Sho Madjozi talks about being a 'cool' Tsonga rapper

05 September 2017 - 16:14 By TshisaLIVE
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Singer and actress Sho Madjozi
Singer and actress Sho Madjozi
Image: Via Instagram

Actress and rapper Sho Madjozi, who has become the epitome of 'cool' because she proudly embraces  her Tsonga culture and language as a rapper, poet and actress didn't anticipate the love she's getting.

During an interview on the Fresh Breakfast show, the 24-year-old said she never expected to be cool because generally "it's not usually really cool to be Tsonga".

"I think that if you are Zulu, you put in a Zulu raps, if you're Tswana then Tswana raps. So I didn't think that it will be a big deal. I didn't realise that it would be a big thing. And then it was, and that to me was a shock. I just thought that, well this is the language I speak and so that's the language I'm going to rap in. Plus it sounds dope," she said. 

Madjozi, real name Maya Wegerif, burst into the spotlight after featuring on Okmalumkoolkat's hit song Gqi and has since captured the hearts of many South Africans.

The Isithembiso actor explained that upon featuring on a popular rap song, she thought she would only be a "superstar in Limpopo" but that was not the case.

"I wanted to be a ghostwriter for him [Okmalumkoolkat], so when he called saying can you help me work on this album, I thought he meant as a ghostwriter. So I went in there with raps as Malumkoolkat. He was like, 'those are cool but I didn't want you for that, I wanted you to rap as you' to which I responded, 'are you crazy? I'm not a rapper," she explained.

The rapper joked that the best thing about being Sho Madjozi [her famous persona] was the freebies because she used to be a "hungry poet".

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