Fresh off his nomination at the Unkut Hip Hop Awards as Best East African act, Rwandan rap maven Ish Kevin has announced a new single , “Chat Chat” set to drop this Friday , 21st November – 2025.
Tapping production from Ghanaian beatsmith Kwame Agger, known for his outlier Hip Hop production for industry titans such as Ghana’s BET-nominated Black Sherriff , Kwame invokes bounce, melody and edge into Ish’s latest offering – that has long distinguished Ghanaian Drill from other parts of the world. Joining the East and Western Africa flair of Drill and Hip Hop, Kwame and Ish display effortless chemistry delivering a record that is going to motivate many alike.
Laid with an underlying and unignorable guitar riff, rustling hi-hat drums, a subtle kick that still packs a mean punch, the instrumental acts as the perfect bedding for Ish Kevin’s shivering vocal inflections to float on the record and discharge his buoyish message.
“‘Chat Chat’ came from real emotions and real pressure. I was in a space where a lot of people were talking, creating noise, but nobody was matching the work. The beat had that raw, street bounce, and as soon as I heard it, the hook came naturally. The lyrics come from reality ; the grind, the hate, the things people say when you’re rising. I just turned that energy into music.”
With the tone set, Ish releases this record on the back of continuous wins with his latest nod at the Kenyan based Unkut Hip Hop Awards. He also prolongs a great run of releasing music with his last record featuring Kenyan starlet , Njerae.
“It feels good, it feels natural” he says of returning black to his street-charged pocket of music that he has long been associated with.
“‘Best Friend’ was a smoother, lady-focused record, and it showed a different side of me. But the streets built my sound. ‘Chat Chat’ is a return to that raw energy: confidence, hunger, grit. Switching back reminds people of my roots and my versatility, I can give you emotion, but I can also come back with that hard street pressure any time.” he mentions.
About Ish Kevin
Ish Kevin (born 1997), also known as Semana Kevin( His real Name), is a Rwandan rapper, songwriter, and entrepreneur who has emerged as a leading figure in East Africa’s contemporary hip-hop and drill scenes. He is the founder of Trappish Music, a label and movement that champions a new generation of Rwandan artists blending trap, drill, and traditional sounds with multilingual lyricism in Kinyarwanda, English, French, and Swahili.
Initially associated with the Kinyatrap movement, Ish Kevin later established his own path with Trappish Music, emphasizing themes of ambition, youth empowerment, and celebration over the gritty street narratives of his predecessors. His breakout single “Amakosi” (2021) and the high-energy track “No Cap” both garnered over a million views, with the latter earning recognition from GRM Daily as one of the “7 Hard Drill Tracks from Around the World.
In 2023, Ish Kevin released his acclaimed album BST (Blood, Sweat & Tears), which fused modern drill with traditional Rwandan elements, including samples of Kwivuga vocals and the Inanga instrument. The following year, he dropped the introspective EP Semana, which explored personal growth and artistic ambition. His 2025 single “Africa Rise” further solidified his reputation as a pan-African voice, celebrating unity, resilience, and cultural pride.
Recognized by The Native as one of Africa’s top 12 rappers in 2021, Ish Kevin continues to shape Rwanda’s hip- hop landscape through his music, collaborations, and mentorship of emerging artists.
As of July , 2025, Ish Kevin has officially signed with Universal Music Kenya (UMG Kenya) a major regional label under Universal Music Group. His debut single with them, “Gutsinda II”, was released on that date and is distributed by Universal Music Kenya Limited.
