Lwandile Dominic Nkanyuza (born 30 June, 1995), known professionally as ByLwansta, is a South African rapper, record producer, multimedia and graphic designer.
Having combined his love for songwriting and music production with visual communication (through graphic design) and, ultimately being in full control of his brand image as both artist and designer, he has managed to cultivate a unique listener-base of his own, as a rare breed of South African rapper.
Nkanyuza art directs all his releases, designs his own cover artwork, films, directs and edits his own videos (unless stated otherwise) and extends his services to his music industry peers. In 2016, Nkanyuza wrote his final Graphic Design research paper on The Significance of Visual Communication on the Consumption of Music in the Digital Age, for which he was awarded a distinction.
Video ByLwansta
Early life
Lwandile Dominic Nkanyuza was born on June 30, 1995 in Kokstad, South Africa. He is the younger brother of South African singer, songwriter and record producer Kimosabe. He attended St Patrick's College in Kokstad, and after completing his secondary education in 2013, he relocated to Durban, KwaZulu-Natal the following year to begin his tertiary education at Pearson Institute of Higher Education, enrolling for a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design.
Nkanyuza, following his older brother's footsteps (with the except of CAT) , choose Visual Art, Computer Applications Technology (CAT) and History as subjects during his secondary education while his peers had more "career orientated" subject choices. His choices were made in the absence of both his parents. With creativity almost seeming hereditary, the brothers' younger sister would follow suite and choose a Visual Art as part of her set as well.
Having been introduced to Hip Hop at the age of 8, Nkanyuza informally began his musical journey in 2008, writing and recording music from the backroom of his mother's house with his brother. However, it wasn't until 2014, following a move to Durban, where he would begin to establish and develop a new approach to his music, incorporating with it his passion for visual communications through design and ultimately establishing his creative brand, NORMVL under which he creates his music and it's various visual counterparts.
Maps ByLwansta
Career
NORMVL (2014-15)
In 2014, Nkanyuza had relocated to Durban to pursue a 3 year Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design degree, this was his first time living away from home.
Despite living in a communal settlement with several other students, Nkanyuza often found himself confined to his room, only really interacting with his housemates in their shared facilities such as the kitchen, lounge and bathroom queues in the morning. In a new and unfamiliar environment, his room would become his sanctuary, introspection would become second nature, and due to his distant nature, he would often have to face the various uncertainties and difficulties of growing up alone. This would fuel a new approach to songwriting.
It would be during this time, while maintaining a general student life, Nkanyuza would begin working on his NORMVL Mixtape He would use production softwares FL Studio and Cubase to create the mixtape. His housemates would often stand at his door while he recorded in the evenings, until one day they knocked at his door, curious about his evening activities.
Using knowledge gained through his course, Nkanyuza was able to independently package hard copies of NORMVL in his room, over and above designing the embellishing sleeve. His studies not only aided him in understanding the technicalities of package design, but branding as a whole.
NORMVL would enjoy mild success and press on local online music publications, often being praised for it's raw quality and it's relatability. NORMVL would go on to earn a nomination at the South African Hip Hop Awards 2014 for Mixtape of the Year, as well as 3 nods from Durban's Original Material Awards 2014 in the categories Mixtape of the Year, Lyricist of the Year and Best Sleeve Design.
Your Absolutely Right EP, Hype Magazine & COLORS (2016-17)
Following the release of the NORMVL Mixtape, Nkanyuza would release his second official musical offering, titled Your Absolutely Right EP, 2 year later. The EP was recorded in the same room the NORMVL Mixtape was recorded in, again using FL Studio and Cubase.
The EP lyrically focuses on Nkanyuza's move to Durban, his relationship with his girlfriend, his frustration with the music industry and growing up.
The EP received generally positive reviews from critics and listeners a like. The EP was eventually listed on OkayAfrica's The 15 Best South African Hip-Hop Albums of 2016 and Texx And The City's Top 20 Albums & EPs Of 2016. Texx And The City writer Timothy Kohler stated that "..although ByLwansta's debut may resemble a young Marshall Mathers, the artist endlessly emphasizes the importance of bona fide authenticity. Similar or not, the intention's what counts."
The EP's release coincided with the launch of his self-designed personal artist website in which a SoundCloud player to the EP was embedded, a digital booklet was available for download and a link to the lyrics hosted through Genius was available as a button. The EP's download link crashed within 30 minutes of the release due to excessive traffic. In NORMVL fashion, Nkanyuza would package hard copies of the EP in his room which he would sell at shows or take online orders and post them to their buyers.
In February 2017, Nkanyuza would appear on the cover of South Africa's No.1 Hip Hop Magazine, Hype Magazine's The Freshman Edition, as one of 7 freshmen.
Durban Is Yours would go on to list him as one of 10 Durban Acts To Watch in 2017
In August 2017, Nkanyuza would visit Berlin, Germany for 10 days as one of 10 recipients of the Goethe Talents Scholarship 2017 coordinated by the Goethe Institut and Pop-Kultur Festival. While in Berlin, Nkanyuza would record a session with popular music and culture YouTube channel, COLORS Berlin, where he would perform a rendition of his 2014 single, Lindiwe from the NORMVL Mixtape. He has stated to had become a huge fan and follower of the channel and watches and listens to it religiously, after he discovered American rapper, Oddisee's session on the channel. He is the first South African artist to appear on the channel, and second African artist after Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer, Davido.
Personal life and side projects
Nkanyuza graphic designs and offers art direction and visual communication services under NORMVL. After having gained tremendous insight through his research on visual communication in music for his college research paper, he has since designed cover artwork for various artists in Durban, in various genres such as hip hop, jazz, afro-pop, folk and RnB.
He officially graduates from Pearson Institute of Higher Education in April 2018.
Nkanyuza has a small collection of CDs, a majority of which he orders online due to the lack of availability in local music stores. He does this to unpack and analyse the sleeve designs and find the designers and art directors behind them. His favorite cover artwork designs are for Madvillain's (MF DOOM and Madlib) Madvillainy, by Jeff Jank and Eric Coleman, and Kanye West's 808s & HeartBreak by Brian Donnelly.
He is a huge fan of T-Pain's music and cultural impact, and of Lana Del Rey's music, and has hardcopies of all 4 of her major releases.
Nkanyuza cites Eminem, 50 Cent, Lana Del Rey, Tyler the Creator, Anderson Paak, Frank Ocean, Lil Wayne, MF DOOM, Kanye West, AKA and Al Jarreau as influences on his musical identity and performance.
Discography
Mixtapes
- NORMVL (2014)
Extended Plays
- Your Absolutely Right EP (2016)
Awards and nominations
External links
- Official website
- ByLwansta on Twitter
- ByLwansta's SoundCloud
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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