Ntokozo Zakwe is a South African Rapper born in

KwaMashu KwaMashu is a township north of Durban, South Africa. The name is in honour of Sir Marshall Campbell and means ''Place of Marshall''. KwaMashu is bordered by Newlands East to the south, Newlands West to the west, Ntuzuma to the north, Phoenix t ...

, KwaZulu-Natal.

Early life

Zakwe was born in the township of KwaMashu in KwaZulu-Natal. He went to Qhilika High School where he completed his matric and developed his passion for hip hop music. He then went to further his studies at the Durban University of Technology but due to financial difficulties he dropped out and chose to pursue his dream of becoming a musician.

Career

His musical career began in early 2000's, performing in the streets of Kwa-Mashu and Msinga. Zakwe started releasing music as an underground artist, at this stage he released a number of vernacular mixtapes which were titled ''Street Music''. The mixtapes were well received in the underground hip hop scene, this then led to two of his tracks within the tapes to eventually make it into Hype Sessions and thus received massive airplay. After the success of his mixtapes,

Zuluboy Mxolisi Mgingqeni Majozi (born May 19, 1976) also known as Zuluboy is a South African actor and musician from Ntuzuma, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He has worked with legendary South African hip hop artists, most of whom he drew inspiration fr ...

another

durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

based emcee, featured Zakwe on his track "Zobe Zisho" which led to Zakwe bagging a recording and artist management deal with Native Rhythms. In 2011, he released his self-titled debut album ''Zakwe'', which was a huge success and was certified gold status by the Recording Industry of South Africa (RISA), earning him five nominations at the South African Music Awards, he won the Metro FM Award for best Hip Hop artist and the first best Lyricist Award at the South African Hip Hop Awards (SAHHAs) the following year, thus taking his place amongst the best rappers in South Africa. The latter became the first Zulu hip hop album to earn gold status. Zakwe's success and talent earned him endorsement deals with SAB Miller and Hennessy. He was one of the performing acts at the 2011 Metro FM awards in the province of Mpumalanga, he also was one of the live acts in the 2012 and 2013 South African Music Awards. In February 2013 he was the opening act for American rapper

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

at the Dome in johannesburg, South Africa. In 2015, he released ''Impande'' an album which became an instant hit and earned him three nominations at the South African Hip Hop Awards for Best Album, Best Male Artist and Best Lyricist, He won the Best Vernacular Hip Hop at the 12th South African Traditional Music Awards (SATMA) for the song "Reverse" featuring Duncan. Zakwe released a hit single called "Sebentin" featuring Cassper Nyovest and Musiholiq in 2017 which received positive reviews. A remix of the song was released in the same year which featured Blaklez, Musiholiq, Cassper Nyovest,

Kwesta Senzo Brikka Vilakazi (born 11 August 1988) known professionally as Kwesta, is a South African rapper and songwriter. Born in Katlehong, Gauteng, a township also known as "K1". In 2003, at the age of 15, he and his friends formed a rap group ...

, HHP and PRO. The remixed version of the song won the Remix of the Year at the 25th South African Music Awards. On 6 July 2018, Zakwe released his third studio album titled ''Cebisa''. The album was certified gold by the Recording industry of South Africa. In early September 2020, he announced that his working on collaborative studio album with Duncan. On December 4, 2020, Zakwe and Duncan their collaboration album titled ''Zakwe & Duncan'' was released. The album features

, Assessa, Just Bheki, Kay Masta, Beast, Supreme, Lilly, Max Ov, K.O, DJ Tira, the Q Twins, and Riot. Zakwe received a nomination for Artist of the Decade at the 2021 South African Hip Hop Awards.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Zakwe'' (2011) * ''Zakwe (Delux Edition)'' (2012) * ''Zakwe (Super Delux Edition)'' (2013) * ''Impande'' (2015) * ''Cebisa'' (2018)

Collaboration albums

* ''Zakwe & Duncan'' (2020) * ''Zakwe & Duncan'' (2022)

Accolades

Nominations

*Best Street Urban album during the 18th Annual MTN South African Music Awards (SAMA) *Remix of the year for the remix of the song "Bathi Ng’yachoma" featuring Zuluboy and danger 18th Annual MTN South African Music Awards (SAMA) *Album of the year for debut album ZAKWE 18th Annual MTN South African Music Awards (SAMA) *Male artist of the year 18th Annual MTN South African Music Awards (SAMA) *Newcomer of the year 18th Annual MTN South African Music Awards (SAMA) *Best Album at the South African Hip Hop Awards (SAHHAs) – 2015 *Best Male Artist at the South African Hip Hop Awards (SAHHAs) – 2015 *Best Lyricist at the South African Hip Hop Awards (SAHHAs) – 2015

Awards

*Best Lyricist Award at the first South African Hip Hop Awards – 2012 *Best Hip Hop Artist at the Metro FM Awards – 2013 *Best Vernacular Hip Hop at the 12th South African Traditional Music Awards *Best Remix of the year at the 25th South African Music Awards

References

{{reflist 1988 births Living people People from KwaZulu-Natal South African rappers