Singer Coolkiid talks new single 'Ingelosi', music journey and fame

Bursting on to the scene with his hit single Inhlinziyo, afro pop singer Coolkiid made sure he kept the momentum going when he went on to release his six-track EP titled Impilo Yothando.

He said the EP was his labour of love to his fans for showing someone like him immense support.

Speaking to TshisaLIVE, Coolkiid (real name Avuyile Nkompolo) said love has done a lot of things in his music career, and the love he received from his fans, he said, made him the artist that he is. 

“After I released Inhliziyo people wanted to hear more from me, so I thought let me give people what they want, and then I decided to make an EP that consisted of at least six tracks and love motivated the EP. That’s why I named it Impilo Yo Thando. It's all bout love and building relationships.” 

A few months later, he is now ready to shake things up with his new single Ingelosi where he features amapiano DJ and music producer Tyler ICU. The single dropped on March 11 on all digital streaming platforms.

“I chose Tyler because as we all know the guy is really good when it comes to beats, so I saw that the song needed someone like Tyler and not just anybody, and the results were very good.”

On what inspired the song, he said: “With the song I want people to know that friends can be toxic when it comes to their love lives, most of them realise when it's late. I'm trying to show them that friends shouldn't tell them what to do but they can advise them when it comes to matters of love.”

His fans will hear him on an amapiano track, something which he is excited about, and that's dabbling across genres.

“I wanted to come back with a new sound. I want to surprise people when I come back, they shouldn’t think I'm only limited to afro-pop. When I come back it must be with something people didn’t expect.”

The 22-year-old singer said his journey in music was hard because not many supported him.

“To be honest it has been really tough, because where I come from, music is not supported a lot.  So it was hard to get support and stuff. I was amazed when my song (Inhlinziyo) blew up, because the reason I’m making music is because of love and not because I wanted fame or to make money. 

“I’m doing it for love because where I grew up music wasn’t supported in that way that it gave me hope that one day I'd also see myself somewhere. ”

While facing his challenges in music, Coolkiid said, he looked up to rapper and businessman Cassper Nyovest.

“The one person that has kept me going is Cassper Nyovest. I want to be like him, to be honest. The guy works a lot and I also want to see myself in the position he is in one day. He inspires me, he's the one who makes me believe that one day I’ll be someone, I’ll be big.”