The rise to fame

Hailing from the small town of Mount Ayliff in the Eastern Cape, Ndamase knew from the start that he wanted to dive into the arts. He sang in a few school competitions and it wasn’t long before he was the arty go-to-guy that his teachers called on in times of need.

However, his parents weren’t very invested or interested on the idea of their son having a career in the arts.

“Music was not a conversation,” he explained.

“They told me [the arts] was what you did to have a good time, but you don’t do it to make money.”

However, this didn’t stop him from trying to pursue his dreams.

“When it was time for me to apply for university I wanted to go into arts and I knew that it would not be well received by my family, even though I’d done so much.”

Ndamase explained that although the high school he attended in a town called Idutywa was mainly science based, when he was leaving matric, the school created a special art award just for him to thank him for his contribution.

“That was big for me . It was really good to be appreciated in a science school for having done arts – which was not a requirement.”

He ended up studying computer sciences at the University of Johannesburg but struggled because he wasn’t passionate about it. He admitted that changing courses wasn’t an option, as his family was suffering financially. So he worked hard, passed his subjects and got a job so that he could pursue his dream in his own time.

“I ended up working for Standard Bank. So from arts and science to having a bank career. It’s weird.”

However, now Ndamase uses his salary to pay for studio time and creating songs.

“This is my dream, so now I’m in a position where I could pursue my dream using my money, sacrificing my time, sacrificing everything that I could possibly sacrifice.”

The sacrifices seem to have paid off because the Olothando name is getting out there, thanks to his two songs, Ndofika Nini and Mpumelelo Ndibize.

“If you listen to my music, it’s all intertwined, you understand why this song comes after that song. It’s a journey.”

Ndamase explained that his first song, Ndofika Nini, is about how he’d done everything he could do to break into the music industry. “It says ‘When will I arrive/I feel like giving up’ and I really did. I thought to myself ‘could this be the last song I do before I’ve even started?’ And when we released it, people went bananas.”

Ndamase hinted at having a few tricks up his sleeve for the next year, so we can expect great things from this rising star.

WATCH:Olothando Ndamase – Ithemba: 

Details: ; Twitter @Ollotee