Simphiwe Mabuya

Simphiwe Mabuya, better known as Sim, is lyrical creative born and bred in a small location of Kwazakhele in Gqebrha. He regards himself as a performing artist (artivist) and a community developer who believes on empowering communities through Word power. Sim chose to employ his
God given talent ,Rhythm & Poetry, as a tool to express himself. His writings will often, if not always, evoke mind blowing emotions and touch upon thought provoking concepts: societal or political . He is known for his smooth, addictive and smart poetic flow patterns over jazzy/boom-bap instrumentals. His inspiration is mostly drawn from the type of community work that he has been involved in over the years including his own life experiences.

He was formally trained as a performing artist from UCT where he studied Speech & Drama. It was during his tertiary years where he discovered his passion for writing Poetry and a need to tell empowering stories. Since then Sim has honed his pen skills and developed a distinct and unique writing method, creatively using using isiXhosa and English. He has built his credibility/name as a RAP artist/ events organiser and an Actor in Cape Town.

Simphiwe’s first offering was “Social Poetics”, entirely produced by Siyabonga Tyesi, which came out late 2008. The project was produced off a zero budget and yet managed to create enough buzz to earn Sim a spot as a Lyricist/Poet. He then took a 7 year long semi-break doing developmental work within the NGO sector, focusing on Youth Development and Community Development.

“ I hear all the Rhythm but I miss the Poetry” - Sim

Sim eventually returned to the lab and started working on his long awaited studio offering titled
Perceptions which was officially released 30th August 2020 . Right after, a single titled “Infatuation” feat Jane P and produced by Adon Geel was released under Home Grown Concepts.
The album was executive produced by Simphiwe Mabuya with Siyabulela Ngadlela, Bulela Ngodwana and Leeford Gumbo. A video for the intro song “Perceptions” was shot and released the same year on YouTube. Perceptions is now available from all leading digital platforms and has been receiving great traction in and outside South Africa. Soon after it’s release, the the entire project was chosen by the award winning Telenova Gomora for background/theme music. The project boasts production contribution from the likes of Adon Geel, Bulela Ngodwane, Planet Earth , Xolani Duai Sikosan and Christian Monashe.

In 2022 Simphiwe went on to release a thought provoking yet empowering Ep titled Shock & Awe with the talented Vaal producer iWillTunes. The project was inspired by the book The Shock Therapy written by Naomi Klein. Recently Sim has yet again released another empowering song , a single, titled Ekas’lam featuring Redondo of the acclaimed Sapaza crew Driemanskap.

Sim has shared stages with the likes of:

Zulu Boy, Zonke Dikana, Nahum, Ian Kamau (Canada), Huge Impact, Eavesdrop, Spek Won (Toronto), Zaki Ibrahim (Toronto) , Archetypes, Johny Cradle, Nhoza Sitsholwana, Luka...