He was raised in a musical and business-oriented family. The piano and the flute were part of the family and his mother was also a choirmaster at a school.
As the last born, he was exposed to all the musical talents from his surroundings and picked up his own from there.
During his trips to and from school in high school, the drives were incomplete without what was gradually becoming his first love – radio.
In 2008 when he was in Grade 10, radio came knocking at his door and he began presenting at a community radio station in Aliwal North, Eastern Cape called Takalani FM but the music bug lingered over him.
When he finally ventured into DJing in 2010, it only made sense for Siyabulela Sithole who’s also known as Supta, to explore music production.
“Once I got the opportunity to expand my brand and get to spaces where radio sometimes cannot get you or DJing cannot get you, I was like ‘let me explore this musical creative side’ and that’s how I started exploring making music.
“I started exposing myself to guys that are into music production,” he tells Drum.
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Still following through with his radio drive when he moved to Free State, he then joined Motheo FM in Bloemfontein, Kovsie FM on campus and ended up at YFM where he currently hosts three weekday shows.
In 2015, the radio host dropped his first single with Moccachino called Whatchu Know, about two years after officially pursuing music in his first year at the University of the Free State.
It wasn’t until 2019 though that he got his musical break from collaborating with Prince Kaybee on the Gugulethu hit track.
The song also featuring Afro Brothers and Indlovukazi received over 13 million views on YouTube, won the Best Collaboration award at the Sound City Music Awards in Nigeria, Song of The Year award at the DSTV Mzansi Viewers Choice Awards and was nominated twice at the South African Music Awards.
For the first time in his musical journey, his biggest challenge of not being heard proved to hold no water.
“For a very long time, I appreciated myself but now getting the people to hear you, hear your talents, believe in you and finally find that space in the industry is very difficult. So, it’s been a challenging journey for me in my radio, DJing and music career.”
While Gugulethu is his biggest accomplishment in the music space, joining YFM and touring England in 2019 are his biggest accomplishments in the radio and DJing space respectively.
As he continues to strive in all the spaces he occupies, he tightens his grip on the music rope with his second single of the year Khuleka dropping this Friday, 21 July 2023.
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Speaking about how the single came about, he says that he bumped into Basetsana Kolwane at an event and they decided to work on something together.
While he was busy working on his new album, the two came together and recorded what promises to be one for the books.
“We just connected on a musical level. I played the beat for her and she started getting into her own zone and came up with this melody which a lot of people are going to recognise from DJ Sbu’s Remember When It Rains so that’s how we brought the song to life.
“The message I want to bring out to the world is just to remind people that each day is an opportunity for you to chase after your dreams, to become a better version of yourself, each day is new light, new dawn and each day brings hope so believe that. And understand that when the sun rises, it is an opportunity and when the sun sets, it doesn’t mean that it’s the end of life, there’s still another day that will come for you,” he adds.
With his foot still on the accelerator pedal in life, Supta also gears up to be a husband to his partner of 10 years. This past weekend, the lovers shared the announcement of their traditional union with their followers on Instagram.
He describes marriage as the best decision of his life and says, “It’s beautiful on this side of town”.
“I’m very, very happy. My wife supports my dreams, [she] supports where I want to be, she believes in me so much and believes in my talent. I’m not doing this for myself anymore, I’m doing this for her and hopefully in the future, the family we’re going to have. My life is in a good place.”
Although their relationship did not start on a serious note, he says he’s glad that he recognised she’s his soulmate.
As he prepares to spend the rest of his life with his partner Tebello Moloi who is a content creator, he also looks forward to dropping an album and an EP later in the year.
