Mbongeni Moyo (19) is Dinwiddie\u2019s upcoming hip-hop artist with great plans for the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was introduced to music by my brother, Bekezela Khumalo (also known as Afrostone), in 2006,\u201d said Khumalo.<\/p>
\u201cI was in Grade Six at Phumelela Public School, in Katlehong, and as young as I was it wasn\u2019t hard for me to pen lines, as I loved poetry and was taking part in it at school.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were both in school during the birth of our music careers and didn\u2019t take it seriously, but we didn\u2019t give up on our dream of being artists.<\/p>
\u201cThrough perseverance and determination we released our first single, titled Drop the World, in March 2011.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moyo, whose stage name is Deep Flamez, also told GCN that their single was well received by listeners.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe single was produced by Quintessential and although its success motivated us, we knew we had to finish school,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the release of the single we both decided to explore the solo platform, which worked well as we were able to discover our individual identities as artists.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe experience I gained from the single, together with the decision to take a break, enabled me to find myself and mature as an artist, and also to finish school.<\/p>\n
\u201cI matriculated last year, at Katlehong\u2019s Alafang High School; in the same year I managed to make it to the 15th round of the Battle Zone competition that was also held in Katlehong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moyo said he had to battle artists from all over Gauteng in the competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learnt a lot from the competition and, importantly, I learnt that hip-hop is not about battle, because battle is not big on content and music is predominantly about the content and message,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stopped battling, because it wasn\u2019t building me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also learnt a lot from an open mic session I was invited to at a Zimbabwean radio station, Starfm, in 2013.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the same year I met two aspiring gospel hip-hop artists, Terance and Trevor Sibanda, at the Dunamis Family International Church, and we started working together.<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether we released one single, Night Skies, in January this year and, because Terance is a producer, as well, he produced the single.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are still working together and hoping to release more music.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent news, Moyo is set to release his first single as a solo artist.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will be dropping it this Saturday, at a club in Randfontein,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is titled Gett\u2019n Rich and once it is released people can find it on Sound Cloud.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am also working on my first album, which will be focused on my life journey and the things happening in my community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am hoping to work with local, Zimbabwean and Swaziland artists and, if all goes well, the album should be ready by next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cFurthermore, I plan to register at Wits University and to study law, because even though I love music I also believe that education is important.\u201d<\/p>\n
To book Deep Flamez, send him an email to DeepFlamez@gmail.com.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You might also be interested in:<\/p>\n