HONOURING A HERO: A LOCAL ARTIST PENS A SONG AS A TRIBUTE TO POPULAR EZIBELENI BUSINESSMAN STIMELA
Ezibeleni artist dedicates song Stimie to Zanile Stimela Gqalane ‘ ’
Musician Kwanele Kayy Bantwana “” Malaphu, who was inspired by local artists in the music industry, hopes to make a name for himself to support his family.
The Ezibeleni-born artist, whose music career started in 2011, believes in writing songs that have meaning, something he claims to have learnt from Ezibeleni hip-hop artist Putuma Flash Konqana.
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Kayy joined a popular movement, Planet Nana, where he was well known as KB.
His music career came to a standstill in 2014 when his producers had to move from Komani to further their studies, and he had no place to record his songs.
I took a break from music
“until 2017 when one of my producers returned from university. I released a house song called Velaphi . I then realised that many people went by the name KB so I decided to change my stage name to Kayy Bantwana. In 2018, I had to focus on my books and music had to wait. In June I managed to release a song called Nyamezela that encourages people to not give up,” he said.
The recent passing of Komani businessman Zanile Stimela Gqalane encouraged him to pen a song as a tribute. I decided to do something “to show appreciation because he has done a lot for us in Komani. He presented employment opportunities to people who were struggling to feed their families. He made it easy for people living in
Ezibeleni by establishing an internet cafe which helped us avoid having to travel to town. He played a big role in
“supporting artists from Ezibeleni. He used to lend us his speaker to master our craft.
“Stimie is a song that seeks to comfort everyone, especially people like me who looked up to him.”
The passionate singer and songwriter, who previously won two local hip-hop competitions, recently finished recording his third song this year, Nindifuna Ntoni, which features artists Lwazi GB and Bomridge.
I do not make music for fun. “
I believe that I was made for this and through my music I want to reach a level where I can support my family and inspire those who feel like giving up on life. I want to put Komani on the map because a lot of people who support and love my music come from this place,” said Malaphu.
He can be found on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube as Kayy Bantwana.