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King Monada, of smash hit Ska Bhora Moreki, says his lifestyle has improved considerably since he signed up with his new record label.
The 24-year-old arrived at the bash of the week – the nominations announcement for the 16th annual Metro FM Music Awards – in his new black Mercedes-Benz.
“I have upgraded from a Citi Golf to a Mercedes-Benz,” said King Monada, whose real name is Khutso Steven Kgale.
But he politely declined to discuss the make and model of his new vehicle.
The nominations event, held on Tuesday evening at The Forum in Bryanston, was attended by a host of celebrities, including Arthur Mafokate, TV personality Luthando ‘LootLove’ Shosha, Kelly Khumalo, and Lalla Hirayama.
We also bumped into sassy Khanyi Mbau dressed in a lacey see-through black dress.
Up for awards at the event to be held on February 25 at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban are R&B singer Amanda Black, whose Amazulu leads the pack with five nominations, while Wololo singer Babes Wodumo bagged four nominations.
But both neither showed up for the event.
On everyone’s lips was why Mroza’s hit, Van Damme, wasn’t nominated.
SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago told City Press that the Song of the Year winner was not on Metro FM’s playlist because the station doesn’t play maskandi music.
Surprisingly, King Monada garnered only one nomination for Song of the Year for Ska Bhora Moreki.
He told City Press that the song idea came to him when he was frequenting taverns and often heard people quarrelling about who had to pay the bill.
“After I heard the same argument coming from people in different taverns, I decided to put it in a song,” he said.
“From the time that I wrote the song to producing it in the studio, I knew it was going to be a hit. I could feel it.”
Steven said he was a “moreki” only at home.
“I’m not a moreki for girls or my friends. I just take care of my family and bless Limpopo with my music,” he laughed.
He also cleared up a recent Twitter feud about his song’s genre, saying it doesn’t fall under the Bakadi genre, but rather under house music.
He’s grateful to have been signed up by the Open Mic record label, adding that there aren’t many jobs going in Limpopo. “I’m really grateful for this rare opportunity,” he said.
Steven is confident that he will take away the song of the year award, saying: “I’m doing it for Limpopo.”
After MC Unathi Msengana and sponsors’ speeches started the programme, the opening performance of the night was from Soul Kulture (the duo Afeletsi Manamathela and Msekeli Velaphi) from Khayelitsha who received three nominations.
They told City Press that their hit song Ngeliny’ilanga is about where they come from.
“Our backgrounds just inspired the song as it just speaks of how one day we will make it out of our poor state and make it to the top,” said Velaphi.
Rapper and songwriter Kwesta said that he was grateful that his music was being recognised after nine years in the business.
“2016 has definitely been one of my most successful years in terms of music and, to me, awards don’t really matter because getting nominated gets me excited,” he said.
“A lot of sacrifices were made in the creation of that album and I would be content if I took best hip-hop album home.”
Another regular on air is DJ Speedsta’s hit, Mayo.
“I am really glad that everything happened the way it did,’’ he said. “I really think that I deserve the best collaboration award because I brought out new talent that hadn’t surfaced in the industry.”
