"A 33 year old singer has entered the field of local maskandi with a storm,not only promoting his music but also that of other artist to showcase their talent."
Monwabisi “Mjabulisi” Mdaweni (33) is a taxi driver from Katlehong who was brought up by his grandmother Nomakhaya Sdubule “Machiya”. He lost his mother at a young age and his father spent his time trying to make a living in Johannesburg. He left school in grade ten and had to start making a living for himself. Growing up he was a fan of all traditional music but Mqgumeni was his favourite singer, he looked up to his music for inspiration. He has been a taxi driver since 2006 and recently embarked on his music career. According to Mjabulisi it has been a dream of his since he was a child and when he started working as a taxi driver. He started coming up with songs but people only saw a taxi driver with nothing but dreams. He has met people who tried to help him with his first steps but didn’t work out until he met Derick who is featured in his album as a guitarist and his uncle Jeffery Sithole and worked together till the birth of his first album “Lavuth’bhayi”. “My album is doing great so far [and] people are welcoming me in the industry and more especially my customers from the taxi industry– who are also my biggest supporters in my music journey” said Mjabulisi. Mjabulisi is not only a singer but also a regular host of traditional music shows in Katlehong Township. According to him, he started hosting these shows to give other singers a chance to showcase their talent and also contribute in preserving as well as continuing the culture of traditional music and dance. He urged the public not to be violent when attending these events, and people to support their music. He is promoting his music by word of mouth, social media and personal deliveries. He emphasized the need for support with buying of their CD’s (that cost fifty Rands each), assistance with security for people who get drunk and disturbs their events and sponsors to support the event financially as they now finance it themselves.
