ByLwansta Announced As Apple Music Up Next Artist For South Africa

26-year-old South African rapper and producer, ByLwansta (real name Lwandile Nkanyuza) is the latest recipient of Apple Music’s Up Next program, a local version of their global emerging artist platform which they launched early in 2021.

“For many years I’ve had the people that believe in me confidently tell me that ‘You’ve got next’ or that I’m ‘next up’. And while the trajectory has always been upward with every stride, it’s been very gradual. So I guess they just kept getting the words mixed up, maybe if they said “You’re Up Next” instead? Shout out to Apple Music for saying the magic words!” he tells Apple Music. 

Born in the small town of Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal, ByLwansta moved to Johannesburg to realise his dream of being a bona fide rapper and blazed his own trail independently, becoming the first South African artist to feature on COLORS, an influential YouTube channel that showcases exceptional talent from all over the world.

He continued his European dominance presenting and performing twice at Berlin’s Pop-Kultur Festival (2017, 2019) and Kitsun Afterwork in Paris (2019), while also making his mark on the local stages of prolific festivals and being aptly named one of the 25 South African Rappers Under 25 Killing The Game, by OkayAfrica.

His latest EP SPIJØNGET (Chapter Three), available to stream on Apple Music and released under his own label NORMVL, is the conclusion of the EP trilogy he started in 2019 with the release of SPIJØNGET (Chapter One). Over Chapter Three’s 4 tracks, ByLwansta is at his most articulate as a man who has found balance in his life, essentially rounding off his three-part journey and tying up thematic loose ends. 

As the newest Up Next artist to be spotlighted in South Africa, ByLwansta will be featured on Apple Music’s Up Next playlist. The curated playlist features a dynamic class of new and emerging artists, thoughtfully hand-picked by Apple Music editors from around the world. The playlist is genre agnostic and represents a line-up of artists Apple Music’s global editors are passionate about and eager to expose to a larger audience. 

The vast global Up Next roster of past talent includes Grammy-nominated and critically lauded talent like 6lack, Daniel Caesar, H.E.R., Greta Van Fleet, Khalid, Amy Shark, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Claudio, Sigrid, Mr Eazi, Stefflon Don, Bad Bunny, Juice WLRD, Bazzi, Jax Jones, NCT 127, Summer Walker, Tierra Whack, Dean Lewis, Pink Sweat$, Koffee, Megan Thee Stallion, Burna Boy, Clairo, Lunay, Jessie Reyez, Orville Peck, Victoria Monét, Ingrid Andress, Conan Gray, Don Toliver, Rema, BENEE, Holly Humberstone, Natanael Cano, Givēon, beabadoobee, Arlo Parks, Tate McRae, Fousheé and Tems.