently hosted a listening session where supporters, friends and music lovers gathered to experience the album together in an atmosphere filled with warmth, amapiano grooves and shared emotion.
It was proof that even after heartbreak, creative burnout and loss, music still had the ability to bring people together.
To listen to the album, follow the link here.
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