Name: West Njokweni
Instagram Handle/Username: @westnjoks
Introduce Yourself/Tell About Yourself: Born as Mawethu Njokweni, West Njokweni is
a Rap/Hip hop artist who writes his lyrics in
Xhosa (Mother Toungue), Born in Port Alfred
Eastern Cape and grew up in Peddie
(Emaxhegweni Location) not far from Port
Alfred, South Africa.
He started writing songs in 2008 although his
love for music had long began when he left
the Eastern Cape to KwaZulu Natal that is
when he recorded his first song that led to him
getting on stage, performing live for the very
first time in the competiton then he took it
back home to the Eastern Cape with some
performance around the province.
West has worked with a number of artists and
producers such as Dj NKO Madlala (Durban),
Rhyma, Elcee Gweja (Nigeria) just to name a
few.
West Njokweni
Released his first mixtape titled
uSathane wo Mboko which sold 850
copies on the streets, in the year 2010
and that was the project that created a
buzz for this rapper as it got a lot of
airplay and some local radio stations
like KOWIE FM, Now Ndlambe FM,
ICORA FM, ZULULAND FM, RADIO
GRAHAMSTOWN, KQ FM to mention
few.
Known for pouring his heart to his lyrics,
West Njokweni writes and raps in Xhosa
as it his home language, he believes his
music is for everyone from young
people to our grand parents. He writes
about the things that affects people on
a daily basis “Writing in Xhosa makes
me feel real, honest and true to my self
and everyone that listens to my music”
– West said…
The port Alfred born and bred rapper
managed to share the stage with the
likes of Mbongeni Ngema, Imithente,
Big Nuz, L’vovo Derango, Dumza
Maswana, Berita and many more.
West decided to take a break n music in
2015 after the release of his 2
nd
mixtape tittled XIV Pages Westenised
volume 2.
In 2019, October 22nd he surprisingly
came back with the project tittled
Izimvo Zombhali, which is a 16 track
mixtape which he co produced and
arranged all the songs on the project, it
is available on Itunes, Google Play,
Amazon and all other digital stores
What Inspires You Every day? : Being the reason for the next person smile, or when I see someone smile because of me I got really inspired or seeing someone happy.
What is some words of wisdom you live by?: You can’t change the past but you can make the future.
What is your ultimate goal in life? : Is to make sure that me and my loved ones are happy and healthy all the time.
And to make the best out of life that includes pushing dreams and always word harder.
How have you been during the pandemic and how has it affected you? : I’ve been very strong, at some point I’ve been at my lowest in terms of the energy.
Seeing people dying around you is never a good thing to experience that only is way too bad.
And I believe we all been affected so bad by the pandemic, it hit us so bad financially as we can no longer hustle as normal, we have to change our plans, our strategies and the approach.
What is a positive message you would like to give others? : The more you give, the more you’ll receive. It could be blessings or anything just make sure to show good humanity, respect, spread love and help where you can.
What questions would you like to ask others?:
1.their thoughts about art?
2. How was 2020 for them?
3. How they see the world and everything that is happening around us now.
