Get to Know Singer-Songwriter Mawelele On His Quest to Spread Truth and Love With His Music
Born in Johannesburg and raised in the Vaal, singer-songwriter Mawelele planted his first footprint on the path of music at the age of 11. After many struggles and highs, from composing music in his shack to getting the attention of Blaq Diamond, who subsequently signed him, Mawelele’s ascension has been one of dedication, faith, and making the right moves at the right time.
It has always been a common trope for fathers to gear their young sons towards liking football, picking their favorite teams (Orlando Pirates or Kaizer Chiefs or death itself!), and supporting football-related aspirations. For Mawelele, the story was upside down, with his father being the one who discouraged him from playing football, instead nudging him towards music.
“I would say that when it comes to me pursuing music, my parents were the ones who played the biggest role. I used to love playing soccer, my brother, and I used to be good at it too. But it just happened that my father pushed me to this music thing. To this day I still don’t know why he believed in me making it as a musician, but I guess it must’ve been a feeling inside of him that told him to push me in that direction.
“He then started teaching me all that he knew, and I took it from there. Slowly but surely, I also fell in love with music after learning how to play the piano. As time went, I then joined a choir. I really thank my parents for not only believing in me after seeing something in me, but for pulling me away from football so I can take music seriously,” he said.
Mawelele | SUPPLIED
Since singing with Umuthi Records owned by award-winning afropop duo Blaq Diamond, Mawelele has been collecting time in the booth and biding his time. The time finally came in the shape of his debut single “All My Life”, which attracted the surprise guest appearance of hip-hop vet Kwesta. Grateful for the opportunity. Mawelele had nothing but words of honey for the “Ngud” superstar while also commenting on the organic process of the making of the viral hit.
“When Kwesta hopped on “All My Life”, he didn’t even know me. The song was already done and dusted with my producer. After some time, we decided to put the song on TikTok, and it took off and went viral. People started demanding that we drop the song, but we decided to delay it because we wanted to do things according to procedure and sticking to the technicalities of the label. Before dropping the song, Blaq Diamond suggested that we put someone on the song and Kwesta was on our minds for it.
“We reached out and showed him that the song already had motion, and he fell in love with the song. So he recorded his part for the track. Few days later, I met Kwesta for the first time and we were formally introduced. The energy was high, and we were both happy to meet each other. As ubhut’ omdala he’s very humble and chilled, and being around him was an effortless experience,” he said.
Listen to “All My Life”:
The singer spoke about his relationship with his higher-ups Blaq Diamond, citing that they were of great help and influence since crooning under the shelter of their label.
“Working under Blaq Diamond has really helped with how I approach writing songs and how I create music all round. Because ever since I signed with them, I’m not only a vocalist but a producer. They’ve always been helping me to make sure that my product matures. I am also very thankful to them for being so patient with me because I wasn’t as good when I first got together to work with them. I used to struggle with writing music, but they always guided me. They’d advise me about this and that and how to exploit the potential of my music. On the production side they pushed me. Bhut’ Ndumiso is a great producer so I used to look up to him a lot because of his ability to sing and make beats as well. He spurred me on and here I am with two songs produced this year: one for Blaq Diamond and the other for The Qwellers,” he said.
As far as plans were concerned, Mawelele spoke a bit about his forthcoming single “Friend Zone”, which addresses the dilemma of the romantic-platonic clash between the wills of friends confronted by the question of love. Already getting shown love and being promoted by the likes of Danya, he shared some his plans coming into the festive season and going into 2025.
“Amazing things are coming up. I’ll be dropping another single in the coming weeks called “Friend Zone”, which is already being promoted on TikTok. I’m excited to give it to the people because I feel like so many people, especially the youth, will definitely relate to it. I also have an EP coming out in the first half of December, so people must be on the lookout for it. Everything is ready. We’ve been cooking. It’s time to give people great music,” he said.
Watch Danya promote “Friend Zone” On TikTok:
Grounded in Christian faith, Mawelele expanded upon the importance of his relationship with Jesus Christ as well as how that affected his music and the things he stood for.
“I feel like with my beliefs and the way I grew up as a believer in my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, I would love to leave a message of love and truth to the world because I’m not simply invested in love songs but music that speaks about truth. If there’s truth there, you’ll find me there. My belief is about spreading the truth. If anything that’s my first priority: spreading the Word about the Gospel, and then spreading love in truth. That’s what I’d love to be known for,” he said.
Mawelele | SUPPLIED
In a market that is arguably oversaturated, Mawelele posited that to stay ahead of the curve called for a combination of what can be controlled such as culling influences by listening to lots of music and variables that can’t be helped such as time and relevancy.
“Music is a feeling and it’s dependent on time. I feel like when it’s your time to shine, you’ll always stay relevant. More than anything, I think it’s important to open your ear and learn many sounds. By listening to other genres, it automatically helps me because my mind then begins to grab a little something from every genre I listen to. It then becomes astonishing when I start incorporating some of those elements into my music. Doing that while staying true to myself is what I believe makes you stand out,” he said.
True to his beliefs, the singer-songwriter expressed a longing to go into gospel music someday.
“I would definitely love to delve into Gospel one day because of my faith. I wanna do more to get close to that path,” he said.