Pulse & texture. Manzi Fleur for y’all. The fast-rising Canada-based Rwandan rapper has gained himself a significant audience through his uniquely styled melodic chill approach to rap. And it’s not just the laid back attitude in his output that sets him apart. There’s intricately sculpted textures in there too, balanced with a subtle energy pulsating beneath it all.
Right from his exquisitely quirky debut project “Citro” in 2021, he bared his artistic approach from the go. The opener on there is a chill convo, not a conversational insertion amidst a typical song, but just him conversating in as soothing a fashion as can be imagined. It was such an apt intro to what our main man’s all about.
Speaking of…well, speaking, if you listen intently to Manzi, you’ll realize bro has a lowkey lisp. Now, not to get odd about it, but we found it endearing. Especially because one of the guys on our team is exactly the same in that aspect. It’s hilariously adorable hearing him spit out these impossibly cool chill mellow bars with an infantile speech quirk. No prejudice, more power! He’s likability, though, hinges on much more than such silly trivialities; for one, his artistic trajectory is quite captivating.
Born & raised in Rwanda, he had a stint where he wrote and sold comics. That was before he took to songwriting at just 14 in 2012. Four years in, he released his first track “Juice” in 2016. It was such a vibe that the resultant feedback from it empowered him to keep experimenting with musical ideas. And in 2021, that artistic restlessness is what birthed his 8-track debut EP. Fast forward in 2024, he’s got some new bangers on his hands, like the dancey “Tom Cruise Control”, a mildly sensual July bop with a nod to his birth town, Kigali.
From Manzi Fleur’s socials, there’s talk of more music in the works, and we’ll be glued to watch our new find.
