He’s one of the original OGs of the Kwaito original sound.
Having been part of the TKZee family from inception, he nurtured and saw the sound grow into a blossoming genre.
The electric energy he brought at the opening of the new Converse store in Pretoria, Menlyn Mall was all the proof needed to show how much the genre is still loved.
Singing through the old hits of Amalawyer, Dlala Mapantsula and Masimbela, Sbu Malawyer, born Sibusiso Ntshangase brought the house down as patrons sang along to what were nostalgic lyrics.
For Sibusiso himself, the experience of being back on stage after a ten-year hiatus was nothing short of amazing.
“It gave me strength; it gave me courage. It made me to also reminisce about that Sbu from those olden days. But now it’s no longer about me doing this for fame but it’s a symbol, as a role model. I want to teach people a lesson about my life. I want people to have hope that no matter how difficult things get, they must know that if Sbu can survive, they can also survive. I want them to see a picture of courage when they see me,” the Kwaito veteran tells Drum.
Before touching on anything else in the interview with Drum, Sbu starts by talking about the challenges that forced him out of the music space over 10 years ago.
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He says his main challenges were financial and everything else came crumbling down.
Instead of fighting what was happening in his life at the time, he decided to accept and make lemonade from life’s lemons.
“Bear in mind that music is my life, is my number one passion so when that wasn’t working out, it became difficult for me to make means, feed the kids and take them to school but it taught me to find other means of survival because I believe that God prepares us for such. I’m thankful that during these challenges, I accepted them and didn’t turn to alcohol, drugs or even become a hobbo.”
When TKZee parted ways between 2004 and 2006 and all the other members like Zwai Bala, Kabelo Mabalane and Tokollo Tshabalala pursued their solo careers, everyone else in the family did the same.
They all got their payouts and looked outwards.
The first thing that Sibusiso did was invest in his second love, which is clothing, by opening a clothing shop then a shisanyama. Both of these business ventures were, however, on their knees by 2007 where the going got tougher for him.
During this time, he also left the record company that he was with, thinking that he could easily be poached by another. To his surprise, new faces and voices had emerged at the time and he couldn’t just jump ship easily.
Luckily for him, even without a clothing shop afloat, Sibusiso could remain in the clothing industry and still do what he loves doing, which is selling clothes.
“What made me survive is my friend, Vusi Tshabalala introducing me to thrifting. When I opened a clothing shop, I was getting clothes from people who were buying from overseas. Little did I know that there was another angle to this. One day I went to Newtown with my friend and discovered thrifting. I became in love with it because I love clothes, I love style. It became my therapy, and this therapy was also bringing money to the table.”
From the last time we heard of and saw him to recently, thrifting is how Sibusiso has managed to survive.
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Even after everything that he has been through, he never gave up on music.
Now, the 50-year-old musician is back with a different bang as he prepares to release an album in celebration of his 25 years in the music industry.
Although he still gets stopped in public by people who loved Kwaito and are blaming him amongst others for the death of the genre, he says that he has grown to acknowledge the growth of current big genres such as Amapiano.
“Music is evolving. Today’s music is relevant to this current generation, Kwaito was relevant to our generation in our times when we were youth so let’s not fight our kids. Let’s support them. Music is evolving [like I said] and the only thing that you need to do is to find a way to fit yourself,” he shares his response to people confronting him.
“I’m not in a competition, I’m on a mission,’ he says about his album titled 'Sbu Maloya: 25 years celebration in the game' in which he features young and upcoming Amapiano artists as well as producer.
More than anything, he is grateful for the challenges that came his way as he feels like the move from the suburbs to the township is what grounded his children.
