Swizz Beats touched down in South Africa Monday to perform at the Bacardi Holiday Club at the Welgelegen Manor near Johannesburg. He was greeted with open arms and sat down for an interview with ENCA News where he dropped major gems about his upbringing, the arts, and his creative future. 

He revealed that during his education he got kicked out of school a lot. Not because of his academics, but more so because of the environment he was surrounded by growing up in the Bronx. However, after moving to Atlanta he was able to finish school, and the music producer went on to get a degree from Harvard.

"I sharpened the pencil back up and made my mom proud. Really graduated for all of his, I got a voice and I need to be showing and telling people the right things," he said. 

Swiss dived into the term 'black excellence" and what that means for him. In doing so, he shared how he learned a big lesson from observing the level of confidence and self-awareness among the people in South Africa and how it's motivating for him to see. 

"The more people that embrace the culture, the more guidance the culture can have. We didn't even believe we were great for a long time for a lot of reasons. Even coming here and seeing the confidence of everyone that I've been vibing with, even in the street, it's a like different confidence that I see that I love. They are getting their confidence up, and when your confidence is up you take more risks and you get more results. I love seeing that happening over here."

These nuances that he mentioned are also themes that are portrayed in the Marvel movie Black Panther, that depicts the difference of self-assurance in one's culture from African to African-American. 

Beatz went on to share more about his personal life and his marriage with Alica Keys. He said that he loves her quiet leadership and loves watching her be a mother. He said it's also a "blessing" to see her up close helping to change legislation and be involved in advocacy work in Africa.

In the future, Beatz said he plans to switch up the education sector with technology and art to make it engaging for youth. Watch the full video below.