Some know him for “Bounce” on TikTok, and others are only beginning to vibe to him because of “My Lady”, whatever the case may be, his name remains Lexsil nonetheless, one of Kenya’s jewels versatile in the arts of moulding afrobeats and Bongo flava.
For most, their greatest inspirations live through stereos and music video, but it’s those closest to them that serve as a ladder to the top. The Bongo flava musician shared the developmental stages of his career, giving props to family and friends who influenced his love for music. An autodidact, Lexsil is a textbook exhibit of a DIY artist who has had no mentors but had to feel his way to his destination through blundering and bettering himself.
“My love for music was driven by my brother, who was a dancer and I mostly took him to shows around Kenya. While growing up, I was moved by musical instruments, which prompted me to learn the piano from my friend. Thereafter, my friend introduced me to the production software Fruity Loops and I started recording music. I had to teach myself but also, I would learn from the producers and upcoming musicians who were in the same studio as myself.” he said.
The Kenyan muso recently dropped his single “My Lady” alongside BET Award-winning Tanzanian star Rayvanny as well as Reekado Banks. Close to touching the 1 million views landmark on YouTube, the piano-backed ballad is an emotional ride into the inner world of a man smitten with his lover. He spoke about the creation process of the song, speaking about the happenstance of the song’s birth and the subsequent fortitious meeting with Rayvanny in South Africa.
“How my the song “My Lady” came to be is a very interesting story because I never believed in the song, to be honest. I was just vibing in studio with my producer E-music and we recorded the first verse, and I moved on to other songs recording. I didn’t have interest in the song ever again until the RKC record label boss Noriega Donself heard the song and he said it’s the next big project due for release. He sat us down and made sure we didn’t leave until I recorded verse two, did the mixing and mastering then submitted to our distributor/partners Ziiki for release. Then while in a music recording camp dubbed ZiiBeats in South Africa organized by Ziiki Media, Rayvanny loved the song and he did a verse, posted a small bit of it on TikTok. Reekado Banks saw the post and jumped on the song also.” he said.
Watch “My Lady” Here:
When probed about his influences, he singled out Virginian singer-songwriter Chris Brown and “Calm Down” hit-maker Rema as his primary wells of music creation. However, he noted that he has formed an identity by culling various African sounds such as afrobeats, afropop, and R&B. Although some of the greats he has studied have been from abroad, he stressed the importance of staying true to oneself for growth.
“The secret is to staying authentic in your unique sound and ability while still paying attention to new emerging trends and not letting them sway you. You have to understand the new wave, ride the wave but don’t let it drown you.” he said.
In the age of social media and high digitisation, Lexsil has credited social media platforms such as TikTok for making his music not only discoverable but also accessible even to people who might’ve not known about his music due to geographical distance.
“Social media has impacted my career a lot. My biggest song “Bounce”, which doubles up as the second biggest song on Spotify by a Kenyan artist, was a result of trending on TikTok. “My Lady” also is currently trending on TikTok which translate to streams on DSPs.” he said.
Watch “Bounce” below:
Concerning experimentation and expansion of territory musically, Lexsil praised South Africa’s amapiano, admitting that jumping on the Yanos has been on his mind for a minute.
“I’m not gonna lie, the amapiano sound is crazy good especially when the production is originating in South Africa. I wanna shout out my distributor Ziiki for putting us onto this sound through the recording camps. I think I should drop an amapiano sound soon. What do ya’ll think?” he said, laughing.
