Top-az is the pen name of Mzamo Jiyeza who was born in 1987 in a small town in rural KwaZulu Natal called Mtubatuba. He is part of the first generation of South Africans to live without apartheid. Needless to say apartheid still exists, and Top-az is part of a new wave of freedom fighters seeking change through art, music and education.Top-az now lives in Durban where he is an artist trying to promote a culture of knowledge, activism, empowerment and basically inspire people. Top-az in a writer, poet, MC, performer and much more.

Top-az write about himself: "A sunflower seeking growth by the little of sunlight left as the horizon gradually swallows the sun spreading gold across the sky beautifying the approaching night slowly rotates, with more takes of heat as the inhalation proceeds darkness soon shatterz life in light more like an emcee not rhyming right it contorts to a different sphere of existence and paddles until survival comes without a choice as the sun paves its way thru clouds the next day its all laid back like afta that long pull of purple haze thru darkness adjusted an let its existence prevail born was the word born was top-az, the lyrical nemesis...p r o poet who blows enormous proportion and breaks barriers with intricate mathematical proverbs conjuring clever sentences...word….its all in the word and so afta the hip hop bee stung me reminding me why was I conceived i started kicking lyrics…."

You can check out Top-az's music @ www.myspace.com/topazstreetpoet.