Prince Qwela

Prince Qwela a.k.a Qwela tha Brainchild is a pioneering Zimbabwean hip-hop MC, born December 8th, 1973 in Mbare, Harare, Zimbabwe to a German father and a Zimbabwean mother. In 1985 he formed the first hip-hop group in Zimbabwe as Lethal Language together with Terrie Mahati a.k.a Tel-A-Ryme. In 1989 the two were even featured in The Source Magazine in the U.S. at the height of the Afrocentric movement in hip-hop. In 1992, Qwela joined forces with fellow rapper Tony Chihota a.k.a Chief, producer Keith Farquharson and singer/songstress Chiwoniso Maraire to form the group known as A Positive Existence Allowing Cultural Expression Of Ebony or A Peace Of Ebony for short. Together they released the now classic album 'From the Native Tongue' on Teal Trutone Music in South Africa. The group were also featured in the 1993 motion picture film 'More Time' which was filmed in Harare. The group went on to tour Southern Africa including a show in Madagascar. The group parted after the tour with Qwela teaming up with another MC, Tendayi Viki a.k.a Akibuhlan to form the group known as Kataklizim. In 1994, he relocated to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he worked as a TV host on Channel O as well as hosting M-Net's Shell Road to Fame show. Qwela helped to mold the infrastructure in the early post-Apartheid years of hip-hop in Johannesburg, together with Chief and Laygwan Sharkie before relocating once more, this time to New York City in 1998 where he developed the persona Metaphysics. In 2014 he independently released the album 'Mudzimu' on Gandanga Music as Prince Qwela paying homeage to his musical roots in Zimbabwe and South Africa.