Heatyy wants to leave a mark through hip-hop

Standard People
By Kennedy Nyavaya Budding Bulawayo-based rapper Mark “Heatyy” Mabwe has dropped his debut six-track extended play (EP) titled Finally, a project he says is aimed at simultaneously inspiring the youth and chastise those smearing the name of hip-hop. The 21-year-old artiste, who started writing lyrics at primary school before entering the studio in 2019 to […]

By Kennedy Nyavaya

Budding Bulawayo-based rapper Mark “Heatyy” Mabwe has dropped his debut six-track extended play (EP) titled Finally, a project he says is aimed at simultaneously inspiring the youth and chastise those smearing the name of hip-hop.

The 21-year-old artiste, who started writing lyrics at primary school before entering the studio in 2019 to release his first track titled Drunk Truth, has proved to be consistent by churning out lots of singles in the recent past.

In an interview with Standard Style, Heatyy said the positive reaction to his profound work so far has stimulated him to continue using music as an artistic expression to inspire young people across the country.

“My general inspiration was the power of influence that music has and the fact that I could inspire a generation with words and a beat really spoke to me. Also, hearing my musical inspirations, like Lil Wayne, Drake and Nicki Minaj,” he said.

“I would like to be able to construct my verses and wordplay with depth of message in a way that resembles my inspirations but has a distinct original style of my own.”

Rap Music, the established fitness and commercial model added, should be relatable and that is why his work largely explores messages of modern hustle, hope and purpose.

“I mainly push current affairs, things that happen in society like how young people are in pursuit of a fast-paced life and chase money (because) basically the gist of my music is to promote and, in a sense, bring back real rap skills with a message behind,” added Heatyy.

“While there are also generally lots of rappers who do not push meaningful music nowadays, I am there to do a lot of calling them out.”

Juggling between art and academic studies at the Midlands State University, the lyricist underscored the absence of sufficient conventional music distribution as a major problem for young musicians in the country.

He pointed  out that he is happy with the gradual traction his work has been getting on various online platforms it is uploaded on.

Heatyy promised more visuals for his music and “a lot more top-notch releases from me this year going forward”.

“I aim to make music that lasts over time and I will achieve that through continuous improvement and refinement of my style,” said Heatyy, who hopes to collaborate with Holy Ten, Ammara Brown and Tammy Moyo in future.