RAIZA BIZA – PANGEA

During Earth’s early geological history, Pangea was a supercontinent encompassing almost all of the planet’s landmasses. It’s shorthand for a time when everything was connected, and a metaphor for the idea that we were all once one. Over hundreds of millions of years, the supercontinent fractured and drifted apart, eventually forming the world as we know it today.

Today, the fractures aren’t only geographic. We’re socially, culturally, and philosophically splintered across a multiverse of competing realities. In his lifetime, Raiza Biza, a celebrated Rwandan hip-hop artist who grew up in Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, and New Zealand, has used music to navigate and connect these realms. He’s a unifying force who helps disparate people find common ground.

Over the past thirteen years, Raiza has released at least one project annually, culminating in his forthcoming album, also titled Pangea. Along the way, he has collaborated with a global cast of underground and forward-thinking artists, including Oddisee, Black Milk, Sampa The Great, REMI, Melodownz, and JessB, playing a key role in the emergence of a new generation of African hip-hop voices across New Zealand and Australia. Fittingly, his work has taken him to stages across Europe and Asia, where he has built an international audience.

In 2021, Raiza returned to Rwanda, reconnecting with the Land of a Thousand Hills while immersing himself in the East African republic’s rapidly evolving hip-hop, R&B, and afrobeats scenes. At the same time, he has continued to refine a songwriting approach that balances philosophical introspection with the energy of the dancefloor.

Created during this period of transition, Pangea brings together collaborators from New Zealand, Australia, and Rwanda, including JDRO, Achai, TK Paradza, JessB, Rubi Du, Blaze The Emperor, Romeo Rapstar, UNVRSS, and Mazbou Q, for a wide-ranging exploration of home, identity, connection, dislocation, nightlife, and the questions that linger in the morning light.

The album is supported by a production team spanning New Zealand, Zimbabwe, and Rwanda, Swissberry, TK Paradza, Skinni, Jeje Pro, Dr Ngangi, and Mazbou Q, who provide a backdrop of hip-hop, afrobeats, and neo-soul. Together, they draw on both the gloss of Y2K-era rap and the forward-facing club sounds shaping contemporary African music.

If singles like ‘Get Money’, ‘Diaspora’, ‘Chapati’, and ‘Mocha’ have offered glimpses into Raiza’s recent work, Pangea offers a widescreen vision. Now based in the homeland he spent much of his life dreaming about, he steps forward with a project that brings his story, and community, into sharp focus. The prodigal son has returned home, but he remains tied to many places.