‘Umlando’ hitmaker Toss talks about fame, and sheds light on crying video

Children cry when they see him and he can hardly walk around without someone stopping him for a picture. That’s the level of stardom Pholoso Masombuka, aka “Toss”, has achieved since the release of his hit single Umlando with 9umba and Mdoovar in January 2022.

It's had 270-million views on TikTok, 112,000 videos created, and more than 7.5-million streams on digital streaming platforms. Jägermeister and Africori launched the music video recently to celebrate the song's platinum status.

“It feels amazing and scary at the same time, but I’m enjoying the moment. I’m trying not to get succumbed by the pressure, I’m trying to keep it as solid as I can. Sometimes it can get overwhelming because people expect you to be happy all the time, but I’m handling quite well,” Toss told TshisaLIVE.

It's been a long time coming as he's wanted to succeed in the music industry since he was suspended from the Kaizer Chiefs’ development programme before he “misbehaved”. Now he wants to make the most of the fame as he feels he's been given a second chance.

He's looked up to Cassper Nyovest, Riky Rick, DJ Maphorisa, Nasty C and more for inspiration to achieve what he has today.

“I’m running for that Cassper status, that stadium status. Cassper is everything to me, he’s a legend. That guy is the one who made me believe guy like me from the township can do what I’m doing today. He switched the narrative. His music has touched me in a very big way. When I met him the first time, the energy was crazy. It felt like I had known him for a while,” he said.

Toss recalled his first encounter with Riky Rick when he met him in 2019 and later got a nod from him on February 14 over the phone.

“He said; ‘Yo bro, you’re doing too much right now, we need to link up and do something'. Then a few days later he died on February 23, on the day we were shooting the music video of the song. I couldn’t even shoot the video with full-blown energy.

“Right now I’m here to continue what Riky, Cassper, Maphorisa, Nasty C, and everyone started. For me to blow up like this on my first song is because of them, they made sure the internet is a safe space for us.”

Toss' life has changed drastically in a short time and he said it hasn't been easy to take it in. Fans have witnessed how it has affected him when he fainted on stage during a performance in March this year, and later in the month wept live on Instagram.

Addressing the incidents Toss said those were moments that were an accumulation of a lot of things that he never vocalised.

“When I went live I was suicidal. I just wanted to speak about it, I didn’t want to cry. I just wanted to tell people how tough it is. It’s not as glamorous as it looks. I wanted to speak about what was happening at that time, I  could say anything. It was really crazy. My heart was broken. 

“I was trying to vent. I couldn’t vent to my friends because they were part of the problem at that time, same with my family. Everyone was not understanding me at that time. I thought perhaps the people on the Live would want to give me an ear because no-one was trying to do that. I just needed some love.”

Toss said he has found one person who has been in the industry, who he preferred not to name, and his mother have created a safe space for him to offload and talk so he can stay focused on growing his career.

He's in talks with producers at SABC TV as he plans to venture into acting while working on his 7-track Umlando EP set to launch soon and his album launching in July.

“I’m going to do acting. I attended an art school, and while I was studying drama I fell in love with music. I wanted to secure the music side first. Now everything is going the way, I just need another hit then I can get into the acting space.”