Rasta Stylin with Mavin Kanyawayi, Destiny delayed but not denied
‘Rasta ology psychology ideology /
Reggae revolution man ah dweet without apology /
Holipa One love dat Babylon can never Measure /
Selassie I set the trend so I man nah pretend /
The teachings the preaching’s that I man comprehend /
Leads the way that Mossiah taught InI to defend /
The council of the canal mind I Man nah attend /
So look to the east redemption of blacks’
Mavin Kanyawayi – Rasta Stylin
Mavin Kanyawayi, is the New Name of the artist formerly known as SloTizo, an abbreviation of his birth given name Solomon Tembo. The name change came at a difficult period in his personal life but was critical in shaping his public persona. Circumstances forced him to take a break from making music, and when he returned, he came as an unapologetic Rasta with a lyrical flow unmatched and a Rasta visual culture reminiscent of the Rockers era with a modern and rural twist. He altered his delivery style, his lyrics had more meaning, his vision was solidified. He pushed further by shaping and developing his own delivery style which comes with a slightly altered pronunciation of words (replacing the letter R with L), intended to blend with the rhythm, a style to fit the pattern of beats. “When I am writing songs I normally write in such a way that when I am pronouncing them, every word has to go with a strike of an instrument or lets say a tone of a guitar or keyboard chord, even the percussion and sometimes the one drop;” he explained via our online correspondence. The transformation is evident is in his latest works “Until” and “Rise Again” and ultimately finely tuned and refined in his latest dub reggae tune and video: Rasta Style.
Mavin Kanyawayi was born in Lilongwe, the capital and most populated city of Malawi; but he grew up in the rural south eastern part of the city, at an agricultural institute. He started recording music in 2008 but it was only in 2015 when he released his first compilation ‘The Farmville mixtape’ that he got the attention his peers. ‘Jah Sound EP followed in the same year, with a banging opening track “Walking Away” featuring Cinta. New Name mixtape, a whole packaged project to announce the name change came in 2017. The intro clearly and eloquently introduces his new name and meaning before delving into musical flow of his Rasta Stylin. In 2018 after completing his studies in Agriculture at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (
Mavin is an independent artist with an independent open mind who is making his mark on the Reggae Dancehall scene through his poetic song writing and lyrical delivery with a visual Rasta impact. He managed to take some time off to engage with us via email and it go so.
Where did it all start for Mavin Kanyawayi, musically speaking.
Well, I was born with the name Solomon Tembo in Lilongwe, in the rural South East of Malawi. Being the first born in our family I grew up with the motive to inspire others. I have grew up at an agriculture university campus all my childhood. I recall as a teen I used to gather my friends to entertain and motivate them with acts, poems, hymns even songs by well-known local musicians at that time. I wrote my first song when I was 15, a reggae feel song titled ‘Sodom Congo’. From that moment I adopted the name Congo which later on proved to be my genesis for influence of Reggae and Rasta. I never recorded Sodom Congo but I went on to write more than 40 songs between 2006 and 2008 of which I never recorded any. In 2008, I was introduced to a ghetto studio by one of the high school mate and went on to record my first Dancehall song with the name SloTizo. In 2011, in my first Year in college, I started writing songs again, with passion, vision and mission.
Then it all culminated with the ‘New Name’ EP, which projects a man who was once burdened and had a lot to take off his mind and clear his chest, care to share what was going on in your life during that time?
Yeah most definitely! New Name Mixtape was released in 2017, it had 23 tracks. Most of these tracks were produced in late 2016. I decided to name the tape ‘New name’ as the tracks in that tape adopted the name Mavin Kanyawayi. I decided to abandon the name SloTizo because it never had a concrete meaning but also trace of origin. It was just an abbreviation for the name Solomon Tembo. It was during that time in September when I lost my father, after seeing him breathing in hospital for 5 days; I was waiting for deciding exam whether to be withdrawn from university or not in a repeating class. When this and several other undisclosed series of events had passed and I succeed in my exam, I decided to adopt a new name to alternate growth, courage, mission and originality. ‘Mavin’ is Hebrew which means man of understanding who pass on knowledge to others while Kanyawayi is named after a river cutting across my father’s home village, named by the Ngoni’s who misinterpreted the Tumbukatribe language word ‘Nganyawane’ which means a friend of mine. So Mavin Kanyawayi means ‘Man of understanding who pass on knowledge unto others is a friend of mine’. With this name, I increased the energy, rejuvenated different old styles with modern styling.
The transformation is evident energy wise, what did you have to go through to prepare yourself mentally and physically for the new name?
