dyton mupawaenda
Arts Correspondent
Ray Kaz has shown his determination to conquer the music world with his talent.
But if there is anyone that is a fine mix of both sides of the coin from debonair to jagged edge then it is no doubt Ray Kaz, an emerging voice in rap music whose efforts, voice and lyrical genius have turned heads in rap and hip-hop.
Born Ray Kazembe junior, the man works for a digital electronics company but in the secret passages of his lyrically fertile mind, he polices the society of its actions and nuances and relives that magic through his well chiselled bars which he spits with such ease like a dragon spewing fire and thinking nothing of it.
A word-smith with poetic lyricism, he haunts every person who encounters his magic. And even that he does effortlessly. Hardly the typical rapper, he is too unassuming to be that sort of person.
“I’m trying to do everything I can,” he says in his typically strong sense of emotional ambiguity.
Yet when it crosses the mind that his international influences include Marshall Bruce Mathers — you do get a sense of Eminem-sque poker face and a Philomena Cunk type deadpan lyricism in spaces-albeit with lots of genius — and yet some hot opinionated rhymes in others breeding an all round well rounded social thinker and emotional influencer.
The Kendrick Lamar and J-Cole tinges are also emotionally palpable. The end product is nothing short of magic.
“I have been rapping for as long as I can remember,” he says.
Yet the post social anxiety person that he is has started learning to put his craft out there after having been raised as a shy individual, itself a lot rare for anyone in the world of rap and hip-hop.
A football ace, he got to start making music to put “out there” when Covid-19 came and he had time on his hands following a broken leg and sitting alone in a room.
“My biggest regret is that I wish I had done this earlier and released my stuff earlier. You know people say God’s time and other such things but I really feel I should have come into my own a lot earlier and been comfortable in my craft,” he admits without the least skip of a heartbeat.
Yet just two years after starting, he has started to get noticed and with a team egging behind him, Ray kaz sees his year of both transformation and breakthrough beckoning before him.
With plans afoot for a full studio album next year, one would think he has his work cut out for him, but there is a game plan that solidly speaks into his protected mind.
For all that he seeks to achieve, Ray Kaz is primarily focussed on making an impact and a change through his artistic efforts.
“I just want to help someone get through a week or two through my music. We may have different backgrounds but we all relate to love, loss, suffering, and ultimately that should bind us together,” he says.
His theme of helping the next person makes him unique in a world and especially country that has fallen on a default culture of selfishness and seeking a “what’s in it for me” sort of endgame.
Ray Kaz sees no win in sight for hip-hop without selfless passion and art driven collaborative efforts.
“I’m open to collaborations and believe there is nowhere the art will go until artistes converge together and start making art for the sake of passion and commitment to making a change. I feel the current culture of wanting to rise by stepping on others is counter-productive because there is enough room at the table for everyone. Until such a time hip-hop culture in Zimbabwe learns that, we shall for a long while fail to make as much of an impact as we actually have the potential.”
Ray Kaz hopes to start serving his music to Zimbabweans on collaborative performance stages both at home and abroad in the coming weeks as the festive season performance calendar starts roaring into life.
The hip-hop connoisseur would do well to keep their eyes and ears on the rising protege.
With the poignant gaze and calmness of an assassin, his disarming politeness, out of step for the average rap artiste, will have you thinking he will pull out a pistol like some double O seven and shoot you cold.
Yet the only weapon Ray Kaz has on him is his deep wisdom that he spews by way of engaging lyrics. And if he is to have his way as he imagines, it is wisdom the country is bound to be getting served with for a long time to come.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter