The Rise Of Swaziland’s Hip-Hop Scene: 13 Notable Swazi Hip-Hop Artists

Qibho Intalektual

Photo: Qibho And Sands via facebook

Poet and MC Qibho Intalektual has come a long way since his backpacking days with hip-hop collective The Movement. Recently blending his rhymes and poetry with vocalist and guitarist Sands’ harmonies and guitar riffs, he's grown from being an esoteric textbook rapper into an accessible artist. Together, the rapper and vocalist work as Qibho and Sands. They released an EP called Kingdom Stories Chapter One in 2014.

Qibho’s content revolves mostly around social issues that affect the everyday people of the small kingdom. He’s well-read, and equally well-spoken with accurate, fast-paced rhymes. The emcee has shared the stage with South African wordsmiths like Zubz and Tumi, and performed at the Bush Fire Festival and The Hipnotik Festival. He’s also part of the definitive Swazi poetry collective, Rooted Soulz. Qibho’s songs have topped the SBIS 2 charts, and the video to his recent single, “Ntfombatane Lenhle” (meaning “beautiful girl”), is currently on high rotation on Swaziland’s Swazi TV station.

Follow Qibho Intalektual on Twitter, Facebook, and SoundCloud.