Interview by ARMC | Edited by Reggie Rasodi
Meet Buzzi Lee, the vibrant Hip-Hop artist hailing from Pretoria West, nestled in the heart of Atteridgeville township. Known for her distinctive style, Buzzi Lee’s fashion choices often showcase the favorite color of our ARMC media guru, Reggie Rasodi – a bold and unapologetic pink. Beyond her fashion statement, Buzzi Lee brings a unique flavor to the Hip-Hop scene, intertwining her cultural roots with the rhythmic beats of her music. Get ready to dive into a world where music meets a splash of pink, as Buzzi Lee sets the stage on fire with her electrifying presence and unmistakable style.
Pitori’s very own, please introduce yourself and share a little about your musical journey?
Hello my name is Buzzi Lee, I am a Hip-Hop artist from Pretoria West in a township called Atteridgeville (Pheli). My musical journey began when I was in varsity, hanging out with people who had already been pushing music as producers and rappers/vocalists. They convinced me to hop on a beat and wrote me a song as I had no knowledge of how to even go about making a song, then I recorded it and I was impressed with how the final product sounded and that my voice was mixed and mastered sounding way different than It had when I recorded. I then decided to make music my after-school hobby and I’d go to studio alot when I had free time. Eventually the COVID pandemic hit and I was in my 3rd year almost done with school and was bored as we were home for almost the whole year. I used all my spare time to learn how to write for myself and I would use beats from the internet to practice. As soon as the pandemic came to a slow down I met with different producers who would later release songs I’m featured on and so began my music career.
What motivated you to choose music as your career path?
My friends encouragement and belief that I’d make it big in this industry was the first driving force to motivate me into making music for a living and also my overall love for music and wanting to have more female representation in hip-hop as well as more representation for vernac and the Pretoria sound.
The hip hop industry is very much male dominated, please share a moment when you felt empowered as a woman in the music industry and how did it shape your career?
A moment when I felt empowered as a woman in the industry was when I was only a few months into the game and I was called by BET Awards to come feature on their cypher representing South Africa. I was shocked as I was only a beginner and I felt like I’m not ready for such a big task but I did it anyway and it has shaped my career by opening up many doors for me and helped me out by getting a bigger reach even globally that I didn’t think I’d be able to do in such a short space of time.
Representation has always mattered and it always will, how has the concept of representation influenced your career, and what approach do you aspire to adopt in the music industry to serve as a positive example for future generations?
I represent women, I represent myself as an individual, I represent Pretoria as a city, I represent South Africa as a country. Being able to represent all the above has helped me stand out as there has barely been enough representation of a woman from the hood, who speaks their own language, and have their own way of expressing and communicating and still can reach global heights even for people out there who don’t understand but relate to the feeling the music gives them. In the future I plan to grow more mature in my sound to be able to reach a bigger variety of age groups so the music is timeless and doesn’t just serve one group of people.
Collaboration is key in the music industry. Please tell us about a memorable collaboration with another talented woman and what have you learned from that experience?
My most memorable collaboration was with a few women on my breakout song called ‘Danko Zalo 2.0’ produced by Champuru Makhenzo, where there were a total of 9 women on the song. I learnt that women really have the power in that collaboration, as that song reached big heights for a song by upcoming group of female hip-hop artists and a vocalist, and that there’s power in women sticking together as all of us were so different and still in our differences we made the song work and become one of those memorable anthems.