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Langa Mavuso, whose real name is Nkosinathi Nhlakanipho Mavuso (born 25 January 1994) is a singer, songwriter and performer from Johannesburg, South Africa. The singer released his debut EP Liminal Sketches that consists of a neat six songs in 2016. His presence in the South African Music industry was made strong by the release of his soul-stirring EP Home.

Early life and education

Langa Mavuso was born on the 25th January 1993 in Diepkloof, Johannesburg, South Africa. The singer completed his high school at the National School of the Arts where he studied contemporary music, he proceeded to Rhodes University where he obtained his BA in politics and economics and later studied jazz performance at the University of Cape Town’s school of music.

Career

He heard a lot of music from a very young age; both his parents were singers and he grew up going with them to choir rehearsals and choral competitions. He always knew he wanted to be an entertainer and his very first stage appearance was in high school. The singer started recording his EP in 2016 after returning home (Johannesburg) from Cape town where he was doing his studies. The singer has known and worked with Spoek Mathambo since he was 17 and he performed with Spoek once in 2012 at the Brickfields music festival. He released his debut EP Liminal sketches on the 30th of October 2016 which is made up of four songs, an interlude and a bonus track featuring Bongeziwe Mabandla. The singer later released a collaborative EP called Home with redbull studios. Black Coffee watched a video of Langa Mavuso singing Sunday Blues on iTunes and he got hooked; Black Coffee played Sunday Blues to John Legend’s manager who also got captured by the song. The singer wrote his single Sunday Blues a few years ago and has since reworked the single with Black Coffee; the singer is now signed to Black Coffee’s label Soulistic Music.

Musical style

The singer grew up listening to musicians like Caiphus Semenya, Ringo, Stimela and Whitney houston. Langa Mavuso started singing at a very young age when someone heard him sing in the bathroom and told his teacher; the teacher made him sing infront of everyone and that's how he started singing at school events. Langa describes his voice as both flawed, husky and course as well as rich, sweet and alluring. In an interview with Mahlohonolo Magadla for Drum, Langa describes his music as soul and R&B. The singer describes what comes out of his mouth as simply a sonic painting of what he feels in his spirit and soul. The singer explains that music is how he says what he needs to say; everything he needs to say and struggles to, he channels it through his music. The singer describes his lyrics and narratives as urban African stories; he writes about what he has experienced and wants to experience.

The inspiration behind the EP’s and the singles

The singer’s work is inspired by experiences he has gone through including the different phases of love he has experienced; his EP Liminal Sketches was about losing love and his EP Home is about being betrayed by love. In Liminal Sketches, the singer worked with Illa N, Spoek Mathambo and Bongeziwe Mabandla and all the tracks are about a past love who died a few years ago; the EP was a way for the singer to speak to the late loved one and a way of finding himself after the loss and reassuring himself that there is always light after the tunnel.

The singer recorded the EP Home after going through a horrible breakup which the singer used as inspiration for Sunday Blues and Home; the singer describes that he went through a lot because of the relationship and his latest single Mvula is a continuation of the heartbreak as it talks about letting go of love that has caused so much pain. The singer worked with Redbull Studios on the EP Home and is now working with Black Coffee’s label Soulistic Music on his upcoming album.

EP’s, Singles and Nominations

The Liminal Sketches EP consists of 6 tracks and the Home EP consists of 2 tracks; the singer has released 2 singles Home and Sunday Blues and has recently added another single called Mvula. Langa Mavuso is nominated in the Rising Star category for the annual DSTV Mzansi Viewers Choice Awards.