Kayslie Introduces Himself To The Streets With The Project 'Ndini Kesari'

 By Takudzwa Hillary Chiwanza 

Fuelled by unhindered youthful zest, Kayslie's hunger to mark his spot in the game is something that cannot go unmentioned. The young rapper from Highfield in Harare (some may know him through his collaborations with Saint Floew) seems unbothered by a myriad of external factors that often plague the music industry in the country, but is concerned more with being himself and a representation of the urban culture that raised him. 

And as such, he released his first mixtape titled Ndini Kesari - an expression of his identity and what he claims to stand for in the game. It is an impressionable piece of work for a young rapper in his formative years. The project is something you can always come back to, a sign that the rapper and his choice of producers put their minds to this artistic expression. 

Ndini Kesari is laden with raps that profess a modern urban lifestyle in low-income countries, where there is emphasis on superficial material things which (notwithstanding all the contradictions) serve as his go-to reference for that much-vaunted street cred. It is this materialistic flair which Kayslie goes at length to justify in the song and video Kunguruka, where all allusions to the dripping of sauce are made. It is an understandable position for a rapper whose choice of instrumentation is more informed by the modern trap sound as it comes from the global north countries - with particular reference to the United States.

In the mixtape, he does not miss the chance to talk about how his newfound effervescence which has everyone in the hood talking - who's Kayslie, check the way he walks and swaggers through the streets, look at how them chicks are giving him attention, his clothes, the drugs he is on, the money he is getting - all which reinforce the pro-urban lifestyle approach he executed the mixtape with. The Intro gives a sense of this, and Kudada Nekuwana cements this position. But it is a digestible experience which gives a fresh angle to Zimbabwe's crop of new school rappers. 

One cannot wish away the impeccable quality of production on Ndini Kesari mixtape. And this is what gives his project that overall feeling of a solid piece of work. He works on his identity in the song Ndini Kesari, an effective deployment of that eponymous title. If you want to know about Kayslie, then that is the song to put on repeat. 

The project has seven songs in total and it is a worthy experience for someone navigating the often unchartered terrains of new school rappers in Zimbabwe. It is Kayslie's ambition which makes us amenable to his raps, to his flow, to his choice of collaborations, and to his future expectations. 

You can listen to the mixtape Ndini Kesari by Kayslie via this YouTube link.