In many rural Eastern Cape towns, it is quite common to find unknown artists busking in the streets or in front of shops to promote their music.
Though her first album, Baba Ndiyavuma, was recorded in 2017 — and despite having shared the stage with SA gospel greats including Lusanda Mcinga, Betusile Mcinga and Hlengiwe Mhlaba — Abongile Mbebe, like many of the province’s unknown musicians, also had to take to the streets to sell her music to the fans.
And like the others, she often found herself at the rough end of uncompromising municipal law enforcement officials, who would not think twice about confiscating her sound equipment. But it seems the those hard years are behind her now, and her music is available in online stores like YouTube, Spotify and Amazon.
It was released on all digital platforms earlier this month.
“For years, I have been performing in the streets and selling my album by hand. The reality is that upcoming artists in our province do not get much support,” she said.
“Often you find law enforcement officers from municipalities coming to confiscate our sound systems saying we are making a lot of noise.”
“I once strayed and drank alcohol too much. “But I found my way back with help from God.”
The 30-year-old Mbebe, now 30, who grew up in New Payne village, nurturing aspirations to become a journalist. However, the path leading to that dream petered out. At home, her mother was presiding over the church she had founded.
Mbebe grew up singing in the choir.
“I grew up surrounded by church music as my mother, Malimakhwe, a well-known figure in Mthatha, was deeply involved in her own church.
“I listened to a lot of music while growing up and Dr Rebecca Malope and the late Lundi Tyamara were my two biggest inspirations.
“At some point I was told I sounded like Lundi. To me that was a compliment and an insult at the same time, because on the one hand we are two different people with two distinct styles but on the other, it makes me so happy to hear my name alongside such a legendary figure.”
In 2019, two years after recording the album, Mbebe finished shooting a DVD. Though she received a lot of encouragement to go professional while still young, including from her teachers, one of the most profound moments in her life happened in 2008.
The youngster, used to travelling with kwaito artists from Mthatha like Poppy Killerpopzin, met legendary SA actor and former Generations star Sophie Ndaba at the OR Tambo International Airport while performing gospel songs. An impressed Ndaba urged her to take herself seriously, relocate to Johannesburg and record music.
“I was too young at the time and would just go on stage before Poppy performed. “We have even done kwaito songs together. I was still in grade 8 at school then, so it was impossible to think about Joburg. “But those words from Ndaba have stayed with me since that day,” she said.
After matriculating in 2013, she joined the family business and worked at home. Eventually, in 2017, she was able to release an album as a recording gospel artist. She said becoming a gospel artist was her way of thanking God for all “he has done for me”.
“I once strayed and drank alcohol too much. “But I found my way back with help from God.”
Although the album was released online only a few weeks ago, she said the response from fans had already been phenomenal. She is almost ready to record her next one, possibly in the next few months. She is keen to do collaborations with top gospel artists in the near future, including Mhlaba, Lwando “Jumbo” Nyangiwe and Lindo Mtangayi.
Daily Dispatch
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