“A friend of mine once told me there's no end to creativity. You cannot put a limit to it. That's what I like about it.”

At this point, it seems that there’s nothing holding us back from exploring the scene beyond South Africa. We earlier featured Briann BC, a musician oozing with vast amount of potential, representing the Ascension Pleas collective from the buzzing Botswana creative scene.

However, there was another member that intrigued me. After listening to his single, titled “Longway Home” (alongside Briann BC), banzai captivated me with how sublime his performance sounded, leading me to further investigate his flourishing discography.

Enjoying everything that I had experienced from the Gaborone virtuoso, especially his brilliant collaboration project, “Gauteng To Gaborone”, alongside Jozi’s own Xashmere XO, I urgently needed to have a chat with the rising musician. Over a video call, I was able to uncover a bit more about his growth as a creative and his appreciation for the craft, his approach to his music, and his views on the creative scene in Botswana.

Before the music journey, can you tell us who Banzai was back then?

“Well, before music, I'd say, I don't know, I was into a lot of things, eh? But before music, I don't know, I just liked making animations because I was into that. But that was short-lived.”

“Sometimes I still design things here and there, like editing videos and all. So I guess I could say I was more of a visual artist before I started tapping into music.”

So then, when did music start playing a role in your life?

“I think it was around the time when I was in primary school that I used to like listening to Michael Jackson. I also used to collect music magazines, and I guess from the people I was seeing, I always wanted to be like that, you know? So, yeah, I guess those little mannerisms kind of manifested and influenced who I am today.”

“But the main person who has influenced me was Travis Scott. His story is something I can relate to because he was just a young kid wanting to make music, and now he’s doing the biggest shows globally. Just seeing that and following his story, it’s just been so relatable and inspirational to me.”

“You guys say Grade 9, but here in Botswana, we say Form 2. Around that time, my friends and I used to just walk into the mall and just go window shopping, you know, fantasising over a few things we hoped we could eventually have.”

“I'd go to Cash Crusaders to just look. And there was a microphone being sold for like a thousand bucks. That was a lot of money back then. I told myself that whenever I got my hands on that money, that would be the first thing I’d get. Before I could even get that money, I used to just record everything on my laptop.”

“The quality wasn't the best, but hey, I guess it was whatever, and the music I made at that time, I’d play for my friends in Grade 9 music class. And they would always go crazy. So I was like, okay, why don't I just keep doing this? And it's just become something beautiful. Words cannot explain how beautiful it is.”

“When I eventually got the mic, ahh, things changed from there. With time, I was uploading my music to Spotify and stuff, and I'd see that one day, I’d have 100 listens and the next day it would be at 200. And the next week, it would continue growing from there. That’s when I knew people were actually tapping in.”

“I don’t think there’s anything I’d say that makes me feel this way. Creating lights a fire in me, you know? Whenever I approach a song, beat, or even when I’m at a model shoot, I make sure I execute it right and I give it my all.”

It seems you've always been a creative-minded individual. What do you enjoy the most about creating?

“A friend of mine once told me there's no end to creativity. You cannot put a limit to it. That's what I like about it.”

“When it comes to creativity, it's not only about the music. That's what I like about it and just why I really want to develop my creative mind, because it's not just about the music.”

“It’s about just developing your creative mind, and there are so many ways to grow that out.”

Putting your work out there for people to hear, was that an easy thing for you to do, or was there any sort of hesitancy for you?

“What I loved about the beginning of my career was that I didn't care. I really didn't care. I was doing it for me. And it just so happened that a lot of people liked what I was doing. For me, it's always been this thing of not thinking too much about it because I don't care.”

“I could even be controversial with my music. But if I know that I'm being true to myself, that's all that matters. I'm not doing it for criticism. And I think that's what the art is missing these days, you know? We're too engaged with this thing of social media and all the unnecessary stuff.”

So, when it comes to public opinion, you don’t fuss over that stuff?

“To an extent… To me, I'm at a point where I don’t even swear on my songs. There's a certain type of way that I'm trying to appear to the public.”

“I don’t think you can just be saying anything in your music, especially as a musician. Because it can have its backlash, you know. Over the years, there were times when I’d make a song for a girl, and I would go as far as to use their name. I really didn’t care. I just had that much faith in my work.”

“It came with a lot of embarrassment. But there’s one thing I realised, bro…the actual key to success is embarrassment. That’s the only thing, and I think people are too scared. We shouldn’t be scared. It just holds us back from achieving any of our dreams.”

Damn. I can relate so much to that last quote. Onto my next question, how would you describe your sound?

“I don’t know. If I’m listening to a beat and it’s giving me Bryson Tiller vibes, I’ll always try to tackle the beat in a different way. I’ll always question how I can do things in a different way, whether that’s different in a melodic way or just tapping into my raps.”

“I literally go into making a song depending on how I’m feeling at that moment. I can walk into a studio and decide on the spot that I’m going to start singing. To me, it’s like opening a bag and seeing what we can find inside of it, and seeing what I can make out of that stuff. I can hit a little rap here, some singing there, and a mixture of all other things, you know?”

“But right now, I’m going for The Weeknd kind of feeling. But you never know. I could suddenly hit a rap like JID. I’m just having fun, bro. But if I had to put a label on my sound, I’d call it melodic rap.”

