Kuzi Cee is gearing up to be the next loverboy of R&B.
The Calgary-based artist has been building on the momentum of his breakout single, “Rather Be,” which has been streamed almost three million times and has gone viral on social media with more than 60 million impressions. On his latest single “Rain,” Kuzi further leans into the emotional and vulnerable intensity that was already evident on his previous singles.
A few weeks before “Rain” was released, Now Toronto sat down with Kuzi to learn about his time living in Toronto, the R&B scene in Calgary, and using social media to promote his music.
Toronto influences
Although Kuzi now lives in Calgary, he moved around a lot as a kid, having lived in Zimbabwe — where he was born — Toronto, London, and New York. Due to this nomadic lifestyle, he describes his sound as “a melting pot of all these different cultures brought into one home of R&B.”
Kuzi only lived in North York for a few years in elementary school, but those few years had a tremendous influence on his songwriting.
“I tip my hat to all the greats coming out of Ontario and Toronto — Drake, Bieber, The Weeknd, that entire Toronto sound. Dancehall as well. It’s definitely present in my songwriting and my experiences as an R&B artist,” he says.
Toronto’s dominance in hip-hop and R&B in the summer of 2016 was Kuzi’s soundtrack of blossoming into an adult. He turned 18 when “Controlla” and “One Dance” by Drake were doing laps on the radio.
R&B in Calgary
In Grade 6, Kuzi moved to Calgary. While being an R&B artist where country and folk are the bread and butter has been interesting, he says there’s still a well-groomed sub pocket of hip-hop and R&B for artists to develop their artistry and find their sound.
“There are a lot of people who are making waves. You can experience a little bit of what it’s like to be an artist in songwriting camps, in studio sessions, and at shows,” he explains. “It’s a blessing being in a small city because when artists who are into our genres do come here, we get more exposure and ability to interact with them.”
Calgary has a special place in Kuzi’s heart. He says it’s where he was able to find himself.
“Growing and being fostered in Calgary has allowed me to experience the different avenues of becoming an artist and to really study how I can be the best version of myself.”
Going viral on TikTok
Kuzi’s single “Rather Be” went viral practically overnight. Since its release, the song has received over 1.6 million streams on Spotify and over seven million on Instagram. “Rather Be” has also been used in hundreds of videos on TikTok.
He says having a single go viral was such a heartfelt moment as it was right after he got a concussion. He never expected the “Rather Be” snippet to go viral, it was just something he uploaded to TikTok to help him reach new audiences.
“It felt like perfect timing and I was humbled and honoured to be able to receive that kind of love on social [media],” Kuzi explains. “Everybody talks about how TikTok has the ability to connect you to your audiences, and I’ve been screaming [that fact] ever since. It was because of the community that we were able to build on TikTok. It has just been so heartwarming and heartfelt.”
Love is a language we all speak
Kuzi says his music is mainly inspired by love as “it’s a language that we all speak.”
“Whether you’re speaking English, French, German, whatever the language is, you understand love and you can feel it, even if you don’t understand the words.”
His latest single “Rain” is a nod to old school “singing in the rain” artists like Omarian. Kuzi explains that the song dives into the work it takes to build a strong relationship with a significant other and becoming the best version of himself.
“I know that the sunshine is going to be there one day, but in this moment, I have to work on developing and becoming the best version of myself so that I can provide that for the other person involved in the relationship,” he elaborates.
Despite his success, Kuzi still doesn’t feel like he’s “made it” yet. He says that moment will come once he gets booked for a headlining tour where he’ll get to “scream these songs with the people that love the songs too.”
“I don’t think I’ll have that feeling for a long time. There’s still a lot of things I have to check off my list, and a lot more mountains to climb before I’ll be able to make that statement.”
