LOCAL music star Mzistozz Mfanafuthi has vowed to keep the kwaito genre alive despite the ever-changing dynamics in the music industry.
Inspired by the early 1990s and 2000s band Trompies from South Africa, Mzistozz told NewsDay Life & Style that since he fell in love with the jams, he never looked back.
While the word kwaito was derived from the Afrikaans term “kwaai” which means to be angry, although it later became slang for “cool”, it once was associated with violence.
Mzistozz, born Mzingaye Ray Ncube, however, laughs it off saying he uses it to entertain.
Last week, he launched his much-anticipated 10-track album titled iKiND, an abbreviation of “i Kwaito is Not Dead”.
The album, which has been cooking for close to two years, consists of the original kwaito taste and a touch of amapiano.
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“It was very challenging to finish this project because sometimes I lack inspiration or maybe because of my strict lyrical perfection. Other things that I could not control like power outages meant cancelling studio sessions a lot,” he said.
“It was good to see all the original fans of kwaito having a good time at the launch last week. I am open, however, to exploring various other genres like hip-hop and amapiano. In fact, I actually rap in some of the songs.”
Mzistozz, who is also a full-time electrical engineer, said he wanted to make his parents happy above everything.
“I want to make them (parents) proud when they see their boy chasing his dreams and doing the most. Someday, I will sing on international stages like in Lagos with Africa’s greatest and hopefully go beyond the continent,” he added.
Some of the songs, which are already hits on the local airwaves, include Ingane ka Sister Bhetina, uMfazi wePhepha and Incwadi.