I recall 2015 when we were recording ‘Farmville Mixtape’ with DJ Sley, he suggested that I should change my name as SloTizo was more like a hip-hop artist name, at that time I insisted to maintain the same name. Later in 2016 during the ‘New Name Mixtape” project with Dkez Walker, I felt it was time I had to change. I knew it would take time for fans to adopt the new name but not only that, I also felt about all those projects under the name SloTizo and what it had taken me to publicize myself with that name. I wanted transformation and change and I had to accept that it would take time for people to understand who is Mavin Kanyawayi and why not the old name. I had to accept the challenge and take courage to work hard for big projects than I had done before for fans to never be disappointed with the new name.
Was there any resistance from the fans and the industry regarding your sudden change?
Haha Yeah! I remember one fan telling me it will be hard to be known with that name as most fans are used to the name SloTizo. I produced two songs ‘New Name’ and ‘Why’ to institute this name. New Name explained what Mavin Kanyawayi is and what fans should expect while in ‘Why’ I artistically extracted 2 lines from each song I wrote and produced under the old name to make 3 verses for this song. The fans loved these songs and the song ‘New Name’ was once an anthem when I was in college. Then plus several other songs, the new name was established.
Hard as it may be to hear criticism from your fans, isn’t it also assuring that there are people who care enough about you and what you produce?
Oh yeah! Very assuring and I also give thanks for every criticism, it shaped me but also help me to strategies musically and to understand how best to present myself in implementing Word, Sound and Power. Above all it made me understand who my audiences are.
What are the most important lessons that you learnt out of that period?
Yah! Actually the major lesson I learnt is to be sure in every decision I make musically, to well reflect the past and anticipate the future as anything I publish cannot be reversed. To continue being real and true to what I deliver.
How did you manage to keep your sound the same from one project to the other, I’m guessing with transformation one would want to do a complete overhaul?
Yah surely! For me I knew the reason why I was called on this mission and changing my stage name was not supposed to change that mission but rather further explain what that mission was. I am like a messenger. Rastafari! So I maintained the same rhythm because I fully understand is one best way to communicate effectively. Reggae.
Talking about sound, you are a very versatile artist who manages to interchange effortlessly between different styles of delivery but still manages to keep “Your Sound” intact. How do you manage to do that? Did you experiment with this along the way or it just came naturally?
I am glad you have noticed. My key is the lyrics. I am a poet and I write songs in such a way that they can fit any genre and any style, even for spoken word. As such when I am doing a song from any instrumental I am flexible to choose a style on how best I can express the song words. I can do any genre and artist from any genre can make songs from these lyrics like they were originally written specifically for that genre. It’s something that I have improved with time.
How did you link up with C Man from South Africa and who else do you wish to collaborate with in the near future?
Well, for the ‘Hold On’ project with C-Man, I was approached by Balcan, Managing Director of Ballitainment Media. He proposed if I could do a tune with their artist. When I listened to some of C-Man’s work, I felt it was worth doing the collaboration with him. The Song was produced by New Breed in RSA. We plan to do several collaborations with other African Reggae Artist to form a complete touch of African flavor. We would wish to work out something with Black Dilinger from RSA among other artist. We have recently been in touch with Levi Maeka from Zimbabwe. Bobo Levi from Cote d’Ivoire and Jah Mocko from Senegal are some of the artists in our circle.
When can we expect your new Album and which artist are you going to/did you feature?
Yes I, new album coming up at the end of this year. You know having produced 2 mix tapes ‘Farmville (2015)’ and ‘New Name (2017)’ and 2 EPs ‘Jah Sound (2016)’ and ‘Reggae Reverberation (2018)’, we felt the maturity and it’s high time we had to put up an album to sum up and recommend the type of music we radiate and our style of delivery. This Album is being produced by Tkmore of Low Fat Records, the one who produced ‘Reggae Reverberation EP, the only official compilation we commercialized and Hendrik of Soulfyah production from Germany. This album will have 12 songs and will feature 3 artists, which I can’t tell now but are from Africa and abroad. The album is specifically natured to teach, motivate and inspire.
What motivates you?
When I release a new song and see the audience widen up and getting large with new links and doors being open, is one of the things that motivates me as an artist to produce more songs and keep on the spirit of Word, Sound and Power to reach out more people. Bless!
What makes you happy?
Music! Music makes happy and it is the only remedy for I when I am down and stressed. I roll my blunt and light it up, turn the volume up and relax, joy surrounds’ me. Selah!
What does the future hold for Mavin?
You know she Jah mission it is and let Jah lead the way. The future is bright and I am working very hard to make it brighter. Bless up!
Is Mavin a Family Man? Married? In a Relationship?Kids?
Well I would say naturally Mavin Kanyawayi is a family man, but I am not married and no kids. I decided to focus on the album project at the moment.
Last words?
Yes I, One love and blessings to MzansiReggae for the interview and energy to connect, fans, DJs, Artist etc., across the world on Southern African Reggae. Big up to all the fans, artist, promoters, media presenters, online magazines, just to mention a few, for the support of Mavin Kanyawayi music and reggae music in general. For the moment I am looking forward to signing any record label that will come through. Reggae music lives! Rasta Stylin