Artist Spotlights: The Mystically Imaginative Presence of Lordkez
South African musician lordkez, stylized in all lowercase, performs at the intersection of experimental creativity and allusive spirituality.
Artist Spotlights introduces you to small artists that may not be on your radar yet, but should be. With recently cancelled tours and income loss for small artists, there’s no time like the present to find new talent to support.
Written by Heather Stewart
Photo courtesy of CO4LITION
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Keziah Zoë Meyers, better known as lordkez, is a 22-year-old musical trailblazer based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Meyers' music is inspired by her time living in Kimberly and Abu Dhabi. The artist’s passion for the arts and pursuit for authentic spirituality also weave their way into her sound. It’s no surprise that her love for music was born in a church. After watching her mom play the organ in service, Meyers eventually taught herself how to play. Her pursuit of guitar, piano, singing, and songwriting followed. In an interview with Coeval Magazine, Meyers explained the meaning behind her stage name by quoting singer-songwriter Erykah Badu: “If we were made in His image, then call us by our name.” Just like her stage name, Meyers' music commands a regal, otherworldly quality.
Meyers' sound spans a variety of genres, ranging from jazzy cadences and rhythmic neo soul to soulful rap attributes and Afrobeat inspirations. This melding of sounds didn’t happen by accident; nonconformity is a hallmark of Meyers' expressive style. When asked about her genre in an interview with EQUATE Magazine, she responded, “Genres are so boring. But I would say ‘fusion music’ because I create as I feel. I don’t think of myself as a brand or anything like that; those things are byproducts of my insatiable desire to express myself as a musician.” Meyers said it herself: Anyone looking for authentic music that breaks away from the status quo should look no further than her genre-bending discography.
Photo courtesy of Hype
Meyers' music career grew in potential after the independent release of her debut label EP, Revenge Season, but her latest release, Charcotta, welcomes a whole new level of vulnerable storytelling. The lyrically poetic EP walks the listener through the archives of the singer's mind. In a We Plug Good Music commentary, Myers described her decision to be more vulnerable in this project: "I cried, I laughed, I questioned myself and my purpose, I found the pieces of me that I ran away from for so many years in my life, and I turned them into melodies and stories, I lost my mind several times, just to find it again in the music.” Going by the name “Sherry Charcotta,” Meyers used to write and release her poetry online. Today, her love for poetry translates into her complex lyricism.
Charcotta opener “Rain” draws inspiration from the positive energy, growth, and new life that South African summer rain brings Meyers. The ethereal track depicts the end of a relationship as an independent blossom in the midst of a rainy season. While storms creep in toward her ex-partner ("You turn the TV on to keep you calm / While the wind and while the lightning and the thunder rumble on"), Meyers finds renewal. Over lo-fi jazz instrumentals, her fluttery vocals mimic the sensual sound of rainfall:
You pick the pretty parts of me like roses, flowers
I blossom in the storm, plant my feet where I walk
Pastures green, ever long
And I wear my mama earring like I carry her along
These lyrics paint a detailed picture of persevering in unlikely circumstances. The song’s narrator holds on to the good parts of the relationship, despite seeking closure from the other. This hope for the future, found in self-assured confidence, contrasts the backup singer's pleads of "Please don’t go / No / I still need you." Nostalgia, natural symbolism, and poised dignity collide in "Rain," portraying the metaphysical depth and divine femininity that Meyers brings to all her music.
Charcotta is packed with many tracks that hold the same heavenly, intimate feel as “Rain.” “Sunday'' addresses the spiritual concept of manifestation. Over a slow beat and mellow keys, Meyers breathily sighs, “I think it, then I feel it and I sing it on a Sunday.” Following the opening verse, the artist flaunts her complex musicality in a rap verse about her Sunday routine. This track is a collaboration with hip-hop and rap artists Priddy Ugly and J-Tek. In the middle of the track, Priddy Ugly smoothly chronicles his spiritual experiences with the holy day: "Thanking the Lord for his grace, it is amaze / Craving for the plates that my mum made / Some days / Dad would go to work, he was unpaid / Unsafe / So he would keep a Bible by his gun safe."
The soft-spoken lyrics of “Find Me In The Trees,” paired with the rhythmic chiming and cascading saxophones, radiate a feeling of musical serenity ("When I’m in my peace / You can find me in the trees"). In EP closer "The lords Prayer," Meyers pours out her blessings and desires through eerie, hymn-like vocals and a lyrical prayer teeming with emotion (“And God bless my mama / Lord keep her in your hands / God bless my daddy even though he made me mad / Pride is one hell of an evil motherf-cker / If only he needed me like I needed him when I was younger”). The South African artist is fearless in her pursuit of raw artistry, making her presence in the music industry extremely refreshing.
Filled with captivating storylines and hypnotizing visuals, Meyers' music videos also reflect the creativity pumping through her veins. The video for “WAE (When All Ends)” commands dark funeral imagery and sequences of the singer in the passenger seat of a vintage sports car. In the same interview with Coeval Magazine, Meyers elaborated on the concept behind the video: her as an "iced out vampire" turning a confused guy into her next victim. "At the end, you see that he joins the rest of my collection of victims in their coffins,” she said. The videos for “Disgusting,” “Sunday,” and her most recent single, “Purple Hearts,” channel the same aspects of professionalism and creative storytelling that Meyers wields in her expression.
Whether it’s through music, poetry, or visual concepts, Meyers demonstrates an impressive level of multifaceted artistry in everything she does. The champion of fusion music cultivates a spiritual experience with each of her airy, ethereal tracks while reflecting on everyday pursuits of divinity. With the release of her new EP, JUICEBOX, scheduled for this month, Meyers is poised to transcend her already existing influence in South Africa and across the globe. Listeners old and new will want to keep their third eye open for lordkez’s next musical manifestation.
Listen to lordkez on Spotify. You can find her on Instagram @lordkez and Twitter @LORDOFTHEVIBES.