ALL THE RIGHT NOTES
R&B singer Lloyiso has made a big break into the international music world with his soulful tunes and velvet voice
HE’S used to being mistaken for Loyiso Bala but his star is quickly eclipsing that of the well-known crooner. In three short years, Lloyiso has gone from sharing a room with his uncle in Johannesburg to singing at Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz’s opulent Palm Beach wedding in Florida in the US.
The celebrity couple personally invited him to perform at their reception where guests included tennis champ Serena Williams, TV chef Gordon Ramsey and actress Eva Longoria. And it still hasn’t sunk in for the 23-year-old singer.
Lloyiso serenaded Victoria and David Beckham’s oldest son and his bride with a rendition of Elvis Presley’s Only Fools Rush In as they took to the floor for their debut dance as husband and wife.
Performing at the Peltz-Beckham wedding was his first international gig, Lloyiso says, chatting to us from his hotel room in Los Angeles, where he’s now based.
Because of his contractual obligations, he can’t reveal too much about the bigbucks wedding, but he’s willing to say that, like any other newly-wed couple, Mr and Mrs Peltz-Beckham are head over heels in love.
“That was one of the most amazing weddings I’ve ever attended. It was just beautiful. I was amazed that David Beckham knows who I am and I was starstruck.
“He was so nice. The whole family is really cool,” Lloyiso says.
The rising star was born Loyiso Gijana and changed his stage name to set him apart from Loyiso Bala. But after blowing up at what’s been dubbed the wedding of the decade, there’s no doubt he’s stepped out of the shadow of his award-winning namesake.
“The older generation used to mistake me for Loyiso, but I think he’s the one getting more annoyed for being mistaken for me,” he quips.
But he doesn’t mind the comparisons, he adds, as he was inspired by the older Loyiso.
“I used to listen to his music,” he says.
Now the former TKZ member is singing the younger man’s praises.
“He did a video about me, about
how proud he is and how far I’ve come” Lloyiso gushes.
S OUTH Africans were introduced to Lloyiso as a talented teenager when he took part in season 11 of Idols SA in 2015. Though he didn’t win, the then-16-year-old made it to the top five of the singing competition. Idols SA wasn’t his first brush with TV, though – two years earlier he auditioned for SA’s Got Talent. “I made it to the TV round, but they never showed my audition,” he says with a laugh. Lloyiso was bitten by the music bug at an early age. He grew up in Kariega in the Eastern Cape in a home filled with music, singing along to gospel songs with his deeply religious family. “My sister is an amazing singer, but she doesn’t want to sing professionally. All my cousins at home can sing because we ran a Zionist Church. Music was a dayto-day activity,” he says. Lloyiso knew he was born to be a star. He honed his vocal skills every chance he got – in the church choir, at school concerts and even at imaginary concerts he staged at home. “I used to picture a crowd of people watching me and I’d shout out as though I was performing for a crowd,” he says.
He was so passionate about pursuing a music career he dropped out of Varsity College in Gqeberha in 2018 after just three weeks. Lloyiso, who was studying towards a degree in education, was in the middle of a class when he got a call from an official at Ambitiouz Records asking to meet him. “During class, I left. I told my mom, got on the bus, went to Joburg and pursued music.”
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. “I moved to Joburg and lived with my uncle in one room and when you live in such a small space, it becomes difficult to look beyond that,” he recalls.
“I remember pressing Ambitiouz out of frustration to release music because it felt like a lot of things weren’t happening and I was stuck in the same place,” he says. “But that period taught me a lot.”
LOYISO then started marketing himself on social media. At first, he belted out covers of wellknown songs to showcase his vocal range and build a name for himself before he started releasing his own music. His strategy seemed to work.
“Whenever I used to post something, it would go viral and have mad numbers,” he says. Lloyiso is the first to admit his success didn’t happen overnight, but he didn’t doubt that one day he’d see his name in lights. “I knew that I’d be here because of the hard work I’ve put in.”
Even during lockdown, when most of the world came to a grinding halt, he continued to post videos on his various social media platforms, delighting his more than two million fans.
But his career really took off when he was poached by New York City-based American record company Republic Records. Last year he made his international debut for them with his first single, Seasons. The love song became an instant hit, racking up 16 million streams.
His latest single, Speak, was released on 1 April and is creating a buzz. US singer India Arie admits to being a fan. “He sings with so much heart and depth that it’s striking,” she says.
When he’s not charming fans with his velvet voice, Lloyiso enjoys being in his own space, watching Netflix shows and movies. “I love going to the beach and I love spending time with my friends and the people who mean the most to me,” he says.
He enjoys living in the US while he carves out his career, but misses his loved ones back home and when he gets too homesick, he goes onto YouTube and watches fan reactions to his music to give himself a boost.
He’s still learning to cope with his newfound popularity. Just recently, a fan burst into tears when she bumped into him in the street and, he says, “To me, it means you’re doing something right.”
Lloyiso is the first South African artist to sign with Republic Records, which counts Drake, Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift as part of its stable. He couldn’t control his emotions when he signed on the dotted line, he recalls. “I just got into my car and cried.”
Landing an international record deal isn’t just about the fame and fortune, however. “There are a lot of kids at home and in small towns like the one I lived in, who will know there’s so much more to life, so much more to achieve,” he says.
“The sky’s not the limit, it’s just the beginning.”