Ras Jahlil Negasi

Born Clive Muziwendoda Herbst to local soccer legend Roy Herbst and wife Evah Herbst in the winter of 1995 in June. He began writing RaPs in grade 5 and actually RaPped for the first time 3 years later for a World Book Day function at school. It was that reaction from his school mates that made him decide to choose music. A year later he performed again for another function at school and that would cement his choice even with his parents. His mother loved that he loved music, his father worried it might interfere with his academic performance, a field Ras performed well in too. A few more years in, his father's worried proved ungrounded as Ras completed his junior certificate year with a first class pass.

Born in an awkwardly rural part of Swaziland Ras's career went unnoticed for a few years, radio seemed to ignore him, so did event organizers, and other stakeholders in the Swazi nepotic industry. When his career did start to pick up he went as far as the top 15 in the country's first ever MTN Spotlight Talent Search. He proved a very formidable artist, a force to be reckoned with, doing thousands of streams weekly on some platforms. It is very clear that there is a lot more to be expected from him, with an EP coming right up and a host of singles and cover songs behind him, the last two years is the busiest the artist has ever been in his career so far....

Called many things, Ras is a humble human who savours his solitude and creation time. Some have called him The Prince Of African Hip Hop, The Son Of African Soil, The Future of Swazi Hip Hop, The GOAT and my personal favourite, Negasi meaning "he who will be king" or "he who will rule."