Young Maskandi musician dreams big
JOBURG – A young musician has his family's support to pursue his dream if he stays focused on school work too.
Siyabonga Mgiba, also known as Imfolozi Emnyama (loosely translated as black river), is a young guitarist and upcoming Maskandi musician from Olifantsfontein.
The 16-year-old, who is still at school, realised his passion for music four years ago. Mgiba said, “I have been progressively working on composing music for the past four years. I completed my first album titled uSizakele in March and it’s ready for release.”
When asked why he chose Maskandi, he said, “I love that type of music and I have been listening to it since I was a small child. It inspired me and made me want to be a full-time musician one day.”
Mgiba’s cousin and manager, Sabelo Nkosi, said Mgiba’s love for the Zulu folk genre is huge.
“I thought he was joking when he told me he wanted to be a musician and I told him to focus more on school,” Nkosi said.
When Mgiba turned 13, his mother bought him a guitar. “He was so excited that he didn’t even sleep that night, he was constantly practising on his guitar and channelled all his time and energy into grooming his talent. At that time, he wasn’t performing well at school. I realised that he wanted to be a Maskandi artist, so I didn’t discourage him and instead I motivated him to pursue this career after school because that’s what he’s passionate about,” said Nkosi.
His cousin added that the whole family decided to support Mgiba’s passion and not stand in the way of his dreams and believes Mgiba will make a name for himself in the music industry.
“Mgiba has a unique and dynamic talent. He is also able to combine RnB and Maskandi which is a beautiful thing to listen to.”
Details: uSizakele
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