When her mother was pregnant, her father used to play music for her until she fell asleep.
And a seed was born. She couldn't help but fall in love with music.
So much so that as a child, while others played house, she and her friends got together for a game of Jam Alley, and she was the performer.
Now she's living her Jam Alley moment as she is not only performing for her friends, but her name is known globally.
Amapiano vocalist Bontle Smith finished her B.com degree in Accounting Science for her parents and is now ready to take over the music industry with her first-ever body of work.
She released her 6-track EP titled This Is Me after she collaborated and made hits songs with a lot of artists.
“I took my time creating this body of work because I believe in taking my time. This is long overdue, and I feel like my supporters deserve to hear my work, they have heard me in so many songs I featured in, and not it is time to show them what I have got.”
Speaking to Drum Bontle on the day of the release, she says this day is possible because she was at the right place at the right time.
She makes an example of the fact that she had never met DJ Maphorisa before, and when she attended Pop Bottles, her friend told the Ba Strata hitmaker that Bontle can sing.
“I didn’t anticipate the response he gave. He told me to come to his studio. I went to the studio to audition for him, and he said he could work with me. I didn’t believe him; I went back to my ordinary life and continued with my 9-5. I was shocked when I got a call from him, and I was featured in Scorpion Kings Album which was released in 2019. I am influenced by Lebo Mathosa and that is why I did Lerato in that album,” she says.
“I want to introduce a different version of me that people never met before. Remember when Amapiano started, we didn’t pay much attention to the type of lyrics we wrote, it was all catchy gimmicks. As the sound evolves and is embraced globally, I have figured out how I want to sound like.”
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Continuing from Lerato, the single that is out from her EP titled Dipula is a continuation of the love story but she also wants people to hear her sing in isiPedi, her mother tongue. She says though Lerato was inspired by someone she was dating at the time, Dipula just embraces love in general.
“I wanted to go back to singing in siPedi, there aren’t many amapiano songs sung in siPedi or seTswana. I wanted to bring that version of amapiano and that is the only way that will make me stand out as an artist. And so far, people are loving it, I performed my single from the EP when I finished my set, and the response was amazing. I feared how they would receive the song it was amazing.”
Bontle says felt like this is the right time to introduce how she wants to sound and she was intentional about releasing it during women’s month.
“I am going through a lot as a woman in a male-dominated industry and I want to make a statement with this release. The women of 1956 fought for our place in society, and women today are still fighting for the same struggles. We must work ten times more than our male colleagues for us to be seen and heard. That is why I believe in working with women because when we work together, we have so much power.”
Growing up in the vibey township Tembisa, in the East of Joburg, got this songstress to love music.
“I have always loved music as a child, and I knew I would have a career in the music industry. I used to have the time of my life every time we pretended to be on Jam Alley with my friends. And ever since, I used to write music and perform for my peers.”
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Her parents couldn’t deny that she had talent, which was quite evident from when she was a child. But like all parents they wanted their daughter to go to school and get a degree and a stable job.
“I had to choose between music and school, I finished school first and now I am focusing on my music. I used to sing at church, and when I was in high school, I would write lyrics and sing in front of the class, and I would get a good response. In tertiary that is when I understood that I have a gift and I could make a living with my talent.”
While studying towards her degree in 2008, she tells Drum that she met with DJ Giggs Superstar from Soul Candi who then featured her in a song called Lose Yourself and she went by Bontle at that time.
“I had an amazing experience while in the studio and felt good while I was recording the song. I felt like I belonged there. But music had to take a back seat because I was still studying, and my parents wanted that degree. I focused on school, then got a job in the finance department of a construction company. I was not fulfilled but I had to do what I had to do at the time, which is to go to school, and then get a better job.”
But the music dream wouldn't die. In 2018, she got together with Cassper Nyovest and he featured her on Gets Getsa 2.0.
And she's been on the move since then.
“Things started working out for me and on this EP, I got to work with TNK Music, Rivals, Tyler ICU, Sihle, and Bontle RSA just to mention a few. I hope people love this album and they should expect both love and groove songs. I am not boxed to one type of amapiano song.”
