Anonymou$ RAP$ (2003 - )

Tshepo Mkhwanazi is a South African artist, producer and founder of Noewanstudios. He had lived in a small town just in between Johannesburg and the Free State called Vereeniging. There, he lived with his mother and father who were both bookkeeping graduates. He and his mother moved out from Vereeniging later when his father died during the festive season. They relocated back to Johannesburg where then he lived with his uncles, aunts and his mother. That's the epicenter for his love for music. Although no local artist that resided in the same area inspired him (simply because an introvert like him would know so much about his own neighborhood) it's where he experienced the wonders of cable TV. Now exposed to music channels 24/7, it was natural that the fondness for music would eventually start growing.

His early influences in music began in the Young Money Cash Money era. This was when the Hip-Hop scene was just transitioning from boom bap to trap music and contemporary rap. He was heavily influenced by the likes of Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Drake, Lupe Fiasco, etc. Young of age and no clue whatsoever about the rap industry, RAP$ just listened to the music hoping someone could explain how it was created. As a kid, RAP$ was keen on finding out how music was created, rather than how people listened to it. in August of 2012, RAP$'s mother died of breast cancer and RAP$ was forced to move away from the little suburban town of Malvern to the streets of Tembisa with his little sister.

This is when RAP$'s love for music started dying too. Instead of writing songs expressing his feelings, he took a more detailed way to do it - short stories. Having enrolled to 2 private schools, it is only expected of RAP$'s grammar and vocabulary to allow him to venture into the world of creative writing. He'd create short stories, manuscripts, dialogues and even wanted to start his own comics. That failed quickly as he is not that type of artist. RAP$ took a break from music and later on , writing. Now a normal kid, RAP$ lived through the rest of his primary school life taking it day by day. Little did anyone know what events and influences were going to change his mind as he went to high school.

In high school, RAP$ met a friend who reminded him of the enthusiasm he once had when he was living in Malvern. They would talk for hours about music and even lied about the songs and clout they possess in their respective neighborhoods. This became a nostalgic moment for RAP$, a lot might even say his turning point, only to find out that it did not get him back to loving music, although it did get him interested in it again. It was in the tenth grade when we would see RAP$ actually contributing something, He made even more friends who actually did record something and upload on the internet. His keen brain to know how music was made was resurrected and we saw new music coming from the 15 year old (during that time). RAP$ released his first song titled ''Blood'' in 2018 which featured (now known as Rudey) Lil Stizzy. The song was later deleted from the internet, under his first rap name ''YUUNG TRUUCE''. As Lil Stiizy took a break from music, RAP$ was in studio working on his first mixtape. While in studio, RAP$ visually learned music production soft wares, mainly Cubase and FL Studio from his producer. He dropped a teaser EP titled ''Just an EP'' which, if you can search thoroughly through Audiomack, you can still find pieces of it. The mixtape dropped but was later deleted also. In 2019, RAP$ received a laptop for his 16th birthday. This is the turning point we have been hoping for.

He purchased the soft wares he was already familiar with, Cubase 4 and FL Studio 10. Unfamiliar to YouTube at the time, RAP$ self-taught music production. Not good quality, not even the last basic quality you can find, but he went on producing anyway. He had worked with other up and coming acts such as AKO Jimmie, Flxppy K, Convict and others. On his 17th birthday, RAP$ dropped GAIA, his first complete mixtape, which is still on the internet. Doing his senior year in high school, RAP$ took a break from music to focus on his studies. He graduated high school the following year and bought studio equipment with the money he received fro good grades. It was only after 6 months that he dropped his debut EP titled The Winter Project on June 16th, a public holiday in South Africa. This was released to all major digital streaming platforms and had good critics from his peers and the new fans he got. After 3 months, he released the deluxe edition, which boosted his street cred.

Earlier in 2022, RAP$ announced that he will be establishing his own company called Noewanstudios. He calls it the revolution of how studios are run. Noewanstudios is an independent recording company that offer services such as mixing and mastering, recording, beat purchasing, video shoots and editing, etc. He later released The Winter Project 2 on the same date the first one. Anonymou$ RAP$ now makes music for a living and is producing music for a lot now upcoming artists in his area. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.