Lvovo: 'Taxi drivers are the reason gqom music blew up'

As far as L'vovo is concerned, taxi drivers don't get enough credit for their role in society and he believes part of the reason he is loved by Mzansi is because taxi drivers loved him first.

In 2018, L'vovo decided to host a braai for the local taxi drivers in Durban that left people asking for his motives. Speaking to TshisaLIVE, he explained where the idea stemmed from.

It was all about gratitude for the people that created the brand of L'vovo.

“My music started playing in taxis. Our sound, the Durban sound, it took a while for it to break into the mainstream world.  But the taxi drivers took a risk on me and many other Durban artists. The taxi drivers didn’t have to play our music but they did, until people got used to it and loved it.”

L'vovo emphasised the fact that taxi drivers have been reduced to a negative stereotype that overshadows the good they do for the society on a daily basis.

“Nobody has ever really thanked these drivers who have transported our parents to work and us in their taxis for years. Instead, we have reduced them all to people who drive badly and are always swearing. So I decided, together with some other people like Distruction Boyz, to just host them and say thank you.”

The Palesa hitmaker also explained that another thing he loved about taxi drivers is their ability to accept people for who they are. For him, they were one of the first people to validate not only his music, but also his body image.

“When I started in this music business, back in 2006, I was this size. I am still the same size. People loved the L'vovo they saw the first time they met me. So for me, if it happened that I lost weight, I won’t be the L'vovo everybody knows."