I especially loved your latest work, “Gauteng To Gaborone”, alongside Xashmere XO. What was the creation process behind that project, and what was it like working with the Jozi artist?

“This is how it happened. I got posted by Hype Beast, and we met through that. I guess he saw the post and wondered who I was. It was weird because there were a bunch of other artists on that post, but for some reason, he wondered who I was.”

“We eventually linked through that. Obviously, he’s based in SA, but he assured me that linking up wouldn’t be an issue. And the process was, he’d have a song idea and send it over to me. That was amazing because I had never heard anything like that.”

“One time, I was in the middle of class, and I sent him my hook on the verse. I didn’t expect a lot from it; it was just another song, you know. He sent it back, and I was just so excited. I had to rush to the bathroom, where I played it. I didn’t even go back to that class. It was so amazing, and I was so excited, bro. There was no wifi, so I had to get data just to call and tell him how dope his shit was.”

“He’s one of those artists that just understands. And there were a few songs that we made when I came to SA in Sandton. We had a little session and even recorded a little music video. And that was the first time we linked, and that was absolute insanity! We shot two music videos and had a studio session in just one afternoon, bro.”

“We made that happen, and that whole experience was just beautiful.”

Another thing I also love about your approach to your music is your album covers. You seem to go for visual artistic project covers, which always impresses me. Is that an intentional angle that you’re going for?

“I like that you pointed that out. I actually really pay a lot of attention to that, and I wouldn’t like to fumble that. From the start of my career, that’s always been like my thing.”

“How I look at it is like this: When I know I’ve made a good song, I will question how I can make a whole experience out of it. It’s a weird analogy, but if I know that I made something that is pleasing to the ear, why not match it with something that is pleasing to the eye as well?”

“Even if the song isn’t that amazing, whoever looks at the cover art will be convinced to give the song a listen. My favourite cover art is for my song called “MURA”. I do my own cover art, except for the latest one, which was done by a painter.”

We’ve previously heard from Briann BC about Ascension Pleas, but for you, what’s it been like working amongst the collective?

“There’s just this creative synergy between all of us. We’re all homies from school, but we really just all met out of the blue. We clicked, and we just all went straight into the studio.”

“I was with Lucas Chubbs that day when I met Hookage. Briann BC also just happened to be there that day, and we all just linked up in the studio and made a project called “Rolls Royce Music”. And that project actually reached over half a million streams, which is ridiculous. If you actually total up all the numbers from Spotify, YouTube, and everything, it’s actually close to a million.”

“People dream of those kinds of numbers, so it’s ridiculous, bro, that we did that. So yeah, that’s what we are and what we’ve created together. This energy that we’ve got is crazy. I don’t know how to describe it.”

“My experience with making music is that sometimes you might just doubt your stuff. But when I’m with the guys, they always understand the assignment. With them in the studio, we’re all on the same level. We’re never shy together, and those doubts disappear when we’re all together in the studio.”

What’s your opinion on the creative scene in Botswana?

“My guy, how do I even describe it? Like, it’s a very close-knit community. Our population here in Botswana is very small. The whole country is two million people. I think Joburg has more of a population than Botswana.”

“And where I’m at, in Gaborone, the main capital, the population is also not that much. But it’s a close-knit community of people that want to always create together, and it’s ridiculous. The quality of work that comes out of here is crazy, bro.”

“I have a song that was produced by this guy who produced for Summer Walker and Douchii! We got mad talent here. I feel like the second we get recognition from the outside, it’s game over, and that’s just all we need. We don’t need money; recognition is all we need!”

“And we’ve got a wide variety of musicians here. We’ve got Trap artists where a bunch of kids from Botswana featured on Spxce Impact, just rapping. Obviously, a lot of the old heads weren't messing with it. But for us, the young kids, I swear that was a revolutionary time and experience for us.”

“And it was a moment because some of those kids got co-signs from Blxckie, and other bigger names in the game right now. And that’s all we needed. Just that recognition.”

Corny question, but up there in Botswana, what advice would you give to a hopeful musician wanting to make it in the scene?

“Do what it is that sets your soul on fire. Follow through with it because a lot of people will try to rub off the perceptions of you and pollute your ability to do whatever it is that you want to do.”

“Trust me, bro. Every human on this Earth has the ability to do mind-blowing things, but we just haven’t tapped into it. So that little idea that you have in your head is real and true. It’s not you being crazy. You have the ability to become a real boss, in whatever it is that you want to do.”

“You can do anything.”

Chatting to banzai was a proper eye-opener. There are far too many creatives in any and every kind of field that have constantly been pushing their craft with the hopes of people finally being able to experience their art, and that’s due to the lack of recognition. It’s the lack of people, media, or the industry failing to properly shine a light on rising talents.

It’s definitely something we understood since establishing VERVE, and it’s been our main mission ever since. Listening to banzai’s refreshing story was lovely, and we at VERVE cannot wait to see what more comes from banzai, the Ascension Pleas collective, and the rest of Botswana can offer towards the scene. We’ve definitely got future plans of our own with the crew, so keep those eyes out.

For now, check out banzai’s discography and show some love for the ascending talent!

Creativity Over Everything - banzai’s Tale

The VERVE RoundUp Vol. 6