Mandoza walked into the Independent Newspapers building, confident and with a spring in his step. As usual he was wearing his trademark dark sunglasses, a look that only U2 frontman Bono has managed to pull off without looking like a douchebag. I asked him about it and he said it wasn’t “about swag, but style”.
Mandoza, what happened to you? You were the biggest musician in the country and then silence...
It’s not like that, man. You know, I was mostly working beyond the borders in Namibia, Swaziland, Mozambique.
Really?
Yeah, man. Even in Japan, Europe – I didn’t just want my music to be only in South Africa. I wanted to spread it, like the way the Americans have spread their music. I had collaborations with many foreign artists.
Do you know what led to your hiatus?
I’m an artist. There will be bad days and good days. People can’t expect me to sound the same; I need to evolve in my music too.
Do you attribute changing the subject matter led to you being less popular?
Yes. I did Nkalakatha11 years ago. I can’t go back to that. I needed to grow and I got married. I know I lost some of the appeal when Mpho and I got married. I had to move away from songs like Nkalakatha, Ghodoba and Tornado and start singing message songs. I feel like people put me in a box early on in my career and I became a kwaito musician before I was a musician.
What was really going on in your life during that time?
It was heavy, at some point I nearly gave up. There was TK’s death which I found very difficult to deal with, the fast life, the drugs, and the accidents. And I didn’t believe in counselling. I still don’t. I don’t get why I must pay someone to get over my problems. It’s like a drug addict – you have to want the help to go to rehab and get help.
It was a very difficult time. There’s too much to get into, but I believe in fate and maybe I needed to go on this journey to understand why I’m on Earth, why I’m alive. I could’ve easily died in those accidents, but I didn’t. I think it needed to happen for me to become who I am now, a person I can be proud of. I see this scar on my face (points to it) which I got from an accident and it’s become a part of me.
Are you a better person now? Do you care what people say about you?
I remember at the Samas in 2010 I was still under a lot of stress. I had people whispering about my weight loss, my illness and how I was going to die in a few weeks. It was a lot of rubbish. These are the same people who said I looked good, but behind my back were telling tabloids nonsense about my life. I’ve never gone out of my way to seek people’s approval. Yes, the people made me and they can break me, but I’m human and at the end of the day I also get hurt. I’ve realised that I must always look at the positive things in life. My talent has brought me joy and hardships, but mostly joy and I like that.
I listened to your new album and it's different from anything you’ve done before. I wouldn’t say that it’s kwaito. The only kwaito track is Uzongthola Eskhaleni. It’s more electro and dance. Why?
Like I said earlier, I’m a musician and people boxed me too early in my music and so I kept on giving them what they wanted. I’m a multi-dimensional artist. I make music, not just kwaito. I worked with PRO, Brickz, Malik, all different artists, and they all brought something to the album. It’s something I’ve never done before and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with trying something different.
But why change your old style of kwaito?
With kwaito you sometimes have to go with trends and the dance styles that are popular. Like now everyone is on that Hlokoloza craze. Arthur, DJ Cleo and Siphiwe Mtshali all have a song about a dance style, which as far as I’m concerned is not even proper music. I won’t let my daughter dance to that song. I don’t even know how to explain what it means and if she ever asks what Hlokoloza means, I’ll give her a hiding. I’m serious. It’s time we added a message to our music.
Your last album didn’t do so well, but do you think taking the dance/electro route makes business sense?
I don’t care about sales.
But you still need to make money off the album?
I’m serious. I’m setting a trend here and doing electro. Not many people in the country even dare to touch electro. My music will have appeal everywhere in the world. I’m not going to limit myself to the South African Ayoba on the album I did with a German artist. It’s going to be released in Germany. That’s how big I’m going.
Did you ever recover from Nkalakatha? You’re like the Michael Jackson of kwaito – he never recovered from the success of Thriller. I feel that it’s the same with you and Nkalakatha.
(Visibly angry) But I did recover! I grew. After Nkalakatha, I became a huge artist. It made me a brand. For me it was one of those songs. I can’t keep comparing everything I do with it. That was 11 years ago. Come on. People need to give me a break. You know it wasn’t supposed to be a hit. We were just messing about. There were better songs on the album.
But you can’t deny that it was your biggest hit?
I’m so sick of that song, so sick of performing it. (He covers his head.) I’ve performed it for 11 years. Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful for its success, but I really don’t like performing it any more.
So why haven’t you quit the music business?
I’ve thought about it many times, especially after the accident. I really thought of just leaving this damned business and living a quiet life, but when I’d watch TV and see people performing, I’d get angry. I’d want to be performing on that stage; I’d want it to be me. So why quit when I still feel the passion burning?
Why did you leave EMI?
The contract was over and I also wanted to do my own thing, to experiment with a different sound. I’m now with Electromode. That’s why I called my album So Fresh. It’s a fresh start.
Are you happy now?
Yes I am. I’m satisfied with everything. You know, I actually love the critics. I love you guys because all the crap that you’ve thrown at me has made me a better person. We need haters. (He laughs.) I worked hard for this and there’s not one person who will take this away from me. Being happy is my responsibility. I’ve finally become a very happy person.