Johnny Wxlf

BIO

Not many people can claim to have had a song composed about them by a world-famous musician. Gugulethu Mngoma had that honour bestowed upon him at only age 19.

Now at age 27, Mngoma is a musician in his own right, and a sought-after producer among up-and-coming artists. Although he has released dozens of singles to wild acclaim in the past few years, he is only dropping his debut album titled Zion’s Door later this year.

With a famous opera and jazz singer for a mother in Sibongile Mngoma, a world-renowned diva for a grandmother in the recently departed Sibongile Khumalo and a celebrated classical music composer for a great-grandfather in Professor Khabi Mngoma, the young Kimberly-based artist could not escape his destiny, even though he tried.

The track titled Gugulethu appears in Sibongile Mngoma’s debut album A Glimmer of Hope, released in 2013. Like his mother Mngoma says great things take time, and he did not want to rush his album. He is currently negotiating a distribution deal with an independent label because he wants to keep ownership of his music.

To carry the Mngoma surname has been both a blessing and a curse for the artist. “For most of my young life I tried to avoid music. There was just so much pressure. I played rugby and even indulged in competitive swimming, but music always tugged at my soul, calling me back” says Mngoma.

It was only in Grade 9 that he realised he couldn’t avoid music forever, it was in his blood. “I was always listening to music, and I loved how it made me feel. It was an escape for me because I was going through a lot at home,” Mngoma says.

He played the violin at Primary school and later changed to piano when he started high school. His favourite uncle Linda Mngoma later introduced him to Deejaying. “I got into tribal-house and deep-house, and ran with that till college. It is there that I discovered music production,” says Mngoma.

He started producing his own music because his peers thought his sound was weird. His music can easily be categorised as world music and even alternative music, but never conventional. He says his music comes from the universe and the spirit world. “I don't follow convention because I don’t like being boxed and I value my freedom of thought and creation. Well-composed music heals the hearts of the listeners, and that is my goal with my music,” says Mngoma.

A free spirit who values freedom in its totality, Mngoma’s birth in 1994 seemed like a good omen, symbolic of the turning of the tide in the history and politics of South Africa. He took his first breath in the year South African blacks got their freedom, and a new all-inclusive democratic government was formed, and led by the first president of colour.

Mngoma’s fresh take on music inserts fearless fragility in a world which is ruled by conformity, where the majority of artists seek cages to fit in, and a strong desire to wear the same mask as everyone. He displays a keen understanding of the fact that keeping it fresh means making conscious decisions to experiment, to make mistakes and to follow one’s own intuition.

Mngoma’s music is like a perfect stew cooked with love and patience. Just as you taste the magical flavour of the bone marrow of Jazz, you suddenly get the sweet taste of the vegetables of Afrobeat, immediately followed by the strong aroma of the spices of traditional African sounds and you feel the subtle tingle of spices on your tastebuds.

A comfort zone is not a place Mngoma is comfortable with, as he explains that an artist only discovers himself by making mistakes. He says playing it safe only leads to stagnation, and the tendency to regurgitate and repeat what other artists have done before.

Musically, Mngoma reminds me of great non-conformist artists such as Miles Davis, Fela Kuti, Herbie Hancock, Phillip Tabane, Jimmi Hendrixx, Marcus Miller and Tlokwe Sehume, among others, who were always looking for something new and a different way of being. They were less concerned about accolades or the opinions of conformists, who call themselves “purists”.

He seems to focus on different developments of concepts, always looking for something that can inspire him. He is one of the few creatives I have met who never insist on the way things should be. He never tries to shape the music in any direction, he just lets it grow organically.

Whenever he engages other creatives in a collaboration, he lets them be and works with whatever comes out of that creative process, because he says he believes that each artist brings his own essence to the plate. “There is no right or wrong, you should focus only on how it all fits together, and make it happen. You don’t invite someone to create with you and then tell them what to do. It defeats the whole point of collaborating,” explains Mngoma.

Listening to his music is like looking at your own reflection where the mirror has been cracked. There is a feeling of deep enchantment, bordering on the realms of mysticism, as if you are watching illusion shake hands with reality. It is like standing at a magical point in time where the world of the living meets the spirit world.

He believes that music is constantly evolving, as it should, because new artists are born every day, who hate boundaries and boxes. There will always be strong resistance and condemnation from the conformists, but there will also be more Jimmi Hendrixxes, Herbie Hancocks, Marcus Millers and Gugulethu Mngomas born into this world to break down the drab walls of conformity. And the world will be better for it.