While Youth Day, and in extension Youth Month, is a commemorative date to reflect on the massacre of school children during the 1976 Soweto Uprising, it's also become an occasion through which we celebrate young talent doing work that defies their age.
Here, we look at some of the talented newcomers who are making waves on the music scene and who we think will soon become superstars.
Kenza
Kenza is one of those rare young DJs and producers in SA who creates music that sounds like it would make a crowd at one of those huge dance festivals in Ibiza go nuts.
But not only does his music sound international, it also feels like home. His production on Azana’s stellar 2020 single “Egoli” is the perfect example.
Apart from his fist full of hits with Azana, Kenza has, over the past few years, produced for African stars, including Nasty C, Sun-El Musician, Msaki, Musa Keys, Ami Faku, and Zakes Bantwini.
“Even though music is for everyone, it’s special when music is made for the youth by the youth,” Kenza, who’s also one half of house duo Claudio x Kenza, recently told Apple Music. Agreed.
Kash CPT
In the time since he emerged in 2019 when he stole the limelight with two stellar guest appearances on Flame's "Candy Man" album, Kash CPT has been gradually charting his own path with several impressive singles and two projects along the way: "Cape Town Radio" and, a few weeks ago, "Cape Town Radio 2".
He's a breath of fresh air and a great flag bearer for Cape Town's richly diverse music scene. All he needs to take it up a notch is just one big break, and he's gone, trust me.
Nanette
Nanette is going to be a huge star sooner rather than later. The Durban-born singer-songwriter has the rare ability to craft sing-along bops that are both deeply introspective and vibey.
Her recently released debut album,“Bad Weather” sees her showcasing her impressive vocal range as she sings about some painful personal experiences while also crafting some catchy and bouncy tunes like the mesmeric “Fire” featuring Idahams.
Zee Nxumalo
Zee Nxumalo may only be 19-years old, but she's got a good few years under her belt.
Since going viral as a 15- year old with her cover of Mlindo The Vocalist’s hit single, “AmaBlesser“, she's patiently reinvented her sound and re-emerged as a polished afro-pop vocalist with a penchant for penning meaningful amapiano anthems as she recently did on Zandimaz's bubbling hit, ”Maphupho“.
Her recent single ”Hamba“ is doing numbers, and she's reportedly got a debut project on the way.
TBO
When veteran amapiano DJ and producer Kelvin Momo, who's a standout in the genre for his loungey musicality, released his most recent album "Ivy League" late last year, the immediate stand-out was unanimously Funa.
Sure Kelvin's stellar production was on full view as always, but it was TBO's superb vocal performance on the song that made it such a hit.
Off the back of Funa's success, TBO is rapidly becoming a national superstar. It's only a matter of time before he stands toe to toe with the likes of amapiano vocal stars Sir Trill and Daliwonga.