24 Jul 2023

She can be counted as one of the rising artists locally with the potential to penetrate the music space across the borders. 

Known as Priscilla K in music circles, Priscilla Khan is still enjoying positive ratings for her impressive vocals a year after she was featured in the hit song Away by Chef Gustos.

BOPA caught up with the Lobatse-born artist who stepped into the music scene in 2019. “I had no idea I was sitting on a voice of gold until Dj Levels told me that I have a good voice,” she said.

Priscilla K is ingenious with her music as she intentionally highlights her talent through the lyrics. Oddly, for someone who is making strides in the industry, music was forbidden at some point in her life.

“When I came to stay in Lobatse, I was not really allowed to listen to music because I was surrounded by Muslims, and music was Haran,” she said, adding that music has and will always be a part of her.

She says every moment she will get, she will listen to music, and it pushed her to write more.

“That is when I started writing my own music, any chance I will get to hear a song, I will use it,” she said. She says her influence in music is mainly from American rapper, Eminem, crediting him for her expressiveness.

Priscilla K started as a rapper and she regards herself as a lyricist, not a vocalist, a discernment she still maintains even up to now. 

“I wrote bars, did battle cyphers,” she says adding that Dj Levels is her trusted producer who has been by her side since the start of her musical journey.

In 2019, she joined the #LiftAsYouRise Redbull competition that exposed some of the best talents from across Africa. The competition gave her a chance to share the studio with Tellaman, Nasty C, Gemini Major and Rowlene.

For Priscilla K, working on her first-ever single Deserve remains one of the unforgettable highlights in her music career. 

Besides that, she also had the chance to work with the likes of Sun El, Cayanda Soul, Kairo and Ino Lapa.

Her first ever most exciting track, she says was with Maluku records from Sweden. She carries with her international collaborations with the likes of Leo Gwardo from Brazil and Salvator Grosi from Italy.

As a musician, she holds that Botswana has a lot of talent and a lot of hard working people.

“I just feel like we are not taken very seriously, we are not given the platforms to actually showcase our talent,” she says adding that most upcoming artists are not given the much-needed respect.

Priscilla K wishes Botswana’s music industry was like that of South Africa for the simple reason that they work together. 

“In Botswana, there is purposeless competition. We compete with each other for what,” she says, calling for collaborations to grow the industry.

The songwriter also pointed out that the music scene is male-dominant and muffles the female voice. Her aim is to go global in the next five years. 

Her latest work is an upcoming song called Cold, which is her first Amapiano single. Ends