Zeus (Musician)

Zeus
Zeus at TeachAIDS recording session in 2010
Background information
Birth name	Game Gaobaone Bantsi
Born	(1986-07-22) July 22, 1986 (age 30) Serowe, Botswana
Genres	Hip hop
Occupation(s)	Rapper, songwriter, businessman
Years active	2005–present
Labels	D.I.Y, OC Music
Associated acts	Scar, HHP, Cibil Nyte, JR, Ross Jack, Octave Couplet

Game Goabaone Bantsi (born 22 July 1986), better known by his stage name Zeus, is a Motswana hip-hop artist, MC and businessman. Zeus released his debut album Freshly Baked in 2008 which included the hits "Back in the days" and "Gijima". The album was generally well received and garnered him a Channel O Music Video award nomination and win in the Best Hip Hop video for the aforementioned "Gijima". His sophomore offering, 2009's The Flipside has been positively reviewed in both his home country as well as neighbouring South Africa. In 2010, he was ranked seventh in a list of the Top 15 South African Rappers and 4th on MNET's Top 10 African Rappers for 2010 compilation. Zeus currently splits his time between Gaborone, his hometown and Johannesburg, South Africa.

Zeus was born in Serowe and raised in Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana. He has three siblings; two brothers and one sister and is the last born in his family. On the musical tastes of his family members, he once stated in an interview, "My mother religiously loves gospel, my father is a fan of country music, my two brothers love hip-hop and dancehall respectively and my sister digs R&B. So, all sorts of music I was exposed to when growing up influenced the album." Zeus grew up in a Christian household and still identifies himself as a Christian.

Zeus completed his secondary school education at Rainbow High School, an independent school located in Gaborone in 2003. Thereafter he embarked upon a BCOMM in Marketing and Management degree at Monash University South Africa, graduating in 2007. Zeus has made it known that he believes education is very important.

...first and foremost in any language or country I consider myself an MC who is a creative writer, freestyler and deliverer of flows that the ear can not ignore. The fact that I am a Motswana and an African adds different dimensions to my Mcing that differentiates me from others in the international Hip Hop arena so I am an MC, an African MC and a Motswana MC.

In the early 2000s, a teenage Zeus began making a name for himself in the hip-hop scene in Botswana. His natural talent, flare, eloquence and refusal to be content with being "just another rapper" made him difficult to brush aside. 2008 saw his years of hard work come to fruition as his debut effort hit the shelves.

In 2008, Zeus released his first album, Freshly Baked. The fourteen track record was met with very good reviews in Botswana and propelled him to star status in his homeland. Later that year, Zeus received crossover success when Freshly Baked was nominated for album of the year at the MTN-HYPE magazine Hip Hop awards in South Africa. This further solidified his talent as artist and widened the spectrum of his appeal. 2008 continued to be a good year for Zeus as the song that first put him on the map, "Imagination", was also nominated for the Best Reggae Dancehall video at the Channel O Music Video Awards At the end of 2009 Zeus had an impressive victory at the 2009 Channel O Music Video Awards when he beat out competition from the likes of Hip Hop Pantsula ("All I Need" video), Okyeame Kwame ("Woso" video), Jay Ru ("Big Boi Anthem" video), Pro ("Uthini Ngo Pro"), and Black Rhino ("Black Chata") to win Best Hip Hop Video for "Gijima".