Kuda Rice shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Kuda, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What are you chasing, and what would happen if you stopped?
I’m in pursuit of stability and legacy. It’s well known that as a creative, it’s rare to find yourself in a position where you easily gain stability, but l’m chasing that. My deepest desire is to establish a valuable and impactful legacy. If I stopped chasing that, I would simply fade out and become another martyr or creative who did so much but never built anything of value.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Kuda Rice. I’m a spoken word artist, poet, and creative director based in Zimbabwe. My work sits at the intersection of poetry, music, and visual storytelling. I use words not just as expression, but as a way to build worlds, blending performance, film, and sound to create experiences that move people emotionally and spiritually.
Over the years, I’ve worked on projects that range from poetry albums like Beneath the Veil to fashion and brand films that merge storytelling with visual aesthetics. I recently won a National Arts Merit Award for Outstanding Poet, which has opened more opportunities to expand my creative collaborations across Africa, from working with musicians to developing conceptual short films that explore themes of love, faith, identity, and selfhood.
What makes my work special, I think, is the intentional fusion of art forms. Whether it’s a poem, a film, or a brand story, I approach everything as a narrative, something that must make people feel, reflect, and connect with the beauty of being human.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Before the world told me who I had to be, I was someone who hid from the world, i had no voice but i was unafraid to question, unafraid to feel deeply. Before i discovered creativity, i was trying to fit in and when i became more of myself i then seized to do that; I started creating from instinct and faith which made me feel more like myself.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Yes, there was a time I almost gave up. I remember writing a post where I said, “Perhaps this is where my creativity ends… I’m empty. Uninspired. Disconnected from my source.” I had reached a point where I felt my spirit and creativity were out of sync, like the well had run dry. It was painful because I’ve always seen my art as a dialogue with God, and at that moment, the silence felt deafening.
But looking back, that season humbled me. It reminded me that creativity isn’t a constant flow, it’s a relationship that needs rest, faith, and renewal. What felt like an ending was really a moment of recalibration. The sea did split, eventually, I just had to be still long enough to see it happen.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
There’s definitely a bit of separation between Kuda Rice and Kudakwashe Rice. Kuda Rice is the version the public gets to experience, the creative, the artist, the curated brand that exists in service of the work. But Kudakwashe is more personal, more intimate; the side that very few people get to see, and I treat that access as a privilege.
It’s not that I’m pretending or being inauthentic in public; it’s more about boundaries. I believe in preserving a part of myself that isn’t constantly performing or being perceived. So yes, the public version of me is real, it’s just not the entire me.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What do you think people will most misunderstand about your legacy?
I think people might misunderstand my legacy as being only about poetry or art. But for me, the work has always been deeper than that, it’s about awakening something in people, a sense of purpose and spiritual awareness through creativity. The art is just the language I use to communicate that.
So, while some might remember the performances, the visuals, or the words, what I really hope endures is the spirit behind it, the intention to remind people of God, of beauty, of meaning. My legacy isn’t about being seen; it’s about helping others see differently.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/kuda_rice?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kudakwashe-rice-a8a14b223?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kudarice?s=21&t=99CkGb8IoAKvgUJ_uo9Czw
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kudaricethepoet/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC-lb33F72fK15kasXfrY48A
Image Credits
Thabiso Nyoni
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
