Stephen of Kent is a South African multidisciplinary singer-songwriter. He is also, along with Michael Taku and the late David Weru, a founder of the lifestyle collective and creative firm, “thisisart” and the eponymous music label to which he is signed to, Blank Space Records. He is also signed under Universal Music, who solely ensure the services of his music publishing.
Blank Space Records is excited to announce the release of the new EP from Stephen of Kent, Future Kwaito: Volume 3, which is available worldwide on all digital streaming platforms.
Future Kwaito Freestyle is a trilogy volume series, written and performed by Stephen of Kent. The series explores the sounds of the popular sound wave and the culture of Kwaito, a music genre that emerged in Soweto, South Africa, during the 1990’s.
In evolving the sound that is Future Kwaito, Stephen of Kent released 2 previous collections of the series; Volume 1 and 2. On the track, Future Kwaito Freestyle in Volume 1, Stephen of Kent powerfully declares that “the empire is about to burn to pieces”, setting the stage for his genre-shifting offering to the sonic universe.
The second installment of the series opens with a clever flip of Thebe’s ‘Groovers Prayer’ on a track titled ‘Guluva’s Prayer’. This highlights the distinct and unique experimental approach that the multidisciplinary singer-songwriter has through his music.
Kwaito is the most important music genre and cultural innovation to emerge in post-apartheid South Africa and is often described as explicitly apolitical. Quintessential in being a form of dance music, Kwaito in its most common form is music "after the struggle”.
Stephen of Kent describes his journey of discovering Kwaito from a very young age to a time when he would spend time back home in Mpumalanga. “If you had ever been to my grandmother's home in Witbank in 1999, you would know that music was a religion in that household and the head of that holy trinity was Kwaito and Hip-Hop music.”
Few EP’s or musicians have been met with such a warm reception. StarFM were the first radio station to get an exclusive first listen of this revolutionary EP and we are certain this will make a huge impact on the airwaves.
After a year of touring concerts and clubs in South Africa, Stephen of Kent will spend the next 6 months hosting performances at art galleries around South Africa.
You can stream the project below:
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