“Do not think of this as a fashion show,” Kwesta holds his hands up as though they can halt people’s thought. “I repeat,” he continues, “this is not, in any way, a fashion show. This is just me sharing with you, the other step that I’m embarking on.”
In late November, the rapper who was born Senzo Vilakazi gathered a few members of the media into the shop of an Australian brand called Nena and Pasadena to announce that he had started an offshoot of his record label, Raplyf Records.
The new business venture which is simply called Raplyf is a clothing business. Kwesta debuted a few items including french terry hoodies, leather caps, swimwear, extended and basic t-shirts. The range is available at Nena and Pasadena at the Mall of Africa as well as at Arrow and Nena and Pasadena at East Gate Mall in Gauteng. The rest of the nation can order the apparel online at the Raplyf Records Facebook page.
“For me, this has always been a growth thing,” said the Ngud hitmaker. “When I started, I always tried to switch it up and change things up to be beyond just music. That’s why we started Raplyf [Records]. This whole thing is literally called Raplyf and why you don’t see my name on it is because I don’t want it to be about Kwesta.”
Instead, he wants to use the brand as an empowerment tool for aspiring designers. Following this capsule range, Kwesta and his team will be partnering with designers who will be given a whole season to conceptualise and see to fruition under the Raplyf clothing banner.
“We have slowly got to the creation of a platform musically and now, we’re trying to get into this fashion space,” he tells me. “I’ve always felt like music and fashion were tied together by force but they don’t have to be.”
“Why I created a platform called Raplyf was because I decided I didn’t need to co-sign a big artists to say I have done something. I can get an unknown artist and put him there and that will be me doing something.”
Kwesta lives this philosophy throughout his career. Although he was under the wing of rapper and media mogul in the making, Slikour, in the foundation phase of his career, Kwesta has been flying on his own. In fact, not only did he become a fully-fledged independent artist by the time he was referred to as Mr Cool but he also made it his mission to give a hand up to other indie artists.
To date, Kwesta made a mark for himself with songs like the infectious Boom Shaka Laka with his peer, Kid X. Now the latter has embarked on a journey to take ownership of his music and his brand by banding together with Kwesta where, together, they are artists under their very own Raplyf Records.
Also signed to the label is TLT – a rap duo that is bubbling under but is set to make it in the industry thanks to the Kwesta-assisted track, Mmino. Of course, with the success of Ngud – featuring Abuti Fill Up himself, Cassper Nyovest and produced by superproducer, Maphorisa – Kwesta has ridden the airwaves like a surfer at the Ballito Pro.
He just took home the South African Hip Hop Award for the song of the year category this month but Kwesta shows no signs of slowing down. Like with the music, Kwesta’s mission when it comes to the clothing label, is to be a platform for up and coming artists.
“Also with the fashion: I feel like I don’t have to wear the big brands and names to look good. I can get clothes from Tumi Something and still look the part and with that, I have empowered two or three people who have the opportunity to now sell themselves in whatever they do.”
The artist whose geometric lion symbol has become an omnipresent symbol attached to the hip hop game was one of the first artists to religiously wear Butan Wear years ago. Naturally, Butan’s CEO, Julian Kubel, was one of the people Kwesta reached out to when he decided to get into the clothing business.
“Julian from Butan helped come up with most of the things in this current range,” Kwesta shares. “There was a guy who isn’t in fashion called Sandile who sparked the idea of this range with me. I then asked Julian about how to make these clothes and Jules was more than willing to open up and tell me about his distribution channels and manufacturing. We decided to use that but with the vision to let guys who actually want to design to be involved in future.”
Kwesta, whose new song, Mayibabo, is heating up the radio and music TV channels, has signed a deal with Brand Agency which distributes many international streetwear brands. This means his Raplyf clothing will be available in stores like Nena and Pasadena and more around the country and eventually, around the world.
Raplyf clothing is available at Nena and Pasadena, Arrow and facebook.com/raplyfrecords