Kwesta will be vying for four categories at the Metro FM Awards on Saturday.
IT’S just before 10pm on a brisk Wednesday evening and Kwesta looks and sounds exhausted. He’s been on the move since early morning, when he started filming a Red Heart campaign that saw cameramen following his creative process for the day.
We are at the video media launch for four singles that his label, Rap Lyf Records, released earlier in the year.
An hour ago, he and his label mates, Kid X, TLT and Makwa 6eats, along with other guests such as Yanga, had also been performing their new music and unveiling the vision for the label.
Despite having had a stellar 2016, which was arguably the strongest year in his career, Kwesta wants to do things a little differently this time around.
“The biggest thing I’m trying to do is not forget,” he explains.
“I don’t want to make music from the point of view of the guy who had the type of 2016 that I had.
“So, one of the first things I’m doing is working on an album this year and I’m not gonna do it in this country – not because I don’t believe in the engineers or the studios or the the quality of music, but just because I want to write from the point of view of an unknown person.”
To achieve this, Kwesta plans to record across three continents: Europe, North America and other parts of Africa.
His aim is to shed his superstar status and live anonymously.
“I don’t relate with this guy that I’ve created and the perception that people may have of him. I’m a next-door-neighbour kind of guy,” he said.
This was evident during in his interactions at the launch with the guys around him – who included the likes of Yanga, Kid X and other people in his circle.
Kwesta is, without doubt, the most famous among them, yet he blends in seamlessly.
The artist comes across as a regular guy who just happens to be a supremely talented artist.
This Saturday, Kwesta will be suited up at the Metro FM Awards, where he’ll be vying for four awards – Song of the Year, Best Male, Best Collaboration and Best Hip Hop Album.
“I’ve never done it to be in a certain position. I’ve always done it because I loved it, and that’s genuine,” he said
“I know it sounds like a cliché... but I just genuinely do what I do because I love it and everything else comes with it.
“It is what it is; that’s why, when you call me media friendly, it’s like, ‘Okay, there’s the media that comes with it, do the thing.’ ” “So, you just wanna work?” I ask. “Yeah, right now as soon as I’m done, we’re gonna go to the studio. And people might say there’s no point because, dude, you had Dakar 2, you had Ngud, there’s no need to record.
“There’s always a need because that’s my job – and that’s what I love doing.”
The launch night represented Kwesta’s desire for putting everybody on the label on an equal footing by releasing their music simultaneously, as opposed to following the trend of trying to push himself and putting everyone else on hold.
“I’m with like-minded thinkers. We make music everyday together. So why not drop together, you know, to say this is who we are – we’re a unit, we’re a family.
“We just wanted to invite some people to showcase.”
The aim for Rap Lyf is to forge a year unlike any other and create unique music that doesn’t follow what’s popular right now, he explains.
Their new releases fit the bill – they don’t subscribe to the trap-heavy sound that is flooding the market currently, but rather match the sound that makes Kwesta, Kid X and the other guys the unique artists that they are.
When I ask Kwesta what we can expect musically from him as a solo artist this year, he’s cautious not to overhype himself.
“I’m doing my best to create the best music that I can. That’s how I approached Dakar 2.
“I’m looking forward to building Rap Lyf as the unit that it is and constructing more platforms.
“I’m letting it happen to me, I’m not trying to force it in any sort of way.”
He added: “I don’t want to sit here and go, ‘Ungawari, umlilo, umlilo!’
“Dude, I don’t know. I’m gonna try my best and go into the studio and do the thing I always do and, hopefully, when I put it out, people embrace it and I will connect with them,” he explained. “I don’t wanna lose the connection with the people – that’s the one thing I never want to do and that’s the one thing I’ll strive not to.”