Sho Madjozi's Rise to Being One of Africa's Most Popular Entertainers
Sho Madjozi has taken the world by storm since she started her career and is reaching for greater heights. Briefly News takes a look at how the Xitsonga rapper began a colourful career in music and the arts in Africa.
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Ever since she started her career, Sho Madjozi has had the attention of many South Africans who are in love with the arts. She's not only a rapper, but she is also a poet and actress.
Sho Madjozi has seen her face on billboards in New York and has even met some of her favourite celebrities abroad in the process.
She has not only shown versatility in the entertainment business but she has proved that she's extremely versatile and can take on any challenge that the world throws at her.
Briefly News takes a look at how Sho Madjozi paved the way into being one of Africa's most favourite entertainers in a feature article about the lovely star.
Source: Twitter
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The beginnings of Sho Madjozi's artistic career
Madjozi was born in 1992 in Elim, Limpopo, and she is the daughter of Rosemary Phaandini and Marc Wegerif. Her full name is Maya Christinah Xichavo Wegerif.
She was mainly brought up by her mother, who is of African descent and belongs to the Tsonga tribe in South Africa. Her father is of European descent. The hitmaker matriculated in Tanzania and was then offered a scholarship to further her education at a college in the United States.
While she was living in the US, she started writing poems under the name of Maya The Poet. She mostly wrote poems about politics, identity and race. After a few years, Madjozi returned to South Africa and studied at UNISA and started songwriting for artists in Mzansi.
She then got into rapping and started working with South African musicians. She rose to popularity when featured on OkMalumKoolkat's song, Gqi.
Source: Twitter
Venturing into acting and music career starting to take off
Sho Madjozi is not only a singer but she's also an actress. She appeared on Mzansi Magic's Isithembiso, playing the role of Tsakani, a university scholar who is passionate about student affairs and politics. The telenovela is no longer airing and has been cancelled.
In 2017, Madjozi released her debut single Dumi HiPhone which featured her signature XiTsonga raps. The song was well received by the public and did very well. She was praised on social media for her lyrical ability and uniqueness when coming to music.
She released her debut album, Limpopo Champions League in 2018 and won two South African Music Awards (SAMAs) for her work. She was also nominated for a BET Award in 2020. The genres that she falls under can be classified as Gqom, Amapiano and Kwaito.
In 2019, Sho Madjozi appeared on the COLOURS show, a very popular music platform for artists to perform on YouTube. Her hit single John Cena became very popular around the world and she even got a chance to meet the WWE wrestler herself when she made a visit to the US.
She told Billboard magazine that seeing other South Africans being successful overseas gave her the drive to do the same.
Source: Twitter
It makes a big difference if you see a guy like Trevor Noah becoming a success internationally, or Black Coffee," she said.
"It does a lot to people’s self-esteem, like, ‘Whoa, finally these people see us as equals.’ It makes a lot of Africans proud and happy when they see you getting that recognition. It’s hard to tell people, ‘Be proud of yourself,'".
The singer is known for promoting Xitsonga culture in her music and released a mixtape in 2020 titled What a Life, which features popular TshiVenda singer Makhadzi.
Hairstyles and fashion looks that influenced Mzansi
Sho Madjozi has a huge influence on hairstyles in South Africa and her signature braids are loved by many. After fans started to notice how she uses colourful fibre to braid her hair - they soon followed and women in Mzansi started to mimic Sho Madjozi's hair in their own way.
Her braids are so popular in the country that her pictures can be seen around numerous hair salons in Mzansi. Making her hairstyles the blueprint for most women who want to start getting creative with how they do their cornrows.
Sho Madjozi has taken influence from popular Kwaito group Boom Shaka when it comes to her hair and has really made it work for her by adding a pop of colour. The artist expresses herself not only through her hair but also her wardrobe and uses Xitsonga looks for her costumes on stage.
Briefly News previously reported that Sho Madjozi celebrated seeing herself on a billboard in New York. Mzansi musician Sho Madjozi is celebrating big news in her career and is thrilled about her progress.
Taking to social media, the artist shared that she is on a billboard in Times Square, New York. Sho Madjozi captioned her post:
"A village girl in Times Square. #WhatALife"
Sho Madjozi was picked to be part of the YouTube Black Voices Class of 2021. She appeared alongside Lasizwe Dambuza, MacG and Ofentse Mwase. The John Cena hitmaker has been recognised on an international scale and won a BET Award in 2019 for her work.
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Source: Briefly News
