ByLwansta, born in Kokstad, South Africa, is a refreshing rapper who has a knack for taking mundane topics and turning them into exciting pieces of music. Through his eloquent songwriting, he crafts detailed narratives delivered to the listener in various flows, all whilst maintaining authenticity and honesty in his words.

His most significant assets are his vulnerability and relatability, which are intrinsically linked. It’s his willingness to be incredibly endearing in certain songs, and unstable in others, that makes his work relatably human. These qualities have allowed him to cross-over as an exciting act to watch by audiences at Berlin’s Pop-Kultur Festival, A COLORS Show & Kitsuné Afterwork in Paris, as well as local stages such as Zakifo Music Festival, UMI – Our Music Festival & Basha Uhuru Creative Uprising Picnic.

In a world where hip-hop is being built entirely on flows, ByLwansta’s diction is a breath of fresh air, his treatment of lyrics is what sets him apart from his peers. He is decisively hip-hop though, in that he embraces the DIY aesthetics of the genre’s roots. This, coupled with a BA in Graphic Design, allows the multi-faceted rapper to employ a very thoughtful approach to the visual communication and packaging of his product.

ByLwansta isn’t the ‘lyrical-miracle’ kind of rapper who will ‘out-rap’ you at the drop of a beat. Instead, it’s his orthodox flow, sincere storytelling, animation, pensiveness and musicality that make his music stick.