D.Y.K. – DID YOU KNOW? 24 MARCH 2021

DYK 24 March 2021

BLAQ DIAMOND

  • The duo’s names are Ndumiso Mdleteshe and Sphelele Dunywa. They were both born in 1994.
  • They grew up in Ladysmith, KwaZulu Natal.
  • When Ndu and Danya were in grade 9, they used to rap battle on the school bus.
  • The first day they released their first album, it was number one across all genres.
  • Ndu and Danya also play musical instruments like the piano, marimba, and drums.

 

YOUNGSTACPT

  • Riyadh Roberts was born Riyadh Emandien; on 23 December 1991. Known professionally as YoungstaCPT, he is a South African rapper and songwriter.
  • He is known for incorporating details about his Cape Malay culture and his Cape Town roots in his music.
  • YoungstaCPT has been described as “one of the most outspoken South African emcees  of this generation.
  • He released his debut solo album 3T (Things Take Time), in April 2018, which won Album of The Year at the 2019 South African Hip Hop Awards.
  • Prior to the release of 3T, YoungstaCPT had released 30 mixtapes, 6 extended plays and two collaborative albums since his debut in 2010

 

JADEN

  • Jaden Christopher Syre Smith (born July 8, 1998) sometimes known by just the mononym Jaden is an American actor, rapper, singer, and songwriter.
  • He was born and raised in Malibu, California, the son of actors Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith
  • He released his debut studio album, Syre, on November 17, 2017
  • His second studio album, Erys, was released on July 5, 2019. His third studio album, CTV3: Cool Tape Vol. 3, was released on August 28, 2020.
  • Jaden’s first acting role was with his father Will Smith in the 2006 film “The Pursuit of Happiness” and would again appear with his father in the 2013 film “After Earth”. He also starred in the remake films  “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (2008) and “The Karate Kid” (2010).

 

CIZA

  • His mom Hlanhla Nciza is a lead singer of the Afro-pop group Mafikizolo and his dad, Thembinkosi “TK” Nciza, is the music mogul who discovered many talented people
  • Ciza started making music at the age of 15, watching his mom and dad. He spent most of his playtime as a teenager in the studio writing songs
  • His music has Afro-beat sounds infused with Afro-pop and various South African musical elements
  • His first single’s title “Adge” is taken from the Yoruba language of Nigeria, and is a chant used for kings.
  • He is working on releasing his debut 7-track EP soon

 

KABZA DE SMALL

  • Kabelo Petrus Motha (born 27 November 1992), better known by his stage name Kabza De Small, is a South African DJ and record producer. He was born in Mpumalanga and raised in Pretoria
  • He has been referred to as the king of the Amapiano genre,  and has collaborated extensively with record producer DJ Maphorisa.
  • Kabza De Small began his career as a DJ in 2009, venturing in the genres: Afro-fused house and EDM. In 2016, he made his production credits by releasing his debut album, Avenue Sounds under the label, House Afrika Records.
  • He is considered as one of the best-selling music artists of Amapiano, and also one of the pioneers of the genre. With his breakthrough in 2018, he played an instrumental role in popularizing the amapiano genre.
  • On 3 December 2019, Spotify South Africa, named Kabza De Small as the most-streamed South African artist in the platform for 2019.

 

WIZKID

  • Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990), known professionally as Wizkid (sometimes stylized as WizKid), is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. One of Africa’s biggest artistes, Wizkid is the most decorated Nigerian artiste ever (the most decorated African internationally)
  • He began recording music at the age of 11 and managed to release a collaborative album with the Glorious Five, a group he and a couple of his church friends formed
  • Wizkid signed a record deal with Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E) in 2009.
  • He rose to prominence after releasing “Holla at Your Boy”, the lead single from his debut studio album “Superstar”(2011).
  • In 2016, Wizkid achieved international recognition following his collaboration with Drake on the global hit, “One Dance”, which reached number one in 15 countries

 

BURNA BOY

  • Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu (born 2 July 1991), known professionally as Burna Boy, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, rapper, and dancer.
  • He is one of the biggest and most successful African artists. He rose to prominence in 2012 after releasing “Like to Party”, the lead single from his debut studio album “L.I.F.E” (2013)
  • In 2017, Burna Boy signed with Bad Habit/Atlantic Records in the United States and Warner Music Group internationally. His third studio album “Outside” marked his major-label debut
  • He was awarded the African Artist of the year at the 2020 VGMA’s. In 2020, his album Twice as Tall was nominated for the same category at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, making him the first Nigerian with back-to-back nominations at the Grammys.
  • In 2021, he won the award for Best World Music Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards

 

EMTEE

  • Mthembeni Ndevu, better known by his stage name Emtee, is a South African rapper.
  • He was born in the mid-sized town Matatiele, situated in the Eastern Cape, a coastal province in South Africa. He grew up in Rockville, Soweto, Gauteng.
  • Before his solo career, Emtee was part of the rap trio, African Trap Movement, alongside fellow South African rappers Sjava, Saudi and their producer Ruff before they were all signed by Ambitiouz Entertainment.
  • His debut album “Avery” was certified platinum by RISA on 1 July 2016. Avery included his breakthrough hit “Roll Up” and the follow-up hit single “Pearl Thusi”.
  • At the 22nd South African Music Awards, Emtee received five nominations, winning the awards for Rap Album of The Year for Avery and Song of the Year for “Roll Up”. Emtee won his second award for Song of the Year at the 2015 South African Hip Hop Awards, again for “Roll Up”.

