Theo Kgosinkwe and NhlanhlaNciza
South African artistes,Theo Kgosinkwe and NhlanhlaNciza of Mafikizolo music group tell Saturday Beats about their deal with Davido
How was the group Mafikizolo formed?
Theo: We met a long time ago. Back then, we stayed in the same neighbourhood and we participated in the same music competitions. One day, we decided to get together and form a band and make a demo tape. That was how we started and it has been about 13 years. It quite a long time.
Mafikizolo started out with three members and now, there are only two of you. What happened?
Theo: The two of us originally formed the group until we met Oskido, a popular music producer who later introduced us to our third member, Tebogo. We lost Tebogo in 2004.
How did the song Tchelete where you featured Davido come about?
Nhlanhla: The collaboration was initiated by MTN and we were fortunate enough to be booked to come and perform in a show organised in Nigeria by MTN. One of the MTN officials suggested he would like us to perform with one of their brand ambassadors, Davido.
We bought the idea because when we released our current album, one of our aims was to break into the other African countries and do collaborations with other African artistes. We told him that we would be happy to do the song with Davido and we felt it was a blessing.
Where was your craziest live performance ever?
Theo: We have had so many live performances; so it is hard to single out one that was crazier than the other. But I think there was one a long time ago in South Africa. Then Tebogo Madingoane was still alive. We had some of our lady fans throwing their underwear on stage. And that was the craziest because we didn’t believe what we saw on stage.
Who writes your songs?
Theo: When we first started, we all played different parts in the group. I wrote most of the songs and Nhlanhla was the lead vocalist. As we progressed, we started to develop in different aspects. Nhlanhla became more involved in writing songs and I became more of a lead vocalist. We felt the urge to grow because we lost Tebogo Madingoane. So, the structure of the band changed and everyone had to pull their socks up and cover the spaces we were lacking in. We also went on solo careers. But when we came back, we had grown individually as artistes. Nhlanhla started writing her own songs and I started taking the lead in my own songs. We brought back different elements when we came back to work again as a group.
Where did the name Mafikizolo come from and what does it mean?
Nhlanhla: It’s quite an easy story actually. When we sent out our demo tapes to Kalawa Records, there was a song that we did and it was called Mafikizolo. After we got a record deal, we thought about names back and forth and finally, we just decided to use the name Mafikizolo. Mafikizolo means new kids on the block or newcomers and we were one of the youngest groups to join the record label, so we thought it was a great idea.
What language is Mafikizolo?
Theo: Mafikizolo is Zulu.
Where do you dream of performing?
Theo: Times Square, New York. You know, we have to dream big. We never in a life time thought we would be this big all over the continent and that our music would be so versatile it would get to the western part of the world. We just think this is the beginning of greater things to come. Back in South Africa, we just made history; we never thought we would win eight awards in one night. Scooping every award that there was, it shows anything is possible. We could even win a Grammy or perform at Times Square if we believe in God that we can do it.
When you recorded Khona, did you know it was going to be an international sensation?
Nhlanhla: Sincerely, it took us by surprise. When we recorded the album, we knew we were trying to make songs that would appeal all over Africa because we were done with music that appeal solely to South Africans. We wanted to break outside the South African borders, so when we heard the beat of the song, we felt this could be it because the beat is powerful and there are African drums in the song. We think that’s what made people to fall in love with it so much. To our amazement, the song is also doing very well outside the African continent. We simply think it’s because the song is one of those original African sounds, that’s why it appeals so much to those outside the continent. We wanted to try something different but we never knew it was going to be this big.
What kind of music do you listen to?
Theo: We listen to more of gospel music. We also listen to hip-hop, dancehall, kwaito and Nigerian music.
What is your favourite Nigerian music?
Theo: We would say artiste because we haven’t quite come to understand the genres of Nigerian music. We would say D’banj, Davido, Ice Prince, D’Prince, Tiwa Savage, Tuface and Wizkid are among our favourites.
Can you mention one Nigerian song that you hate?
Theo: We can’t think of any song that we hate because we really don’t know much. But all the Nigerian songs we have been exposed to, we like them all.
What songs make you cry?
Theo: It’s Babyface’s ‘the day you gave me a son.’
Nhlanhla: For me it is Ice Prince’s ‘My Life.’
What is your all time most hated song?
Nhlanhla: It was one of our songs from our old album; we can’t remember the title of the song though. We sounded like Chipmunks.
Who wrote the song?
Theo: I wrote the song. I’m not to blame though because Nhlanhla approved the song before we went into production but sometimes a song sounds nice before it gets into production.
What is your opinion on vulgar and unholy songs?
Nhlanhla: There are a lot of songs in a particular genre of music that are not right but other people like them anyway. The song might sound nice in terms of the beat and melody but the words might not be good words. There are certain songs by Lady Gaga that are quite nice but I wouldn’t want to listen to them because they do not go with my Christian beliefs.
What song would you listen to when you are brokenhearted?
Nhlanhla: I think one time my heart was broken, I listened to Toni Braxton’s ‘Unbreak my heart.’
If a South African song would win a Grammy, what song would it be?
Theo: It has to be Khona by Mafikizolo featuring Uhuru.