Kwesta's Hyena has bite

Kwesta: Hyena

Available on YouTube

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The hyena has the most powerful bite of any mammal in the wild, which is why American radio and TV personality Sway calls a rapper this if they pack a bite lyrically. This, on occasion, can be said of Kwesta, especially on this track, which came as a pleasant surprise.

The video is shot in a style similar to the spate of tour doccies we’ve seen from the likes of AKA and Nadia Nakai. Instead of a pointless series, Kwesta used his tour of the US as the backdrop to this rugged offering.

The beat is more groovy than wavy as the production isn’t modelled around the template US producer Lex Luger provided the culture with, which is what you find on most locally produced mainstream hip-hop. He actually raps on this, with a touch of fury in his voice, not just that raspy sexy-boy style he is known to deliver every now and then.

The video incorporates some of the things Sway said when Kwesta was in studio with him, almost like a ring announcer introducing a fighter, between visuals from his time on the road in the States. Kwesta raps about being a veteran in the game and shouts out his RapLyf label quite distinctly by saying: “RapLyf, we rap life”, and the visuals show that his life is pretty cool right now. It’s almost like he’s laying down a gauntlet for other MCs to try top his bars on this track, which we need more of.

If I rapped, I would reply to him using this same beat. I really hope to see more of this angry Kwesta as opposed to the one we’ve seen doing these love songs like Ngiyaz’fela Ngawe, which was ridiculously soppy.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE: