In a recent interview on Chopping It With Bhuda T, South African rapper and producer Flvme shared an inside look into the creative process behind his collaboration with the late AKA on the hit single “Casino.” The artist revealed that the song’s creation took an unexpectedly long time, especially when it came to completing his part of the track.
“When we were recording ‘Casino’ with AKA, it took us the whole year to finish my hook alone,” Flvme said, explaining how much detail and revision went into finalizing his contribution. What sounded effortless to fans, he revealed, was actually the result of months of back-and-forth between him and AKA in the studio.
Flvme went on to share that the two artists didn’t always see eye to eye during the process. “We had a fight at some point about it,” he admitted. Despite their creative chemistry, the recording sessions often led to disagreements about how the hook should sound.
He recalled a particular moment at Gemini Major’s house where they worked tirelessly to get the hook right. “We went to Gemini’s house, I recorded the whole hook,” Flvme said. “The only line we were fighting about was my last bar, so I changed that bar about 20 times and he was still like, ‘nah.’”
Even after multiple revisions, the pair couldn’t find common ground on that final line. Time passed, and the project temporarily stalled. But a few months later, the conversation reignited, this time with AKA taking the initiative to reach out. “He called me; it was the same day we actually dropped ‘Red Light District’,” Flvme explained. “I wake up because he calls me, he’s like, ‘Yoh, I see you just dropped some music, when are you giving me my hook?’”
That phone call proved to be the turning point. Flvme responded with a condition that would finally bring closure to their creative standoff. “I said, ‘Look, I’ll do this hook if you just allow me to say whatever I wanna say on that last bar,’ and he said, ‘Okay, sharp.’”
That moment of mutual understanding ultimately gave birth to “Casino,” one of the standout collaborations from AKA’s later work. Through persistence, tension, and respect for each other’s artistry, Flvme and AKA managed to turn months of creative struggle into a timeless record.
