User:SItsandzile/sandbox

= Amanda Mo = Born Sitsandzile Amanda Motsa, Amanda Mo is a talented African artist, singer and songwriter who has been hailed by print and television media for her vocal performance, stage presence and sound. She follows but is not limited to Afro pop, Soul, R&B, Dance and Blending genres taking her musical influences from the musicians she respects, life, personal experiences and pure imagination. In a nutshell, the story of Amanda Mo officially began with the formation of a singing group when she was still in high school; she sites this group as the catalyst of all her passion and creativity in music. Her introduction as a solo artist was through her contributing her talents to a Swazi compilation album with a song called ‘I Like It’ which enjoyed a month-long reign on top of the official music charts in Eswatini (EBIS top 20 chart) making it the highest charting song by a female artist in the country that year. She made headlines again when her pop song ‘Us’ debuted on the top 10 of SBIS top 20 charts and eventually made its way up the charts, peaking at number 1. Her R&B ballad called ‘This Promise’ received rave reviews from music critics and went on to be featured on an all-American compilation album “Queen” which featured female singers across the USA making her the only non-American artist to be featured on the project. She was crowned 2014’s winning artist at the Sibebe Friday Night Live Series, the then official annual musical competition in Eswatini.

Her first Siswati song release “Injwayelo” was picked up by various Radio Stations outside her home country (Eswatini) and made a good impression on Radio stations such as Ukhozi FM, Ligwalagwala FM and Gagasi FM where it made it to number 2 of the Afro charts. Her second single “Uwami” would go on to be the first song to make notable impact on the South Africa and Eswatini music scene. “Uwami” peaked at number 1 on Ligwalalagwala FM charts, number 1 on Massiv Metro, peaked at top 20 on the Metro FM charts and was the highest playlisted song by Swazi artist in 2018 on Major SA radio stations. “Uwami” was also used by Major South African tv shows such as Isibaya, Isithembiso and Rhythm City. Her follow-up release was a Collaboration with top SA producer Dj Maphorisa for a song called “Phula” which went on to hit number 1 on Ligwalagwala FM and top 5 on YFM. The remix of “Phula” further garnered support from top South African Dj, Black Coffee who playlisted it in his international sets. She also teamed up with Dj Qness landing her Songwriting and Vocal talents to a House song titled “Amen” after she had worked with him earlier on a song called “You”. Her debut album “Sitsandzile” has brought home a total of 3 SWAMMA awards and a total of 9 SWAMMA nominations with the most playlisted music (by Female Swazi artist) on Major radio stations and inclusion in major South African Radio Chart shows.

Amanda Mo's Double is set to released her album in 2023. to break her hiatus in music, her double single release of "Ngihlanyiswa Nguwe" and "Kuyavela" was released on 18 August 2022. The songs follow different genres, "Ngihlanyiswa Nguwe" is a soulful Afro R&B pop song whereas "Kuyavela" is Amapiano soul.

Early Life
Amanda Mo was born and raised in Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland). She was surrounded by a lot of music growing up. By the time she was 7, she was already writing play songs which were used heavily by her friends during playtime. She noticed as she was growing up that her interest in music was different form her peers, she was drawn to the songwriting, melodies, backing vocals, music production and song arrangement which prompted her to start writing original songs in her song books. She wrote her first real song called "Without you" when she was 11 after which she started forming singing groups, first with family members then with friends. She had perfected her songwriting by the time she was 14, where she wrote complete songs with proper song structures. She would later record her first demo while she was part of a duo called LIPSTICK after high school. She Graduated at the University of KwaZulu Natal where she obtained a Degree in Environmental Management but ultimately decided she could not turn back on her passion so she decided to pursue her musical career fulltime.

Beginnings and early releases (2006 - 2016)
Her introduction as a solo artist was through her contributing her talents to a Swazi compilation album with a song called ‘I Like It’ which enjoyed a month-long reign on top of the official music charts in Eswatini (EBIS top 20 chart) making it the highest charting song by a female artist in the country that year. She made headlines again when her pop song ‘Us’ debuted on the top 10 of EBIS top 20 charts and eventually made its way up the charts, peaking at number 1. Her R&B ballad called ‘This Promise’ received rave reviews from music critics and went on to be featured on an all-American compilation album “Queen” which featured female singers across the USA making her the only non-American artist to be featured on the project. She was crowned 2014’s winning artist at the Sibebe Friday Night Live Series, the then official annual musical competition in Eswatini.

Her first Siswati song release “Injwayelo” was picked up by various Radio Stations outside her home country (Eswatini) and made a good impression on Radio stations such as Ukhozi FM, Ligwalagwala FM and Gagasi FM where it made it to number 2 of the Afro charts.

Debut Album (2017 - 2019)
Her second single “Uwami” would go on to be the first song to make notable impact on the South African and Eswatini music scene. “Uwami” peaked at number 1 on Ligwalalagwala FM charts, number 1 on Massiv Metro, peaked at top 20 on the Metro FM charts and was the highest playlisted song by Swazi artist in 2018 on Major SA radio stations. “Uwami” was also used by Major South African tv shows such as Isibaya, Isithembiso and Rhythm City. Her follow-up release was a Collaboration with top SA producer Dj Maphorisa for a song called “Phula” which went on to hit number 1 on Ligwalagwala FM and top 5 on YFM. The remix of “Phula” further garnered support from top South African Dj, Black Coffee who playlisted it in his international sets. She also teamed up with Dj Qness landing her Songwriting and Vocal talents to a House song titled “Amen” after she had worked with him earlier on a song called “You” .Her debut album “Sitsandzile” has brought home a total of 3 SWAMMA awards and a total of 9 SWAMMA nominations with the most playlisted music (by Female Swazi artist) on Major radio stations and inclusion in major South African Radio Chart shows.

2020 - Present: Hiatus and Double Single Release (Ngihlanyiswa Nguwe and Kuyavela)
Amanda Mo decided to take a break from music at the end of 2019 because she needed to take time to get in touch with my life’s purpose again, and she never communicated anything music related after that period. On 18 August 2022, She decided to put out a double single release to break from her Hiatus in music. The two singles titled “KUYAVELA” and “NGIHLANYISWA NGUWE” are set to serve as the official lead singles for her upcoming project due to be released in 2023. Both songs were produced by Subjamz.

2022 - Kuyavela (single)
Kuyavela is an amapiano soul song is an ode to Love. A reassurance that not even distance can kill the connection and feeling between two people that love each other. With regards to the sound, the song has more of an Amapiano dance inspired feel without losing soulful-ness. Amanda Stated that this song would resonate with everyone because there was a point in all our lives when we were forced to isolate from the people we loved and all we had as a connection was hope and a feeling (referring to covid 19).

2022 - Ngihlanyiswa Nguwe (single)
Ngihlanyiswa Nguwe is an Afro R&B pop song is an emotionally and spiritually charged song that talks about the love highest level of love. Amanda describes this song as the pure definition of what means to be crazy in love without being romantically specific. She stated that the song would resonate with everyone that has someone special in their life regardless of the nature of that relationship. The chorus, she states, was deliberately written to portray what happens when you can't put together words and sentences that make sense because of how crazy in love you are.

Sophomore Album (2023)
Amanda Mo has completed writing and recording exciting new music for her upcoming project. She expresses that she has worked with talented producers and musicians to create a delightfully distinct and enticing musical masterpiece scheduled to be released in 2023.

Discography
Main articles citations:


 * I like It (2012)
 * This Promise (2013)
 * Injwayelo (2016)
 * Sitsandzile (2018)
 * Ngihlanyiswa Nguwe (2022)
 * Kuyavela (2022)