Trailblazing Gospel Artist Nontokozo Mkhize Continues Rising and Setting Records
With a professional career that started out in 2017, gospel singer-songwriter Nontokozo Mkhize’s run has been a journey of breaking records, setting new ones, and rewriting the status quo of what it is to be young and unashamed of her faith – doing all of this by answering her call to glorify the Lord with her pipes. By the time she lit up the scene with Holy Ghost fire through her SAMA-nominated debut album, Lindiwe, released in January 2025, the Inanda-born Christian songstress had already made waves with her ground-shaking single “Moyongcwele”, with the single also spawning a sequel featuring gospel juggernauts Dumi Mkokstad and Xolly Mncwango, cementing her place as not only a sprightly fresh face but an example of what a Gen Zer can do once they step fully into their calling.
Reaping the fruit of her diligence and due faith-born obedience, the young star now stands on the precipice of countless firsts as an artist. With her pair of nominations for the 2025 All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA), she became the first-ever Mzansi gospel artist to score a nod for the Best Female Artiste in Southern Africa award, on top of being nominated for the Best Female Artiste in African Inspirational Music gong. She went on to etch her name onto more scrolls of the history roll with her Song of the Year win at the 2025 Basadi In Music Awards, becoming the first gospel artist to take home the golden statuette.
“I am grateful to everyone who has been part of my journey. A lot has happened in such a small period of time. We got nominated for SAMAs, the AFRIMAs, an international award, and we also got a Basadi [In Music] award and became the first gospel artist to win in the category I was up for. It’s been amazing, I would say,” she said of her recent successes.
Nontokozo Mkhize with her Basadi In Music Awards | Credit: @ardent_one
With “Moyongcwele”, “Uyama Nomuntu”, and “Ngiyohlala” all certfied gold while “Esandleni” went double platinum, Nontokozo’s purple patch has no doubt taken her deeper and higher. And yet even with more success, she spoke about her relationship with God and how the fame has not changed anything between her and her lifestyle of faith. She conceded that her position as a gospel artist has made her all the more cautious.
“I’ve always been a Christian. At one point in my life, I was singing afro-pop but even in that there was never a point where I’ve never been a believer. My mom was one, and we used to go to church every Sunday. When I look at where I am right now, I wouldn’t say there’s a difference between who I was and who I am now concerning my relationship with God. The only difference would be that my life is now in the public eye and I am required to act and do things in a certain way. I’m a gospel artist and people do expect me to behave in a certain way. But other than that, God has always been part of my lifestyle,” she said.
Nontokozo Mkhize with her RiSA plaques | Credit: Instagram
Already on to the next one, Mkhize dropped a new single alongside amapiano producer Kelvin Momo as well as dance superstars Major League DJz, titled “Okubi”. She spoke about the thinking behind the song.
“I got called by Major League to do the song. It speaks about temptations, the things that we face in this world, and all the bad things that come our way, hence the title: Okubi. The song is a prayer to God that whatever I face in this life, whoever I meet, and whatever happens, may it never change the person I am. May it never move me from my faith,” she said.
She talked about some of the aces up her sleeve musically she was planning on playing before the year ends, including releasing a deluxe edition of her maiden album.
“There’s definitely going to be new music before this year ends. For starters I want to do Lindiwe (Deluxe) and I also have Langa Mavuso on that version of the album. I’m still going to record some more songs and see who else I can put on the record. I am also looking to drop “Ekhaya”, which has been trending on TikTok,” she said.
Check out “Okubi”:
The Metro FM Award winner spoke about how she used to frown upon singing gospel once upon a time as well as how staying true to herself has served her and her career well over the years.
“At one point in my life, I used to say, ‘Yhuu, I’d never sing gospel,’ because I’ll probably become a boring person and age quicker. But I’ve learnt to remain true to myself as Nontokozo, who loves different sounds. I’m a Christian, yes, but I’m also an artist who went to school and studied performance arts. Being an artist is who I am. I don’t believe in following the world and boxing myself in when it comes to how I sing gospel because that’s limiting. Because I’ve been authentic to who I am as an artist, I’ve been enjoying my journey as a gospel artist and I’ve been seeing the fruit of remaining true to myself. I’m very cool, and that’s one thing I never thought I’d be going down this road,” she said.
Nontokozo Mkhize | SUPPLIED
Moving on to the topic of growth, she expressed that embracing a student mindset was what helped her craft and shared her thoughts on the role school plays in the trajectory of a skill’s development.
“At first I couldn’t write songs. As an artist, there was a thing that told me that it should not remain there, you know, that I can’t write and that people should write for me instead. So I took it upon myself to study something that will help me with creative writing and understanding storytelling because that’s what we do in music. So, for me, I feel like school is important if you are an artist. It helps you see things differently so that you don’t just rely on your talent solely. Yes, the talent is there but it needs a boost, and for me school gave me that,” she said.
She revealed one genre she’d like to dabble in one day.
“I would love to get into jazz someday because I think it’s beautiful music. I’d love to hear how I sound on top of jazz,” she said.