Onzima Keeps Kwaito Legacy Alive
Many upcoming artists to this day may seem to be headed towards hip-hop, Rnb and amapiano. It is very rare to find music talent who want to venture with passion into the Kwaito genre, but that is a whole different case with the humble Onzima. Having grown with the love and passion for music, he decided to take to the music world as a kwaito music maker. Born and raised in Molepolole, the artist who always had a passion for music decided to get into the industry back in 2014 when he became a crew member of a group called Amavandal which is a kwaito crew.
Born Elias Samo, he decided to become identified by the stage name “Onzima.” When asked why the name he said that when starting his music career, things were hard for him and he had not managed to do well at school so referring to the situations in a Zulu term “kunzima” which means it is hard. That was how the Onzima name was birthed. When starting off as a musician he was part of the Amavandal crew and they released some songs but he eventually had to part ways with the crew due to certain differences. He then went on to release some singles as a kwaito artist that featured some local and South African artists like Skeatman and from all those songs the one he had so much success with was “Oketsa” the song that he worked with featuring Skeatman.
The artist also said that he is currently working on an album to be released anytime soon. He has collaborated with various local artists and others from South Africa. He said that however things may be, it is very tough for him in the industry and having to market himself or building a brand is a very hard thing to do. Over that, the Covid-19 which seems to be here to stay also has affected his music. Although things are not easy for him, the artist said he is trying all every means possible to grow his brand. He usually does clips singing to his songs on social media platforms and seems to work out for him in branding himself.
When talking about his music, and genre, he said that his was a different kind of Kwaito genre. It is the kind that has some afro-pop to it with rap as well which makes it to have a different sound over all the traditional kwaito songs one may be used to. The kwaito maker said his journey came through inspiration from listening to the old school kwaito as he was growing up. He also said that he used to listen to South African artists like Zola, Kabelo, Mapaputsi and many others and they made him grow in love with the genre.
“The songs were great and even had a message to pass on,” he said. From them all his all-time favourite was Zola as he loved the way he sang and rapped which was unique and i t really inspired him. Onzima also went on to say that at the moment he and aspires to work with many renounced artists in the kwaito industry like MMP Family, Dlala and Zola.
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Duncan Sebeso