Manzi Ntare Nkaka, also known by his stage name Mxnzi Le Poete, has released his highly anticipated slam-tape dubbed ‘Renaissance Tale 1.’ The five-track tape comes after almost two years since Manzi started producing it alongside Josh, the main sound engineer of Renaissance tale 1. A slam tape is an experimental project where the crowd dives into a vast expanse of irregular stories, According to Manzi, the brains behind Renaissance tale 1. This tape, he said, foregrounds craftsmanship and lyricism in a futuristic way while remaining connected to current visible and hidden realities. “It is a blend of heavy lyricism with hip-hop beats crafted from an assortment of local African sounds,” he told The New Times after releasing the tape. ‘Renaissance tale 1’ is an experimental project that will be followed by Manzi’s debut album which is expected to premiere in 2023. “I did produce an album and the idea of having it done inspired this tape, which simply means that the album can drop whenever I’m in the right state of mind.” “After everything Ive been through, getting back to my idea of producing my first spoken word album felt like coming back to life, and the way toward conceptualizing, making, and recording each piece on the album gives me a sensation of a parent bringing forth her firstborn. Along these lines, this album truly implies a great deal to my own life and my career,” Manzi said, talking about his unreleased spoken word album. The slam tape which is already out on different online streaming platforms features fast rising musicians such as Ric Noir who appears on track four titled ‘Historical Era’ and Owizyforlife whose vocals appeared on track five, ‘Gweja’. As a poet, actor, writer, spoken word artist, and an expressionist who experiments with different configurations of storytelling, Manzi combined all these talents to achieve a noteworthy goal of finalising this uncommon kind of tape. He has produced and performed Shrouded Barriers, a 45-minute theatrical solo play that was launched in 2019 in Kigali and Nairobi with the main goal of integrating variations between human beings. He is the only artiste who produced and performed this long solo play. He has also performed in different big festivals like Kenya International Theatre Festival (KITF) among others.
