ArtistInfo

Young Nations

*1976
Hip-Hop/Rap
A.k.a. Zosukuma Kunene

Born in exile October 15th, 1976 in London, UK, at the height of South Africa’s struggle against apartheid, Zosukuma a.k.a. Young Nations, the son of a liberation activist, grew up in South Central Los Angeles as a South African of Zulu descent. In 1989 Nations travelled to South Africa for the second time, a privilege not afforded to his father, who remained banned from returning to his country for over 35 years. Nations’ experience living in the heart of Guguletu Township in South Africa would later influence the development of the artist upon his return to Los Angeles. Traveling back to Los Angeles in 1991, by 1994 he had recorded his first professional compositions under the artist name “K.A.S.H.” (Kept in Africa’s Subliminal Hold), which gained some attention on the West Coast of California, enabling Nations to perform before thousands, opening for Ice Cube, Coolio, Zap & Roger, Rappin' 4Tay and the Lynch Mob in 1995. In June of 2003 Young Nations exploded onto the South African music scene with the ground breaking hit song, “Win”, a collaboration with performer and recording artist Che2ter of Sarafina and Yizo Yizo fame, followed with another collaboration entitled “Live My Life”, touching on the realities of life growing up in the townships. Signing with Unreleased Records, Nations returned to the U.S. towards the end of 2003 to begin recording his debut album, “Nations Uprising” with Grammy nominated producer Megahertz, with Draztik handling the other half of the production, the album was licensed through Gallo Record Company and released in 2005. The albums first single "Mr. Hustla" was featured on YFM's "Life" Compilation, which was followed by his second single "Zwakala Emzansi", a collaboration with legendary recording artist Ray Phiri. Based out of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, Young Nations released his sophomore offering "United States of Africa" on Unreleased Records in 2010.