She’s young, she’s fearless and she’s making serious noise on the come-up. Yadis has been building her lane and word on the streets is she’s got her eyes locked on that ZimHipHop Award this year.
We caught up with her to chop it up about her latest tape Ndakusasa, the collabs and what it means to be a female rapper in Zimbabwe right now.
Walk us through the production of Ndakusasa. What was the inspiration behind the project?
Yadis: There wasn’t really a theme to the tape, to be honest. It was me experimenting with different sounds, seeing what could stick. The whole goal was to test my range and find my sound in the process. This project is just a start.
Who did you link up with on this one? Any special mentions?
Yadis: Shoutout to Reactive Beats – he handled almost all the vocal recording and mixing, plus he produced Simba Rako and Life Yangu.
Then Tatenda LXA came through as recording and mixing engineer for Old Friend.
RayoBeats blessed Havazi Vanhu.
And yo, Hooksmith went crazy on Kepele. That’s fam – we even performed it together at Shoko Festival.
We got the music video cooking right now, should drop October. Trust me, that collab won’t be the last time you hear us together.
2025 seems like it’s already been a big year for you. What are some highlights so far?
Yadis: Definitely performing at Shoko Festival MashUp Night – that was major. And people are saying Kepele is already a radio hit, so I’m really hyped about that.
How do you feel about the current state of Zim hip hop, especially for women in the game? Do you feel like there’s competition out here?
Yadis: It’s pretty vibrant right now. My main mission is to make Zim hip hop exportable, take the sound beyond borders.
From the female side of things, there’s still so much room to occupy. Women have less representation in hip hop, and I’m just one of the stats flipping that script.
Yadis is proof that the new wave is alive and hungry. With Ndakusasa mixtape setting the tone and Kepele buzzing heavy, don’t be surprised if her name’s ringing even louder when award season hits.
Listen to the full EP, Ndakusasa using the link below and share with us your comments
