KWESTA: I am blessed to have carved a career of 16 years in an industry that doesn’t allow people to
Award winning rapper Kwesta is set to stage a mother of all jubilees in honour of 16 years within the industry, a feat he observes this year. The legacy concert, dubbed The 16th BAR, will take place a day after his birthday, and he describes the show as a journey of 16 years – a trip down memory lane that will be short of nothing but theatrics and a complete musical experience. And although he couldn’t name artists that will feature on the day, as it is still “too soon,” he promises heavyweights from within the industry that he has had the pleasure of working with over years.
So you can only imagine.
Real name Senzo Vilakazi, the rapper shares that carving his career has always been based on tailor making decisions process and making moves that suit him, therefore he has never fashioned a strategy around anyone.
“People always get stuck on studying what a particular person does but I try not to focus on those things, not to study trends or follow them. I do what feels right at the time and stay true to myself because trends are very limited therefore might lead to one’s relevance dying out with the trends. Coupled with staying true to oneself, longevity requires a lot of respect for the craft and a deep sense of love for it,” he adds.
With no other knowledge except immersing himself within the music, Kwesta says having nothing else to fall back on and really not knowing anything else outside of music, was the reasons that he had to make music work for him.
“And that is where you gain the stubbornness of not easily following trends because some of them are really disrespectful to the craft and the craft will definitely disrespect you back. With no plan B, you develop the stubbornness of not giving up and persevering through it all because the calling is that big.”
And with no clue of how far his career would go, he admits to have once been only excited about hearing his music on radio (like any other beginner would be), and being excited at the potential popularity and gains of such a feat.
“I think I was just gullible and young, only wanting to be heard – so I never thought beyond even five years. I never imagined myself still being this excited about the same thing 16 years later. But what worked for me was keeping my head down and doing the work, time and time again. As I grew, the respect and love grew tremendously as well and it was there that I stopped focusing on the perks of being an artist but truly focused on the craft.
“Music is all I have ever done. I have never had a job or anything else. And while music always seems like a phase where one will find other interests or simply not work out, I have been really blessed to have carved a career of 16 years in an industry that doesn’t allow people to have such lengthy careers.
“That is why I decided to celebrate this milestone in such a manner, because it’s something that I can’t take lightly with people,” he said.
He also admits that the solid support system from his fans is also the reason he made it this far and thus deciding to take the celebration back home in the East Rand where it all began.
The award winning muso will host the legacy concert , the concert for the people, will take place on August 12th at Carnival City.