Langa Mavuso talks music, signing with Black Coffee
LANGA MAVUSO’s voice is soothing to the soul. And that’s exactly what he wants people to feel when they listen to his music.
The 23-year-old signed with Black Coffee’s Soulistic Music last August and officially released his first single, Sunday Blues, in December.
“I think the most important part for me is always to capture a feeling or moment and I think people love music because they relate to something that they feel in it,” he said.
Mavuso posted a video that he had done for UCT Live Room on social media.
“It trended for a while and I think Black Coffee’s little sister forwarded the video to him and he sent a message saying he would like to work with me, and days later we were in studio together, recording a song for his album.”
Mavuso then shared more music with Black Coffee that he had been working on and within a week he was offered a contract.
“We had started the conversation around March/April and through that process we came up with something that we were both happy with.”
Mavuso, a music graduate from UCT, was at the time in negotiations with another record company, but instead chose to go with Soulistic Music because it would offer him better attention as an artist.
“I wanted to be with a smaller label where I could get the attention and know my team and not be under a big corporation where there is a lot of moving parts and I am unaware of how everything works. Soulistic was the best match for me.”
He discovered his voice at the age of eight and by 12 he started to hone his skill and that is what pushed him to go to an arts school (National School of the Arts) for high school.
“Music has always been a part of my life. I studied drama for three years and music the final two years. At UCT I studied jazz with my main focus being jazz voice.
“After school I still wanted to further my knowledge and practise of music. It’s always been in my life and I am constantly working on bettering myself.”
Sunday Blues is the first official single under Soulistic.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever done (something) with so much attention pushed on a mass media level. I have recorded music previously and shared it through the internet, but this is the first under an official label that has had radio play and promotion.”
With him working on a full album, he hopes to release before the year ends, Mavuso wants to make sure his music is able to help people reflect.
“I hope that for those who need healing or clarity that they can find it in the music.
“Also for the enjoyment… of something that becomes a soundtrack to a moment in their life. I think that’s more satisfying, to hear someone say: ‘l played this when I met my boyfriend’ or ‘I’m going through a hard time and this saved me’.”
The Joburg-born and bred musician said he wanted to share a narrative that hadn’t been encapsulated in the way that he was doing.
“I hope I would have created something that resonates with people, something that will allow me to explore my other interests, that will allow me to travel and meet different people, see different cultures and to share the experience of the music and the story in the continent and globally.
“That people will gravitate towards and love and share it with all those around them.”