She has taken the language of Venda beyond the borders of Limpopo and South Africa.
For as long as she can remember, her happy place has been on stage.
Although she did not have a vision of where this would take her as a teenager, Ndivhudzannyi Ralivhona “always knew God had bigger plans for me”.
Affectionately known as Makhadzi, the award-winning performer has come very far from where she started.
Taking us back to the performance that became her breakthrough, she says, “I remember I was carried on a chair by two bouncers and that was my entrance. Everyone in the crowd lost their minds and from that day, everyone in Venda knew my name.”
While this was in the early years of the annual Royal Heritage Festival, it was also the beginning of an illustrious music career for the stellar dancer.
Read More | New songs, diverse heritages promise to keep revellers dancing all night at Limpopo festival
Now that she is returning to the festival stage again this year on 16 September, the musician says the event organisers are going to need ambulances as she’s going to be setting the stage on fire.
“The support at home is too much and whenever I get an opportunity, I love reconnecting with them.”
When she tapped into making music in 2017, stars aligned in her favour and she topped all possible charts.
The Matorokisi hitmaker debuted at number two when she dropped in 2019 and even children sang the song at the top of their voices.
After joining Open Mic production in 2020, Makhadzi struck the iron while it was still hot with the release of Kokovha which secured double platinum status and was the most streamed album in the country.
What followed in 2021 was a gold status African Queen album which sold over 400 000 units, garnering 24 million digital streams and platinum singles from this album including Mjolo, featuring Mlindo the Vocalist, Ghanama, Ma Yellow Bone and many more.
Read More | Makhadzi to start own company after parting ways with Open Mic Productions
These have just been some of the achievements that she’s proud of and that have humbled her, alongside selling out a one woman show.
While leaving Open Mic productions after three successful years with them put her supporters on the edge, the 27-year-old was looking forward to focusing on her own company and other business ventures.
Many are glad to see that she hasn’t dropped the ball as she recently released her first album named Mbofholowo celebrating her ‘freedom’ under her own recording label.
Makhadzi was also announced as an ambassador of Spotify’s Equal Africa platform.
“The key is to believe in yourself and wait for your time. If you believe in your talent, then you need to trust and believe in God’s time, we know His time is always the best.”
Speaking to Drum about what keeps her going, she says, “staying true to myself and not forgetting where I come from.”
She adds that even though some of her mishaps have been in the spotlight, she regrets nothing in her music career as some of the mistakes she’s made taught her the biggest lessons.
