KWAME YESU TALKS NEW EP, BLACK SHERIF AND MIMLIFE RECORDS.

Kwame Yesu released his new EP “The Last Supper”. We sat down to have a conversation with him about his journey, upcoming show and more.

730 Mag : It is good to finally have this conversation with you. First of all. How has 2023 been for Kwame Yesu?

Kwame Yesu : 2023 has been a good one, drop a single Libation which has been getting great reception. Got signed to a label (Mimlife Records) dropped an ep THE LAST SUPPER less than 2weeks ago, and working towards a concert set to happen in a few days so yeah its been blissful.

730 Mag : If Kwame was not making music, what else will Kwame be doing? Can you give us a short insight into what making music means to you?

Kwame Yesu : I would have somehow found myself working in the creative industry cause’ i’m into graphic designing as well, and prior to music I dabbled as a model.
Making music is freedom to me, it’s therapeutic sometimes, other days an escape but for the most part it’s a medium of expression. Whenever I enter the studio its total freedom to express myself however I want.

730 Mag : In a period when everyone is being Afrobeats inclined there are people like yourself who are keeping Hiphop active. Does Kwame Yesu feel Hiphop needs saving? And are we going to see hop on the Afrobeats wave?

Kwame Yesu : Well, hiphop needs saving but then again hiphop is in good hands cause I’m involved & I feel like its gonna take people like myself to keep the hiphop culture alive in a heavy afrobeats scene as we have it now. Afrobeats has pushed the African music more into the global music but music as we know is diverse and we all cannot be afrobeats artists but not disregarding the facts that I got a couple of afrobeats songs out, but I try fuse it with the blend of the Yesu sauce so it doesn’t sound like the genre afrobeats songs but has a touch of hiphop in there. You definitely you gonna hear a few afrobeats songs from me.

730 Mag : You’ve been doing this as an independent artiste for a very long time but this year you signed Mimlife Records. First of all congratulations. Why now? And Why Mimlife Records?

Kwame Yesu : Thank you brother. I feel this is the right time. Right time to combine forces to get the name/music/brand to a higher height. Mimlife Records is like a family to me. Been an affiliate since I started working with their very own Kimilist and the relationship has organic never forced so when the idea of joining the team was proposed its only right to sign under them cause I think they gonna help bring my vision to light.

730 Mag : You seem to have found your own unique identity. Your art works have always been great, your imagery is nice. What goes into creating the image we see on the outsider?

Kwame Yesu : First of I wanna give a big shoutout to my team who work tirelessly brainstorming to come up with creative ideas and directions. I mean alot of work has gone into the creative direction/imagery of Kwame Yesu. There are days we bump heads on the way, days we end up having lot of great ideas for a project and faced the dilemma on the best one to go with, working at odd hours to get what we want is not a joke haha. Luckily I have a team who’s vision aligns with mine and we always end up with the direction that will help further our goal.

730 Mag : As mentioned earlier, your imagery is one aspect of craft which is vibrant. Are we ever going to see Kwame venture into the fashion industry? Maybe as a model or a designer. You had a merch line at some point right?

Kwame Yesu : Haha, as mentioned earlier i was dabbling with modeling since it’s just that music stole me away but I still design merch and stuff for myself and others but it’s been slow for awhile now, steady learning and building on my craft in background and working to get better resources need to produce the best of the best stuff. I believe fashion and music goes hand in hand so seeing me venture into the fashion industry isn’t far fetched, definitely something you can lookout for. We are just working to build the foundation now for the moment in the future where it will all align.

730 Mag : In 2021, Anadwo happened. Many believe it is one of the best Drill songs from Ghana. How did you manage to get Black Sherif and Kimilist on that record. Especially Blacko. Because prior to that you had worked with Kimilist.

Kwame Yesu : Working on that song was an amazing experience. Got a beat pack from Ghanaian Stallion a collaborator of mine. The pack contained the beat for Anadwo which was actually my least favorite from the pack he shared. My manager and I were listening to beats and planning on next project, he heard the beat and suggested Blacko for it since he had previously reached out to work on something but due to circumstances couldn’t happen. Fast forward Blacko and I went to Mimlife studio to record the song and after we both layered our verses we realized we had created magic. Kimilist, who happened to be in the studio loved what we created and decided to hop on it and that was the birth of Anadwo and the journey has been amazing since.

730 Mag : You recently dropped your new project “The Last Supper”. What went into making the project and why this particular title?

Kwame Yesu : Quiet alot went into making THE LAST SUPPER cause its a project that’s been in the pipeline for awhile. The project we have out now is the second variation of the tape. We initially worked on it whole set of songs and different direction for the Ep but we lost all the project files and my entire unreleased music files. We had to begin from scratch that’s when the the idea for THE LAST SUPPER came into play from a conversation with with Moorsound. The team and I had to restructure a new direction for the project and new songs. The title of the EP is a clever wordplay on my name (Kwame Yesu) where “Yesu” means Christ and just like the Last Supper in Christian tradition marked the beginning of something greater.
Creating this project was fun tho, working with different producers moving from studio to studio creating great music which weaves together to form the amazing body of work we can share with the fans and the world as a whole.

730 Mag : You are signed, you have an EP out, you have announced a show. How has the reception for the tape been like, and what should expect at the concert?

Kwame Yesu : The reception has been great. Getting great reviews from critics, mentors and peers reaching out to express respect and love for the tape is good feeling. Numbers keeps growing as well and I’m thankful for that.
Well, the Concert is going to be a whole experience where my fans get to feast with me. There’ll be other amazing artists pass through to support, I’ll urge everyone to make it a point to come celebrate the release of ep with me and celebrate the hiphop culture as a whole on its 50th anniversary.

730 Mag : It has been great having this conversation with you. We wish you the very best in your future endeavors. What last words do you have for your listeners and followers?

Kwame Yesu : I wanna say a big thank you to everyone who’s been supportive of the journey since day zero and also the new fans who just joined the bus to hold tight cause we’ve got a whole lot for them. Bless!

Interview by Nana Kojo Mula (@nanakojomula)

Photography by Bryne Shot It (@bryne_shot_it)