Cibil Nyte resurfaces

8057,Dumisani Ncube,php79F5.tmp.jpg, | Friday May 13, 2016 00:00

Cybil Nyte was the darling of Botswana Hip hop between the years 2009 and 2011. He was famous for his solid lyrical raps that made him the best MC in Africa in the year 2009 when he won MC Africa and pocketed USD$10,000 at the age of 17 when he was still at high school doing his Form Five.

This made him one of the few local rappers to pocket such an amount from rap music. He invested in studio equipment with the money he won.

Upon being crowned the best rapper in the continent he went on to work on a project titled Nyte Time that was well received by various listeners. “I sold 2,000 copies of that project at UB,” he said laughing. The rapper was talented to the extent that Motswako veteran HHP was impressed.

With all the success and recognition he was getting locally and internationally in 2011, Cibil Nyte decided to quietly step out of the limelight. N

o official announcement of some sort as he decided to focus much on his academic studies since he was studying Politics and Administration at the University of Botswana (UB).

Most of his performances were clashing with his academic calendar, which was a challenge to him.

“At that point I received a lot of criticism from people that said I have thrown away opportunities of making more money, growing my rap craft and going abroad. Little did they know that I had decided to focus on school so I can get more strength, muscle as a musician and control of my life than to be controlled,” said the 24-year-old rapper.

He also received encouragement from the likes of HHP that he has decided to focus on academics.

With the knowledge that he was once at his highest peak and also receiving criticism, Cibil Nyte was under pressure as he got depressed on whether he should be doing music, but encouragement from his mother and focusing on sports such as athletics, made him more strong.

“I was still involved in the music industry as I recorded a number of tracks and also helped my rap friends such as AMMo Ski Mask and Obado with music related issues.” He quickly lost bookings locally but he was still getting booked in places like South Africa.

While focusing on his academics Cibil Nyte’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012. “This made me step out of music completely as I was also taking care of my mom.”

He said at this stage he was facing a double-edged sword with his mother not feeling well and pressure from the world talking about his absence from the rap game. He stated that despite showing strength during her days of being diagnosed with cancer he had to witness his mother going through all the stages such as loosing weight and walking using support system.

“She showed strength but it affected me inside coz I knew that one day something will happen. With support of people such as Ncinci Moitsadi, AMMo Ski Mask and Obado to mention but a few, I managed to stay positive”.

Cybil Nyte says he does not regret any decisions he took from taking a break from music, as he is sure that all the decisions he took to step away from the music industry have made him a much stronger and wiser musician.

After watching his mother battle cancer for years she passed away late last year when he was just two weeks away from writing his exams. “This hit me hard. I just decided to leave town without even writing my exams, which I later wrote early this year and passed all my courses,” said an emotional Cibil Nyte. He says he is doing everything to honour her as she helped him to be a positive person in life and sacrificed a lot for him.

He recently made a come back with a new single titled I bet. He staged his first performance in ages at Naked Soul Sessions a few weeks ago. He still has that stage presence as he performed a number of songs that people sang along to.

All this time, he has been working on new material as he is planning on realising a new mixed tape late this month after his last exams at UB. Prior to that, he will drop a single this month that will premier in Cliff Central in South Africa.

He is currently signed under Faded Music Group with the likes of Faded Gang, Gabby, Owen Bands and Trippy Rhe.