After meat dresses, snakes on live stages and everything that Beyoncé does, today’s acts often have the pressure of impressing an audience that has seen it all.

But when it comes to the lyricism and live appearances of S’bonakaliso Nene, there is something greatly unforgettable.

Best known for his stage name Gyre, the rapper turned heads in 2018 with the launch of his somewhat biographical debut album Queernomics.

Introducing an in-your-face approach to music, Gyre has performed at the International Queer Rights Festival and for SA’s first virtual queer ball.

Gyre’s talents are not just limited to music, as a multifaceted talent he has also made waves as a writer, particularly in sports writing.

“When I post my cover art I know that sports colleagues of mine are gonna be shocked,” Gyre laughs.

“What I’m doing is unique to me and I don’t have much of a blueprint to look at and it can feel a bit scary when I think about how will it be received. The reality is that I don’t have the social capital to do whatever I want.”

With that said, Gyre’s provocative approach to his music has not always been a smooth journey either.

Recently, the star took to Twitter to expose Instagram account SA Hip hop 24/7 for its homophobia.

With many Instagram accounts aimed at promotional materials for different bands and acts, Gyre approached the SA Hip hop 24/7 group to endorse one of his latest singles, Fem Physique.

The administrator of the page kept removing the post of Gyre’s cover art due to his discomfort with him being gay.

Gyre also noted on his Twitter page that SA Hip hop 24/7 had often posted images of half-naked women like Nadia Nakai and Kamo Mphela and not removed them but was quick to draw a moral line for his image.

The song mirrors many of Gyre’s tracks from Queernomics with a declaratory stance on queer existence, something he carries through his own beliefs that “existence is resistance".

A stance he has been looking to drop in forthcoming projects.

“It’s really frustrating because I’ve always been quiet. I am an openly queer rapper and the last thing I wanted to be in my mind – and perhaps it’s my fault – is to be seen as the queer rapper who cries out that there is homophobia here and I’m not popping because of homophobia.

"But at that point I could say I was tired. We seldom have physical proof to say anything and you often feel gas-lighted.”

The Fem Physique single, which is a song that embraces Gyre’s masculine yet feminine attributes, becomes a beacon for his new path in the SA music industry.

Gyre says he wants his next single to close the chapter opened by the Queernomics album and continued by other singles like Back Row and Resurrect, allowing him to explore more celebratory themes instead.

This was also not the first time Gyre was censored, in one instance a DJ refused to let him perform his song for a club appearance. “Originally I was meant to perform and then the DJ said he was only going to play my song,” says Gyre. But the song’s hour kept getting pushed back.

“I was wearing heels, like amakwaikwai, and I waited and waited until seven in the morning. They didn’t play my song once. And at that time I was working at Pick n Pay so I never slept ... I just literally went straight to work,” Gyre says.

With moments like these being a direct result to the unfair treatment artists like Gyre faces, he has often taken the time to speak out in certain spaces, including the polarising podcast hosted by Mac G.

As homophobia persists in the local and international hip-hop industry, Gyre views this as a teachable moment for much-needed change in society.

Outside of his own music, Gyre has also been hard at work and produced a vogue opera titled Glow, the life and trials of Simon Nkoli.

While it has amassed an audience locally, there have been plans to take the production to larger audiences.

Other than working with musician Moonchild Sanelly’s team, Gyre is also continuing his work in the world of sports on his platform Football Femme, with a particular focus on women’s soccer which he sees as a burgeoning and lucrative space for those involved.

This includes his website The Whistle Blower, which is giving space to writers and making room for more women to write about women’s sports.