Kwesta

Senzo Mfundo Vilakazi was born on the 11th August 1988. He hails from the township of Katlehong in the East Rand of Johannesburg, where his dreams to become a rap superstar began. In high school KWESTA had a keen interest in poetry that received positive feedback from the teachers and students encouraging him to move forward but it was when he won a talent show at school that led him to the realisation that he had a talent of the spoken word.

In 2003 he and a group of friends formed a rap crew called ‘Ghetto Fellaz’ which then changed to ‘The Juvenylz’ with the addition of a new member. The crew had high hopes and were waiting to be discovered. When the situation did not pan out as planned for the group KWESTA knew he had to take an aggressive tone to his career and started recording his own material in his make shift home studio.

It was only in 2005 when he met Max from Africa’s Most Southern (AMS) Record Company that progress was made. AMS had their own recording facilities where KWESTA honed his rapping skills on a countless number of songs.

While his relationship with AMS advanced, other opportunities arose that would validate him as an artist. KWESTA went on to win the MC of the month competition on Yfm’s Rap Activity Jam and also took first place on The Freestyle Kings special on ETV’s Shiz Niz. He actively kept his name on peoples tongues by performing at the Miss Confidence Show, The Rand Show and The Durban Beach Festival to name a few.

With numerous songs recorded and on stage experience under his belt, KWESTA’s demo made its way to the Buttabing Entertainment offices in April 2007.His demo was received with great enthusiasm and this led to the official induction of KWESTA as a member of the Buttabing Entertainment family. 

Since embarking on his journey with Buttabing Entertainment, KWESTA has been introduced to the life of hard work, no rest and the intricate dynamics of the music industry. He has since traveled across the country as part of the entertainment line up and judging panel on the Sprite Hip Hoop Tour which featured The Ventilation Street Tape and has also taken part in the Nokia Defend Your Street campaign where he collaborated with various, multi-talented artists.

Kwesta a.k.a. Mr Cool is a newbie on the mainstream hip-hop scene and at such an early stage of his career; it is amazing how much he has accomplished. In 2010 he was part of Brand S.A.’s World Cup campaign to create awareness and excitement amongst South African’s for the World Cup. He then went on to record MTN’s World Cup anthem “Everywhere You Go” with the international superstar of Destiny’s Child fame, Kelly Rowland and various African artists such as 2Face and Slikour.

KWESTA is an acclaimed wordsmith and his street banger “Shap Fede” created a solid buzz and received good rotation on local radio stations, it was accompanied by a groundbreaking mixtape hosted by the renowned Dj C-Live (5FM). The mixtape was made available for free online and over 3000 people went on to download what we can only imagine went on to become their daily medicine.

KWESTA’s much prepared for and anticipated debut album “Special ReKwest” was released September 2010. The album is young, dynamic and does not conform to anything you’ve heard in recent times. “Stomp”, “Flava” & “Flash It” have proven to be crowd favourites on TV and radio.