Posts

A powerhouse climbing up the ladder

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ITS BEEN A MINUTE... There’s nothing as beautiful as seeing young people soar. To see them make their dreams a reality, seeing their vision through and proving that, black child, your dreams are VALID! I love to see it! Bonkhe Shabangu, also known as Tadm, is one of those talented young people and I had an interesting chat with him and he enlightened me on where he comes from and how he is where he is right now. Bonkhe is a teacher by profession, definitely a cool teacher. He is a social media influencer, an author, a clothing brand owner, a whole powerhouse I tell you. He says that his becoming has been through participation and exposure to diverse activities. The University of Eswatini, Luyengo Campus, where he trained as a teacher, BSc Agricultural Education, launched him as that's where he even got the nickname "Tadm". “To package and position myself as a personal brand started in 2015 when I launched myself as a youth motivational speaker.” He menti

Taking It To The World

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There is nothing that brings me more joy than to see young people being creative and turning their passion into something tangible that people can also appreciate and even buy.   I’m one person who believes in following your passion because doing anything other than that will only delay your success. You’ll be focused on making other people’s dreams come true while neglecting your own.  I had a wonderful chat with Eswatini’s amapiano star, Ayacity, who talked to me about his music and his debut project  Rose , which everyone is raving about.  Ayanda Motsa , mostly know as  Ayacity  is a young Swati DJ and producer who was born and bred at Luve. He did his primary education at Kaboyce Primary School and his high school education at St Marks High School.  The “ Ungenzanton ” hitmaker says he grew up loving music, “I think I inherited from my family, my mom to be specific because she was always playing loud music early in the morning on weekends, and ow...she had a really great voice, may

Unleashing The Wolf

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After all the adversities we have been facing as the entertainment industry of Eswatini, we finally have the chance to rise up and have purpose, be excited about this show and that event, have the chance to reconnect and network but above all, do what we love and what we’re most passionate about. As I was mingling last weekend, I bumped into an old friend with whom I had a great chat with about his life in music, which was long overdue.   Sukoluhle Dlamini (27) , commonly known as  !Sooks  is a multi award winning Swati ho use Dj, who also plays a few musical instruments, born and raised in Mbabane, Eswatini. He did his primary and high school education at St Marks before enrolling Limkokwing University of Technology for a business management degree. !Sooks says he grew up in a family of musicians in which his parents were choristers. “I fell in love with music and I decided to take it as a career”, he mentioned. !Sooks fell in love with music at the at of seven then decided to be a Dj

Born artistic

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Bongi Maxwell Dlamin i is a Swati tattoo artist who was born in Malkerns, by a sharp minded, hard working business woman Tholiwe Tsela, may her soul rest in peace. She gave birth to eight kids, of which unfortunately, the first born passed away a few years before his mom. Max started pre-school at Siteki and that's where his father, David Dlamini, had build his house and that's the place he calls home. He then went on to Nyandza High School after which he completed his high school at Phumelele High School As soon as he finished school, he started working at Swazi Candles, that is where he started doing professional art work. Max was born blessed with natural art ,"I believe I inherited my art skills from my father, he was a master at his work, from wood carving to stone and wax molding which is the main work at Swazi Candles". He says.  "Truly I had no other profession I wanted the most than improving my artistic abilities ,and that I promise myself to achieve an

Valentine's Valentine

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It's the Valentine's weekend and I know SOME of you guys are super excited and some of you are already celebrating! So, what better way to celebrate Valentine's day than with awesome music, and because I love you guys so much, I made sure I plug you with some jams for the heartfelt day.  I spoke to a few local artists in the Kingdom of Eswatini who have dished out some music for us to listen to this Valentine's day, and boy oh boy! There is just so much talent here. I must say, these artists are remarkable!  Dj Lady Zee has blessed us with an Amapiano single, "Valentine". She says the inspiration behind it was to get to work on producing music and getting new talent while also spreading love through music given that it’s a tough time.  "Since it’s my birthday on Valentine’s Day and unfortunately I can't host a show to celebrate it, this is me celebrating my birthday with my fans through this single". The song is really beautiful and the productio

Yours In Hip Hop

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Supa CDQ, Formally Known As Linda Dlamini   Is One of Eswatini's Finest Hip Hop Djs. He Has Played Along The Likes Of AKA, Simmy, Black Motion, Reason, Busiswa, Just To Name A Few. He Was Born And Raised In Mbabane, Eswatini, Where He Did His Primary Education At St Francis Primary School, His High School Education At St Marks High School And Finished Off At Swazi National School. He Then Furthered And Did His Tertiary At Emergency Medical Rescue College.  Supa Says Since He Was Young, He Has Always Been Surrounded By Music Lovers. The First One Being His Father Who Loved Playing music In The House, More Especially On Weekends. From Jazz To Soul and RnB. His Uncle, Bonez Who Is A Radio Dj On EBIS, Used To Give Linda Access To His Computer That Had A Wide Range Of Music Genres. That’s Also Where He Used Make His First Mixes After He Learnt Some Deejaying Basics From His Brother, Yugo.  The Well Renowned Dj Says He Fell In Love With Music Because Music Makes Everything Easy. You Can

We claim ground!

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I t's no debate that the past seven and half months have been belligerent in so many different aspects. As if the Eswatini Arts and Entertainment industry wasn't already suffering enough, the COVID-19 pandemic took over and turned lives upside-down. And when we thought things were getting better, we just took two steps forward and five steps back. At this point, we're not sure of our fate.  It's been a blow, especially for the arts and entertainment industry in the Kingdom. Artists have been screaming but its been difficult to get the government to hear our wail. Some artists have even opted to venture into other paths to get some remuneration. Regardless of the whole situation, some artists have been creating, making music and becoming more powerful, perfecting their craft.  I had an interesting chat with a few artists who are working with  Claiming Ground Records , which is a record label in the Kingdom, founded by Mozaik the producer. Music is their culture and all w

Slottaness

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Nicholas Sibusiso Dlamini , commonly known as Slotta is a Swazi award winning artist. He is a vocalist, composer, producer, photogragher, deejay and songwriter. He really is a man with many hats. This year alone, he has won two major international music competitions, which includes a Brazilian Remix competition under Sure Player Recordings and having the remixes released officially and the Chymamusique remix competition and having the remixes released as well. He was part of the headliners on the 2nd House Music Festival in Eswatini, he played on the first ever MTN Bushfire festival digital stage, just to name a few of his achievements this year.   Slotta started his musical journey as a vocalist, which he still is, from way back in 2008, he used to hang around Subjamz studios and watch the master, in which Subjamz ended up imparting his knowledge to Slotta. In 2011, when he was doing his second year, he bought a laptop and installed fruityloop and that's when he started making hi