 

DOJA CAT

  • Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer.
  • Born and raised in Los Angeles, she began making and releasing music on SoundCloud as a teenager. Her song “So High” caught the attention of Kemosabe and RCA Records where she signed a joint record deal at the age of 17
  • Doja Cat released her debut studio album, Amala (2018), to commercial failure, but later earned vital success as an internet meme with the single “Mooo!”, which appeared on the deluxe version of her debut album along with singles “Juicy” and “Tia Tamera” in 2019.
  • Doja Cat’s second studio album, “Hot Pink” (2019), reached the top 10 of the US Billboard 200 and spawned the single “Say So”, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart following the release of two remixes with Nicki Minaj
  • Doja Cat has been nominated for three Grammy Awards and has won two American Music Awards in addition to the MTV Video Music Award for “Push Best New Artist”, and for the EMAs.

 

FAT JOE

  • Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper and actor from the Bronx, New York.
  • He began his music career as a member of hip hop group  Diggin’ in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.), then forged a solo career and set up his own label, Terror Squad, to which he signed Big Pun, Remy Ma, DJ Khaled, and many more.
  • Fat Joe’s debut solo album, “Represent”, was released in 1993 and spawned the single “Flow Joe”, which reached number one on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs.
  • He is best known for the songs “Lean Back” with  Terror Squad (2004), “What’s Luv?” featuring Ashanti and Ja Rule (2002), “Make It Rain” (2006) featuring Lil Wayne, and “All The Way Up” with  Remy Ma featuring French Montana and Dre (2016).
  • Fat Joe has also appeared in several films, including “Scary Movie”, and “Happy Feet”, as well as Spike Lee’s Netflix series “She’s Gotta Have It”.

 

 

DJ KHALED

  • Khaled Mohamed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), better known by his stage name DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, songwriter, record producer, and media personality.
  • Khaled first gained prominence as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station 99 Jamz, and translated his popularity by working with Terror Squad as a DJ for their live performances.
  • Khaled released his debut studio album “Listennn… the Album” in 2006, which earned gold certification. He followed it with the album “We The Best” (2007), which contained the top 20 single “I’m So Hood”.
  • His subsequent two releases were released after he founded the record label “We The Best Music Group”. Both albums charted in the top ten on the US Billboard 200,  with the latter containing the single “All I Do Is Win”, which was eventually certified triple platinum.
  • His eleventh album,  “Father of Asahd”, was released in 2019; it peaked at number two, and the song “Higher” won Best Rap/Sung Performance at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards,  Khaled’s first Grammy award win.

 

AMORPHOUS

  • His name is Jimir Reece Davis,  but goes by Amorphous in the creative world.
  • Amorphous is popular for his mashups of big radio hits, like his mashup of Rihanna’s 2016 “Kiss It Better” with Luther Vandross’ 1981 classic “Never Too Much”, which has accumulated over 80,000 likes on Twitter in its first week
  • He was born and raised in Philadelphia, where he developed a passion for music and filmmaking at a young age.
  • He started playing with music and film since he was a toddler, and at 23 started taking it more seriously over the last six or seven years
  • Beyond his mashups, Davis is also a budding filmmaker and producer. His portfolio includes documentaries on stars like Aaliyah and Rihanna.

 

MDUDUZI NCUBE

  • Mduduzi Ncube is a South African singer and songwriter. Ncube hails from Hammarsdale in KwaZulu Natal.
  • In high school, the aspirant musician started a group of four members with his friends. Drawing inspiration from The Soil and Akon, the group explored the music scene. The group unfortunately split in their matric year after two years together.
  • Two years after matric, Mduduzi was gifted with a guitar. He taught himself how to play and perfect the instrument. Ncube then started going into his town and performing and busking. After a video of one of his performances went viral, Mduduzi slowly started building a fanbase.
  • He started his music career by taking a leap of faith and campaign outside DJ Tira’s office to play his guitar, until Tira noticed him
  • Today he’s a recording artists that is signed onto the popular record label, Afrotainment

 

Q TWINS

  • Viggy and Virginia, popularly known by their stage name “Q-Twins hail from (Nonoti) north of KZN
  • They attended Nonoti Primary School and Nonoti Senior Secondary School.
  • They burst into the South African music scene as Idols SA 2019 season favourites.
  • Idols proved to be the beginning of the road for Q-Twins after they gracefully exited idols as Top 8 finalists.
  • Talent scout Dj Tira didn’t hesitate to sign them to his highly successful Afrotainment stable, and quickly recorded their first mainstream single titled Qwabe Twins “Hamba” Ft Dj Tira himself.

