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Mkokstad said he was compared to Mzambiya because of how similar they looked.
Gospel artist Dumi Mkokstad is celebrating 25 years in the music industry. Picture: Supplied
Gospel artist Dumi Mkokstad can be described as a child star because he rose to fame at a young age.
As exciting as it seemed to witness him mesmerise throngs of people as a 10-year-old, Mkokstad said he had to contend with comparisons to other child stars at the time.
“There was Mzambiya and Msawawa at the time, and I think I ended up in that type of competition with them, that was not spoken [of],” Mkokstad told The Citizen.
Mkokstad said the comparisons were amplified because of how similar he and Mzambiya looked. “We looked alike and people would say ‘you’re the Mzambiya of gospel’.”
It’s nearly 20 years since those days, and the singer, whose real name is Mdumiseni Nzimande, now celebrates 25 years in the music industry this year.
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Becoming a gospel artist
Mkokstad’s journey in gospel music began when a producer discovered him ministering at a funeral, and he hasn’t looked back since.
He was a huge fan of late gospel singer Lundi, whose voice was appreciated by many. “Lundi was doing better than anyone in the country. My wish was to be a gospel artist doing that well,” shared Mkokstad.
“At that time, I was too young to think about those things [reaching 25 years in music]. At that time, my wish was to be like Rebecca Malope and I wanted to be like Lundi,” he said.
Rejection from record companies made him doubt his dream would come true. “That kind of gave me that thing, that maybe I’m not as good as Rebecca and Lundi.”
Mkokstad said it was only after he was signed by the same record company that Lundi was under, Bula Music, that he believed he could also see his dream of being a recording artist come to life.
He then moved to Hillbrow, Johannesburg, where he pursued his music career. The 31-year-old experienced exploitation, where his CDs and cassettes would sell at shows, but he wouldn’t see where the money went.
“As a child not living with your parents, living with people who are just trying to make money off you, it’s not easy. I wasn’t thinking about a lot, I didn’t even consider or think about things like money,” he said.
His career reached new heights when he joined Big Music in 2010. He has since gone on to win multiple awards and sell out shows. He extended his brand beyond music when he became a host of Amacilongo on Dumisa TV.
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New tour
To celebrate his milestone in the industry, Mkokstad is bringing his Kingdom Mandate Revival Tour to Carnival City next month.
The concert follows an audition that Mkokstad held earlier this year, where he sought out gifted vocalists to join a group he is putting together called Kingdom Worshippers.
“As a person that’s from the rural areas, a place you’d say there’s no hope, God mad a way for me. I know what it’s like to come from a place of no hope and you have to make things work,” said the singer.
Mkokstad has, from time to time, worked and helped solo artists by connecting them to the relevant people.
“For me, it was like ‘why don’t you do something on a bigger scale and try and see if you can open up a platform’,” he said of his Kingdom Worshippers project.
“I’m trying to get people who will take the kingdom of God seriously… and that is to preach the gospel to God’s people who are lost.”
“I started this group and said let me take about 12 to 16 people and go with them on this tour that I’m doing. At the same time, let this be their learning curve and then next year I’ll be doing their album. For now they’re accompanying me on my project, next year we’ll be doing a Kingdom Worshippers album,” he said.
Kingdom Worshippers is under his record company Shammah Records.
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