It's a big task to not only keep the name of the group alive, but ensuring that the music he releases now has the same impact.
That can be a tall order when you're the only remaining member out of three and this can be made worse when your bandmates are no longer in the group because they have passed on.
But the last remaining member of the celebrated kwaito band Big Nuz believes he's up to the challenge.
The group even managed to wrangle the honours of releasing one the biggest songs of 2022, Ngeke, shortly after the passing of the talismanic Mandla 'Mampintsha' Maphumulo.
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Now Mzingisi Ntshomela, better known as Danger, is left alone to carry the mantle and in speaking to us about the release of Big Nuz’s latest EP, he sounds charged up and more than ready to handle this honour and responsibility.
The title for this latest project was met with some puzzled responses. People on social media were intrigued by the name and not to mention the cover art. Granted, it did get tongues wagging but that seems to be a bonus as Danger is quite clear on what he is trying to convey in calling this piece that.
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“The reason I called this E.P this is because I am the last member of the band left. So now I am left alone to continue the large task of keeping the Big Nuz name alive and keep things moving forward. If you think about our albums, we have always spoken about fighting or being in the ring, you know knockouts, undisputed and that hasn’t changed. The journey continues.”
The compact offering of just five records comes just in time for the festive season, which has historically been when this band are at their most deadly in terms of chart climbing bangers and year defining releases. Danger ensured to keep that same energy while roping in the talents of some emerging acts from around the country.
“I used new artists like Shayo and Phila and I matched them up with some older acts, friends and brothers we have always worked with. Even on the production we used people like Duncan and just people who understand the Big Nuz sound.
“I used youngsters from Umlazi and other people from Cape Town and then Tira, L’Vovo Derrango and Bhar kept the familiar energy.”
Keeping the band alive has not been an easy task despite how mentally prepared Danger may be.
“It is a heavy burden to carry to be alone now. We worked hard to get the name of our band to where it is and now, I must make sure it never dies. That’s what my brothers wanted and even though they aren’t with me anymore, I know they’re watching over and so I have to deliver what I promised them.
“So, all the work falls on me and the void they left is visible but so is the space we leave when we don’t release music. My brothers are always here with us, in our hearts. Those are my brothers, and we were never going to stop but I guess God had other plans.”
Making sure their hallmark sound was enshrined in this EP was paramount to Danger, but he did allow for there to be room for exploration.
“There is a new sound we are exploring. A kwaito meets amapiano kind of thing in moments, which was helped by a youngster I had on production by the name of Gift. We wanted this to reflect the times we’re in now and the music around us at the moment. Everything we felt works, we put it on. There is amapiano but you know we’re kwaito, forever. Kwaito for life,” he proclaims.
Durban is still very much the center of dance music and party culture in the mind of Danger.
“Durban is the home of fire music, you know what the license plate says, KZN. We will always be around, and you know when we pull up, the Zulus are in the place, the small Shakas,” he says playfully.
He will continue to release even more music under the banner of Big Nuz.
“I would like to create a Big Nuz empire so that we can give the youth more opportunities to explore the arts. We want to put on new talents and this is what should happen so even if I was to leave this world, we would have built something that remains and helps emerging talents. That’s important to me and it was to my brothers too."
