Lesotho-born rapper, saveHXPE remembers his first beat. He was 9 years old, didn’t know what a snare really was, just layered sounds that felt right.

“It was messy, off-grid, but it had heart,” he says. When he thinks about it now, he doesn’t cringe, he smiles. “That beat was my first real conversation with myself.”

That conversation began with a computer his mother gave him at age 9. It wasn’t just a gift; it was foresight. “She saw her hope in me—literally. She named me Tshepo for a reason,” he explains. His name means hope in Sesotho, and his mother knew he wasn’t just playing around with music. “I was trying to survive with it. That computer wasn’t just a gift, it was a seed.”

That seed has grown into something remarkable. With over 3.3 million Spotify streams and co-signs from legends like Erykah Badu, saveHXPE has carved out his space as a voice for a generation unbothered by borders.

His latest track “80s Baby” featuring BabyDaiz isn’t just another single—it’s a statement, a bold reclamation of African identity that challenges stereotypes while rewriting hip-hop’s DNA.

Mountain Rhythms

Growing up in Lesotho, the mountain kingdom shaped more than just saveHXPE’s geography—it sculpted his sound. “Lesotho raised my tone—my pace, my grit, my accent,” he says. “Even when I don’t speak Sesotho, the rhythm of our people is in how I punch my lines. It’s the silence in the mountains, the struggle in the city, and the pride of being from a place that taught me how to be grounded in the clouds.

“This grounding becomes clear in how he approaches music. When asked about his favourite part of creating, he doesn’t hesitate: “Writing bars from scratch. No samples, no loops. Just me building from silence. There’s something sacred about taking a blank screen and making it sound like your heartbeat.”

His 2021 project Kingsway was meant to be a test run, but it taught him something important. “That I was ready before I even knew it. Kingsway was me testing the water, but I ended up swimming deeper than I thought. It taught me I could move people—even in my rawest form.”

Learning From Silence

But it was silence, not applause, that truly committed him to his path. After dropping his first project, the response was deafening in its absence. “No shares, no claps, just silence,” he recalls. “That silence was louder than applause. That’s when I knew I had to keep going. Not for hype but ’cause I needed this.”

His acclaimed EP still deciding captured an artist grappling with identity and purpose. The title says everything.

“Everything,” he says when asked what he was still deciding. “Who I was. What I believed. Whether I was chasing music or it was chasing me. That tape was me at war with myself and finding purpose in uncertainty.”

That uncertainty has crystallised into a clear purpose. saveHXPE sees himself as speaking for ‘the Outsiders’, people whose stories don’t always get heard. “I don’t preach, I show what rising from the dust looks like,” he explains. His platform focuses on hope, identity, and refusing to let your origins limit your destination.

Going Viral, Going Deeper

The digital breakthrough came with Breathe, which found life on TikTok. “It felt surreal. I was in my room just refreshing the screen, watching strangers feel what I felt while writing it. It wasn’t just numbers. It was people pausing their lives to hear mine.”

Despite TikTok’s notorious fickleness, saveHXPE stays grounded by remembering where he came from. “I remember the days no one listened. That silence humbled me. So when things blow up, I just keep my head down and build more. It’s not about going viral, it’s about going deeper.”

This philosophy shapes what he wants listeners to experience. “Like I’m right there with them. Like they’re not weird for feeling too much. I want them to feel seen—like someone gets it,” he says about what he hopes people feel when they listen alone with headphones.

The 80s Takeover

80s Baby represents his boldest statement yet. Built from a beat that instinctively evoked the decade, the track creates what he calls a cinematic world that mirrors both township grit and vintage fashion gloss. With BabyDaiz adding velvet delivery and sharp bars, it’s experimental yet grounded, sitting somewhere between cassette tape memories and tomorrow’s party soundtrack.

“This isn’t nostalgia—it’s a takeover,” saveHXPE declares. “We’re flipping the script on what African rap is supposed to sound like.”

Looking ahead, success isn’t about charts or streaming numbers. “Freedom. Creative freedom, spiritual freedom, and financial freedom. Being able to look back and say, ‘We really led to this point.’ And hopefully, giving others the blueprint to do it too.

“From that first messy beat at 9 to rewriting hip-hop’s possibilities, saveHXPE’s journey circles back to his name: hope. In his hands, it’s not just a concept but a practice, delivered one sacred beat at a time to anyone ready to listen.