 

KELLY KHUMALO

  • Kelly Khumalo (born November 11, 1982) is a South African singer, actress and dancer
  • She was Born in Spruitview, East Rand. She shot to fame after the release of her debut album T.K.O (2005)
  • She was named the Best Newcomer of 2005 in the Afro Pop music circuit. The Past, The Present, The Future album was released on 5 November 2012.
  • In May 2013, She scooped award at the 19th South African Music Award
  • Her tenth album The Voice of Africa (2020), had chart topping singles “Empini”, which was certified gold by Recording Industry of South Africa (RISA) and “Esiphambaweni” which peaked number one in the gospel charts.

MLINDO

  • Lindokuhle Mgedezi (born 5 October 1995), known professionally as Mlindo the Vocalist, is a South African singer and songwriter.
  • Lindokuhle Magedezi was born and raised in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal.
  • At the age of four, he became part of a local church where he discovered his vocal skills. Mlindo attended the Phathwa High School in Gcilima, a borough of Margate
  • In 2017, he won a talent competition Golden Search in Richards Bay, which gave him an opportunity to work with record label Afrotainment, owned by producer DJ Tira
  • He gained notable recognition following his debut single, “Amablesser”, taken from his debut album, “Emakhaya”.

 

KWESTA

  • Senzo Brikka Vilakazi (born 11 August 1988) known professionally as Kwesta, is a South African rapper and songwriter.
  • Born and raised in Katlehong, Gauging, a township also known as “K1”.  At the age of 15 in High School, he and his friends formed a rap group “Ghetto Fellaz” which then changed to “The Juvenylz”, in 2003.
  • He released his debut studio album Special ReKwest (2010) and his second album DaKAR (2013), which peaked number 3 on iTunes South Africa Hip-hop/Rap chart
  • In February 26, 2016, he released his third album DaKAR II, which singles include – “Ngud’,” “Nomayini,” “Day Ones,” “Ngiyazifela Ngawe,” “Mayibabo” and “Mmino” and was certified 7x Platinum by Recording Industry of South Africa (RISA)
  • He is currently signed to his own independent media company known as RapLyf Record, with co-founder Kid X

 

THABSIE

  • Thabsie, whose birth name is Bathabise Biyela started her music career as a backup singer for many artists such as Cassper Nyovest, Donald, Black Motion, Khuli Chana, and Proverb.
  • Born in Cape Town and raised in Somerset West, Thabsie enjoyed singing from a very young age. She loved participating in musical ventures, whether alone or in a group such as a choir.
  • She attended the University of Johannesburg and graduated with a BCom Economics degree. She then landed a corporate job in an investment bank.
  • Thabsie quickly rose to fame after featuring in Kwesta’s song, Ngiyaz’fela Ngawe, in 2017.
  • In less than 12 months of being in the industry, she had already been nominated for 3 SA Music Awards.

 

DJ JAWZ

  • DJ Jawz (real name Itumeleng Sebola) is a musician, producer, and DJ who has worked with various Hip Hop and Kwaito artists
  • He started writing music in high school and producing in 2004
  • He was inspired by DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Christos, Oskido, Bob Mavena, Fistaz, Phat Joe, and DJ Fresh
  • He did a single titled “Good Life” with the late Flabba, which dropped in 2015. This was followed by “Come Roll With Us” featuring Cassper Nyovest and AB Crazy in 2016

 

BOB MABENA

  • Mabena worked in radio and broadcasting since 1989 at institutions like Metro FM, Heart FM, 947 and SABC.
  • Mabena also worked at MSG Afrika as station manager of POWER 98.7 and hosted the POWER Breakfast Show.
  • He was an institutional symbol of SA’s popular culture, an embodiment of the South African dream, transcending the old and new, a constant marker of what was and what still lay ahead.

 

MAPARA A JAZZ

  • Before the explosion of their hit record “John Vuligate”, Mapara A Jazz was just a group whose popularity was limited to Pretoria.
  • The duo consisting of Leonard Malatji and Mano Nephawe, started making music in 2007 under the moniker of MaBen10.
  • They first gained popularity in the Pretoria music scene through the Mamelodi township genre of Barcadi music, emulating the likes of DJ Hu Knows, Bujo Mujo, and DJ Mujava
  • In 2012, they converted to amapiano and changed their name to Mapara A Jazz. The title denotes their infusion of jazz into their songs.
  • They started promoting “John Vuligate” over a video edited of dancers (who were initially dancing to another single they were suppose to release) and put that on Tik Tok. The girls at the garage station then copied these guys and from then on, the song soared into the stratosphere.


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