Nkosazana Daughter and Wanitwa Mos release long-awaited album, ‘Makhelwane’
SOUTH African talented musicians Nkosazana Daughter (real name Nkosazana Nzama), and Wanitwa Mos (Master KG’s alter ego) have teamed up to launch their much-anticipated album, “Makhelwane”.
Meaning “Neighbour” in English, “Makhelwane” was inspired by the creative journey of the iconic duo who have successfully worked together since 2021, releasing hit singles like “Sofa Silahlane” and “Dali Nguwe”.
Coming from different backgrounds - Pedi and Zulu - their collaboration signifies the spirit of unity as they give people what they want by releasing a full body of work.
“I’m from KZN. I’m a Zulu girl. And here I am. I have big songs from Limpopo and people love that music. And then there’s a friendship between Wanitwa Mos and I, and that’s how ‘Makhelwane’ came about.
“We named it so that the overall thing can accommodate everyone,” said Daughter.
For the album, that reached millions of streams before it was even released on August 30, Mos (real name Kgaogelo Moagi), said he decided to use his alter ego instead of his popular stage name, Master KG, because he wanted to explore different sounds outside of what he is known for.
“I’ve realised that as Master KG, I’m known for those fast tunes, the upbeat and rhythm in songs like ‘Jerusalem’ and ‘Skeleton Move’.
“So what I’ve decided to do is experiment whereby I try something different, like the sound that we’re doing. Most people are not used to me doing the slow piano but what I like about Wanitwa Mos is that I can explore different sounds, whereas with Master KG, there are some limitations,” he said.
The duo also released a few visuals for some of the singles on the albums to make it more enjoyable and relatable to their fans.
“Our visuals are mostly inspired by Nkosazana. She is the one who usually comes up with the concepts for the visuals.
“So they mostly are inspired by the song. For instance, ‘Moyo Ongcwele’ is more like a prayer song. So the concept behind, as you saw the visuals, is just like showcasing more of someone asking for prayers out there in the mountain and so on,” said Mos.
Although “Makhelwane”, which features trending songs like “Keneilwe”, “Nawe Dale” and “Mama” to name a few, is their debut album together, Wanitwa said their supporters can expect more co-joined albums from them.
“This is not the last, not the first in the last, we are still going to explore more because we're communicating about the sounds we want to do. So you can expect Afro-pop and other sounds because we understand each other so much that we don't have any limits,” said Mos.
He added: “We’re also going to do the private school piano, just jump on anything. And definitely, yes, I’m going to do other projects with other people, and there’s a project that’s in the pipeline with Makhadzi, but I feel like we need part two after this because I just feel like it is going well and people will want more.”
“Makhelwane” is already a major success, having achieved over 30 million certified streams in South Africa and has garnered a staggering 104 million streams globally across all platforms.
Singles like “Keneilwe” (69 million streams) and “Makhelwane” (30 million streams) have fuelled immense anticipation for this project, with additional tracks like “Moyo Ongcwele” (2.5 million streams) and the official single, “Mfazi we Phepha” (2.8 million streams), continuing to grow in popularity.
The album boasts star-studded collaborations with some of the industry’s finest, including Mthunzi, Big Zulu, Zee Nxumalo, JL SA, Nobuhle, Mashudu, HarryCane and Casswell P.