Aspiring East London-born Christian rapper Lux Kentane has been signed by a Johannesburg record label.
The label, Fresh Impressions, has worked with a number of artists such as C Jay, Crown Gospel Award winner Blaque NuBon and afro-soul singer Lilly Million.
They are also responsible for a number of big concerts across the continent that have featured a number of international rappers like Grammy Award winning Christian rapper Lecrae.
Kentane, 21, said the new deal would give him an opportunity to reach places and people he would not have been able to in his own capacity.
Fresh Impressions’ Harold Moyo said they were impressed by Kentane’s focus on his music.
“He is content-driven and has mastered the art of presenting himself online,” he said.
Moyo said they were already planning to organise a massive concert nationally that would feature local and international artists.
“We are not just a record label – we do a number of shows across the continent as well. We want to give Lux a bigger platform to share his music,” he said.
Although the Christian hip-hop genre is still at growth stage in the South Africa music scene, Moyo was confident that in the next few years it would be on the same level as traditional gospel.
“We have international rappers like Lecrae, who was once unknown but now he has a Grammy and is no longer known by Christians only.
“As a country we are on the right path,” he said.
Walter Mdangayi, Christian radio station Link FM’s programmes manager, said the biggest challenge for Christian rappers was distribution deals.
“In general gospel music does well but for hip-hop it’s still a challenge. Most artists sell their CDs at shows and you can’t really estimate their sales,” he said.
Mdangayi, who has worked with Kentane, said he was proud of the work he had done.
Kentane said he would release his first project under the label later this year. — poliswap@dispatch.co.za