CONFIDENCE IS DOMINANCE: BLAQ DIVA QUIN

They say confidence is key.

It is a vital component that many believe gives any person (or in this case, an artist) that 'edge' and makes them standout from the rest, but all in good ration of course!

No-one believes this to be true more than Bulawayo based hiphop/rnb female artist, Nobuntu Mnkandla, better known as Blaq Diva Quin, who in her own words says that 'confidence is dominance'.

"Be confident in whatever you do or whoever it is you are, it can be intimidating to others more often than not but that is the only way you will ever be a dominant force! It is no secret that, for you to succeed, you have to be confident in your own abilities first before anyone else can believe in you"

And being a strong believer in women empowerment she said,

"I myself, am a young, confident, independent and self-motivated female musician who strongly believes in the empowerment of women through art. My music encourages women to be stronger and firm no matter what kind of situation they are faced with", said the beautiful 18 year old rapper.

Blaq Diva Quin (BDQ) is currently putting the final touches to her singles collection EP titled 'NK9: The First Lady' that is slated for release in early 2017.

" I chose that title because l am representing my hood, Nketa 9 and the 'First Lady' part relates to me being the first female rapper who is of any significance in the area so far as my team is concerned", she said.

The 8-track Ep will include such tracks as 'Ma Hood', 'Defined', 'Gangstress', 'The Magnificent' and 'Summertime', among others.

On the Ep (NK9: The First Lady), she featured the likes of Frenzy Queen Tasha (a powerhouse in her own right) from Money Tocks Music and Samz Trill, to name a few.

According to the young musician, she started singing back in 2014 and featured on quite a number of other artists' work till she decided to persue a solo career early this year (2016).

She is inspired by the likes of Beyonce Knowles among other artists, whom she said she admired for their talent, work ethic and more importantly what they stood for.

"My ambition is to become one of the world's most successful women in terms of music just like Beyonce and all these other powerful female artists and also be an inspiration to the next generation.

"Talent is inborn and once you discover your own, ultimately, your passion and drive become necessary if you are to achieve your goals.  My talent just so happens to be making music so I naturally want to be able to reach out to a lot of people and to encourage them to stand for what they believe in through my craft, às it were, and to be happy while l do what l do", said BDQ, as she is affectionately known by her counterparts.

As to why she chose the hiphop genre as a medium through which to express herself, the young lady had this to say,

"Hiphop allows you to express your creativity and there is no limit to how great your mind can play around with words.

"Hiphop is a lifestyle, hence it is asier to express to the people what you know, what you see or what you have been through and thus I saw it as a suitable outlet and medium through which to reach out to people", she said.

The Bulawayo born and bred rapper said that she will be dropping her yet-to-be titled debut album in 2017 as well and that hiphop fans should expect fireworks!

Besides persuing music, Nobuntu also dedicates time to her studies. She is doing A Level sciences at Eveline High School and her aspiration is to be a successful, independent Biotechnologist.