Young Producer Extraordinaire Kenza Embraces Growth and Being the Face of His Music
Embracing the beckon to step up and own his sound instead of simply producing hits for his colleagues, award-winning record producer and disc jockey Kenza, born Keanen Leroy Bekeer, answered the question with the release of his debut album Music In Colors. A prodigious talent who has honed himself under the tutelage of respected afro-house beatmaker Sun-El Musician, the rising star enlisted the help of powerhouses such as Msaki, Ami Faku, and Mthunzi to help him realise the full extent of his evolution in the music space.
Already in his mid-twenties, the Namibian-born muso spoke about the current juncture of his life, having already spent half a decade behind the production desk.
“I’m definitely at a part of my life where I am transcending. Being twenty-five, it’s such a tricky age because the responsibilities are growing, things are getting real, and time just seems to be going faster. So for me, what’s been important is growing while staying true to the little boy inside of me,” Kenza said.
Kenza | SUPPLIED
Kenza spoke about the beauty of keeping good company as well as the effect of staying in a healthy herd has had on his growth on a social level as well in the music business.
“I’m blessed to have amazing peers around me who check me and remind me what to and what not to do as a brand. These people are there for a reason, and to work with me, helping me to become better at who I am and what I do.
“They’ve also helped me to be a lot more open and to not be a know-it-all. It doesn’t help to take things personal all the time and to always have your walls up. That has helped me in being able to work with brands and to leverage what I have to my benefit,” he said.
He spoke about how half a decade in the game has changed his outlook on gatekeeping sounds as well as how the climate of collaboration has worked in favour of the culture in a holistic sense.
“Across these five years in the game, I learned to take more risks and to not play too safe. Sometimes we play things too safe as musicians by wanting to protect our sound because you’re afraid that someone might steal it or try to. But then I realised that it’s not about that, it’s about the culture. Let’s share our talent and work together. It’s beautiful to see the culture coming together the way it has recently instead of everyone trying to do their own thing and going solo musically. You know, being egotisic about their sound because that’s how house music producers were like in the olden days. They were a bit egoistic because house production takes a higher level of skill to make, and I say that without throwing any shade or something. So, I’m glad we have gotten chilled about it,” he said.
Kenza | SUPPLIED
From winning the biggest musical honour in the South African industry to producing songs for one of the country’s most iconic duos, Kenza talked about some of the things which made his heart beam with pride.
“I’m proud of a couple things so far in my career. Firstly, it’s being so young but getting the opportunity to work with big names, which is all thanks to my label as well who trusted me and my skill despite my age. With that I could say that I was lucky – because I do think you need luck – to have gotten into the right rooms with the right people and at the right times. The other things I’m proud of are winning a SAMA for Best Produced Album in 2022 as well as producing two songs for Mafikizolo,” he said.
Check out the Kenza-produced “Thandolwethu” by Mafikizolo:
True to moving forward by falling, Kenza spoke about breaking free from the shackles of the myth of perfection.
“I think what I’ve learned that’s been good for me is understanding that there’s no such thing as a perfect human being and accepting it. You’ll always make some mistakes and that has also taught to not afraid to be wrong. That has helped me to not live my life in a cocoon and to dabble a bit,” he said.
Kenza shared some of his hopes for the future and where he’d like to be as a man and a musician.
“Everyone wants to settle down and have a family at, like, 35, so that’s definitely something I want to have. I’d also like to be a label owner and helping other artists by lending them the same hand that was given to me. On the music side of things, I’d like to play in all the biggest shows all around the world—I think that’s pretty much every producer and DJ’s dream,” he said, chuckling.
Listen to “Ungalele”: