Entering a male dominated industry is not always easy, the process isn't always easy but in the end it is always worth it. Palesa Zanele Bouman is a hip hop artist/motswako rapper who goes by the name of TswakManiak. She was born and bred in Vryburg in the North West but later on moved to Kimberley in the Northern Cape where she is currently pushing her music career at.
To those who do not know TswakManiak, she says her love for hip hop started in 2012 when she was still in primary. She was that kind of a girl who would beat up the tables with a ruler and started doing freestyles. And although we would love to call her the queen, she describes herself as an ordinary being. A person who wears a smile everywhere she goes.
Being in the male dominated industry is not for the faint hearted. That is why TswakManiak believes that females are not given enough attention and support in the hip hop stream. She believes that often most producers takes advantage of struggling females in the music industry.
Despite her lack of support, this young lady has dreams and so it would be a great honour to work with Tuks Senganga, Molemi, Fifi Cooper, Khuli Chana and A-reece. "I had more hope on HHP, more because he used to help upcoming, local artists", says TswakManiak. She says they met and spoke on Facebook in 2017 but she was not sure if the account was real or not, until they exchanged numbers so she could send him her songs. And then in 2018 before he passed away, he asked her to attend an open mic session in Maftown where local artists usually gather, but she couldn't due to personal reasons. And sadly after a month he passed away. May his soul continue to rest in perfect peace.
"Word of advice to other upcoming female rappers out there...is that any challenges they face, they should always know how to go about it and they must not let male producers take advantage of them. They should help them willingly", says TswakManiak.
Feel free to follow her on Facebook: TswakManiak
She's a performing artist so you can inbox her for bookings.
Let us support women in music.
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