P-Star confidently scripts personal stories into global beats

For Paulus Musongo, known professionally as P-Star, music is more than just melody.

His debut solo EP, 'Vukina', is anchored in a Nyemba word that translates loosely to “dance” or "game".

But for P-Star, the meaning deepens into metaphor: the river between people. It is culture. It is separation. It is movement. And increasingly, it is Namibia itself.

P-Star has emerged from the hip-hop collective M.I.G. into a solo artist intent on broadening both his sound and his country’s musical footprint. Where earlier chapters of his career thrived on lyrical competitiveness and group synergy, ‘Vukina’ embraces Afropop textures, romantic storytelling and rhythmic subtlety.

“I don’t have to sound like anyone else to grow,” he says. “I embraced my roots.”

Anchored in emotion

That embrace is deliberate. Rather than chase global trends detached from place, P-Star roots his project in identity: Ngangela heritage, regional language and emotional narratives tied to lived experience. Yet the ambition is unmistakably international.

Having already complemented two songs from the EP with music videos, P-Star is planning to film the video for ‘Sambapito’ in Angola, either in Luanda or Lubango, drawn to the colour and kinetic energy of Lusophone Africa.

Another track, ‘Let You Go', will likely find its visual home in the haunting coastal meeting of desert and sea in Walvis Bay or Swakopmund. And the yet-to-be-shot ‘Mangimbu’ is envisioned as a sweeping celebration of Namibia’s landscapes and people from north to south. “Mangimbu deserves a bigger budget,” he says. “I want it to feel like a celebration of Namibia in its purest form.”

P-Star speaks frequently of positioning, of raising standards within Namibia’s music industry while crafting work that can travel.

On the production side, he collaborated with beatmakers such as Chuwy The Drummer, Cota Inmza and Sam Locco, who understand the difference between chasing hits and building a cohesive sonic journey.

Dance-driven tracks sit comfortably beside more spacious, emotionally patient compositions.

Multi-faceted productions

The reception since the EP’s late-January release has been, in his words, “powerful and humbling.” Fans are responding not only to the dance anthems but also to the vulnerability woven throughout. Messages arrive detailing personal connections to specific lyrics. Growth, it seems, has not alienated his base.

That evolution is particularly striking given his origins in M.I.G., where creative identity was collective. Solo artistry has demanded sharper decision-making not just musically but strategically. Rollout plans, visual language, long-term legacy: all now sit on his shoulders.

Beyond the music, P-Star has completed a book inspired by 'Vukina', currently in final production, an unusual move for a debut solo project but consistent with his desire to build a multi-dimensional artistic identity.

What distinguishes ‘Vukina’ is its refusal to dilute specificity in pursuit of scale. The rhythms are proudly African, the storytelling intimate, and the visuals grounded in place. Yet the aspiration is borderless. “I want it to travel,” he says simply.

In an era when global playlists flatten geography, P-Star is attempting something more nuanced: exporting Namibia not as a novelty, but as a narrative.

And if the river between here and elsewhere feels wide, he seems prepared to swim.