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About Amilca Mezarati

Chuma Amilca Ralawe, born on the 18 th of June 1991, better known by his stage name Amilca Mezarati is a South African recording artist from Cape Town. Chuma Ralawe started writing music in Primary School, jotting raps at the back of his class and slowly mastering his skill but little did he know that he would later consider pursing music as a profession.
In 2013, Amilca Mezarati released his first solo single called Otherside which was inspired by the street culture of Langa Township. After that a series of singles were released to familiarise a rapidly growing fan base with Amilca Mezarati’s music. These singles were released via the SoundCloud streaming website and received outstanding reviews. The singles gained Amilca Mezarati a lot of street credibility where his brand and style of rap began to gain momentum. A year later, Amilca Mezarati alongside Bruce “Showbizness” Langa undertook to partner up and establish their own empire called West Wing Academy which is a record label, lifestyle brand, full-services management and entertainment comapny. They soon
brought in the talents of rappers Hype Liyakuza and Don Gy as well as a singer named Vusi Kambi to join their label.

During the same year, Amilca Mezarati also became involved in the formation of the
Kaap Koalotion Movement that comprises West Wing Academy and another two record label allies. This movement would go on to influenced the New Era of Hip-Hop/Rap music in Cape Town and has since lead to the local Capetonian vernacular slang being prevalent in songs and it being used by a host of rappers in and around the City of Cape Town.

In the mid-winter winter of 2014, Amilca Mezarati featured on Blaq Slim’s single No Days Off where he wrote and sang the chorus. The song shot up straight to number 1 on UCT Radio’s Bread and Butter Show as well as on Bush Radio. This was followed by the birth of “Hai Sho Bhowzey” (produced by Babylon Beats) a joint collaboration between Amilca Mezarati and Blaq Slim which was released on the 10^thof November 2014 in anticipation of the Summer. Needless to say, the song went on to trend in Cape Town on twitter according to TrendsMapSA on the day of its release and received a number of signifcant industry co-signs and phenomenal reviews.

It goes without saying that Hai Sho Nhowzey has catapulted Amilca Mezarati as a musician and a brand into the topic of conversation amongst Cape Town Hip Hop folklore. Since then, Amilca Mezarati has gone on to be the opening act for a number of South Africa’s artists including Cassper Nyovest, K.O, AKA, Riky Rick, Boyz N Bucks, Cash Time Fam, Kwesta and Reason just to mention a few.

Notable Performances:

• HEAD HONCHO Winter Range Launch 2015.
• HEAD HONCHO 6th Birthday Bash.
• E-Jay’s Birthday Bash with Red Cup Village.
• Shimza’s Album Launch.
• Ikasi Experience.
• Red Cup Village presents Upper Echelon.
• UWC Fresher’s Bash.
• Ciroc Presents Blue Cup Nation.
• UCT Radio #BreadandButter Live Performance No1 (No Days Off).
• UCT Radio#BreadandButter Live Performance No1 (Hai Sho Bhowzey).
• Bush Radio #Headwarmers Live Performance.
• CTV Live Performance (Unity).
• CTV Live Performance (No Days Off).
• CTV Live Performance (Hai Sho Bhowzey).

Career Timeline Interviews:

• Goodhope FM interview with Ready D.
• UCT Radio interview on hip hop show BreadandButter.
• Bush radio interview on hip hop show Headwarmers.
• CTV interview on Urban Youth show Ekse.
• CTV interview on Urban Youth show Dreamchasers.
• Bush Radio interview on Morning Drive Show.
• Bush Radio interview on Everyday People Afternoon Drive Show.
• IKapa Live interview following IKasi Experience.
• ZuzaNation Online Magazine Interview:

About A-Q

Gilbert Bani (born August 1, 1986) better known by his stage name A-Q, is a prolific Nigerian rapper, recording artist, dancer, songwriter, and performer. A-Q started his music career at the age of 12 listening to other artiste and miming their songs. He was then advised to start writing his own lyrics by friends while in Kings College Lagos.

Facts Only

Born into a family of six as the last child, A-Q real name Gilbert Bani was raised in Surulere where he has lived for most of his life. Growing up in this environment exposed him to different social classes rich, middle class and poor, which has influenced his ability to socialise within any class he finds himself.

A-Q attended Fountain nursery and primary school, Kings College Lagos, and had his tertiary education at the University of Lagos. Being the last child of his family he caught up to hip-hop at a young age largely influenced from watching his elder siblings react to different genres of music. He started collecting hip-hop tracks, learning the lyrics and miming them and was soon able to mime almost any track out at that time. It didn’t take long before he started writing his own lyrics on advice from friends and thus his sojourn into entertainment.”

About Kiernan Jarryd Forbes

Kiernan Jarryd Forbes, known by his stage name AKA, is a South African hip hop recording artist and record producer. He is a multiple award nominee and winner, both internationally and locally. His break through came after the release of his single, Victory Lap, followed by its remix, with features such as Khuli Chana. On the back of this, he released his first album, Altar Ego, which became a great success.

He has grown to become one of the most significant hip hop artists in Africa. He is respected for his contribution to the growth of hip hop and the foundation of a legacy in Africa. He has influenced many and even stirred controversies with his intimidating and unique skill. His rise has been rapid, and he is popularly considered a young living legend.

Facts Only

AKA has opened for Kanye West, Snoop dogg, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Big Sean and Kendrick Lamar in their South African tours.[6] He has won many awards including “Best Street Urban Music Album” and “Male Artist of the Year” at the 18th South African Music Awards (SAMA) In late 2014 rapper AKA signed a multi-album deal with Sony Music through its new local urban label Sound African recordings. Executive head of A&R for Sony, Zakes Bantwini made the announcement through their platform. ‘We’re excited to add AKA’s illustrious career to our stable. We are excited about AKA’s growth prospects in Africa and beyond.’ The Sony Music/AKA partnership is the key catalyst to change the business and face of Music across Africa, especially in the key areas of quality, distribution and content management’.[7] In June 2015, AKA’s sophomore album Levels was certified Gold, by the Recording Industry of South Africa, for shipments of over 20,000 copies domestically, as of May 2016 the album was certified platinum by RiSA.