8 November 2021
10 | Entertainment
PDBY Featured Artist: Motive Thando Dlamini
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DBY recently spoke to third year mechanical engineering student Lethabo Kupayi, also known as Motive, about him, his music and what it is like being a student DJ.
When did you realise that being a DJ is what you want to do? Growing up one of my uncles used to have virtual DJ on his laptop and that’s how I started. When I moved to PTA, I kept on playing. I met one of my friends, Rethabile, and we carried on together. And it just clicked that I wanted to deejay because I have been doing it since primary school. Which DJs (internationally and local) inspire you? There are a lot. Locally, it has to be LeNanza, I think she’s the best DJ in PTA, I love her. I also think Venom is great. Usually, I look out to everyone that’s made it but right now those are my favourite DJs. Internationally DJ Crazy is great. There [aren’t] a lot of huge hip hop DJs internationally, but also Black Coffee is crazy, Major League DJs and mostly all the amapiano guys that are doing crazy stuff internationally and I look up to them also. But I am a hip-hop DJ.
What are the biggest hurdles you’ve had to overcome so far in being a musician? There’s so many but the worst things that’s ever happened to me has to be lockdown. It messed up so much for me, life wasn’t the same and I couldn’t go out and do what I love and make people happy and dance. So, lockdown has to be the worst thing that’s happened . You have worked with Homecoming Events, what was the experience like working an event like that? That was really great, it was one of my biggest shows not in numbers, but the experience was crazy. They are really professional and took care of me really nicely. You feel like a superstar there, I mean I feel like a superstar when I’m at most of my shows but that was a level higher, it feels really great. I think that was one of my happiest and favourite shows I have played. Homecoming is definitely top two shows I have ever played.
How is it performing at full clubs as a student? It’s pretty crazy and amazing. It’s like the best thing ever. Every time I get on stage, and I see all those people having the time of their lives because of me is really special. It’s like I have the power to make people happy and it’s so great also that I’m also doing something that makes me really happy, I love it.
Which DJ would you love to work with in the future? I’d love to work with Venom, because I really look up to him and one day, I wish I could play a back-toback set with him, he’s really great. Music wise, I’d love to work with DJ Slick. Sfarzo RT [and I] got to work on stuff but never finished that. I want to work with Lesedi the DJ also TP the DJ, they are great guys who are doing great things in PTA, I’m all about the city.
You released Love Tapes Vol 1.0 earlier this year, what inspired the mix? There was a certain girl I liked when the year started, I never got to date her, but it was Valentine’s Day, and I made her listen and hoped she’d feel the same way but she moved away from PTA.
What can we expect next from you in terms of releasing another mixtape? I have kind of [taken] a break from releasing mixes online. I have just been focusing more on performances and if you want to see me just come to one of my shows. I don’t really like dropping mixtapes unless it’s for radio.
Meg Norquoy on her music career Minentle Mndiyata
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DBY had the pleasure of talking to Meg Norquoy, who is a performing artist from Pretoria. In this interview Meg chats to us about her music career, how she started and how social media has impacted her music journey.
How did the name Meggs and Toast come about and what does it represent? Well, I’ve been looking for a guitarist for a while now, and when Johan and I chatted after an Open Mic at Aandklas, we decided to play together. The name was a joke I’d decided on for my Instagram account after a night out with friends filled with horrible puns. Johan, a man of puns himself, didn’t mind being the toast to Meggs.
Who has been supporting you throughout all of this the past year? The past year has been so tough for me, but I have always had my mom by my side supporting me and keeping me moving and the rest of my family. They mean so much to me and keep pushing me and have helped me get over some of the toughest times. and I love being a DJ but sometimes it gets really hard, and you need people that love you and my family has been able to do that.
Respublica Rising Stars Minentle Mndiyata
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At what age did you realise that music was your passion and that you really wanted to pursue it as a career? So I think I always knew that I enjoyed music and singing from a super young age. I still remember my favorite songs from when I was in nursery school. I always toyed with the idea of singing as a career, but I never took it seriously until August 2021, [when] I was presented with the opportunity of a gig. After that first gig, the gigs haven’t really stopped, so I guess it’s only now that I’m realising: “Hey! Maybe I should do this for real now?”. You started posting videos of you doing covers in 2017, but in 2018 you posted about finally making a video singing something that you wrote, how long did it take you to transition from performing covers to writing your own songs, and how has that helped you grow as an artist? I loved singing along to songs all the time, but it was thanks to one of those silly assignments for a compulsory music subject in grade 9 that started my love for writing them. We got told to write a song for marks and after I figured out the first one, I started writing more and more. I think I only started singing originals on stage in my first year of varsity at the Aandklas Open Mics though.
Image provided
Image provided
happily listen to whatever I played (even if it was horrible). They’ve always supported me in music and inspired me! My dad shows my videos to anyone he meets, which can be kinda embarrassing, haha..
espublica Rising Stars is an initiative that was introduced by the Respublica Student Living Accommodation on 22 June. This segment is aimed at introducing the world to an array of talent within the Respublica residences, each week a student was featured on the Respublica_life Instagram account. The likes of Precious Nkosi from Hatfield Square, Roman Figga from Eastwood Village, and many other students were featured on this segment. On 23 October, the Residences all came together at the Saratoga Village, a Respublica residence in Johannesburg, to witness the Battle of the Stars. This was a great opportunity for these different students as they got the chance to showcase their diverse talents in front of an audience and also got to compete amongst each other for great prizes. There were 17 stars in total, some from the Cape Town Respublica residence. A rapper from West City and a poet from Hatfield Square made it to the top 3, coming in 3rd and 2nd respectively. A rapper and a saxophonist from the Saratoga Village (Sabelo and Phemelo) were crowned the Respublica stars.
Is there any specific artist that inspires your music? Johan and I have varying tastes in music, so our originals sound very different. I’ve been inspired mostly by Paramore’s newer albums, as well as YouTube-made artists like dodie and Orla Gartland. Johan’s main inspiration is Matt Costa. Soon, we’ll be writing songs together, so it’ll be cool to see how our songs sound in the future.
How has social media helped you grow your brand as an artist? I’ve found that once you start playing gigs, an Instagram account helps a lot because we’ve [got] a few opportunities due to our content. However, Tiktok trumps all apps in terms of getting content out there. So many more people see and share songs/covers posted on Tiktok. So it’s definitely helped with putting our name out there.
What do you hope to achieve in the future through your music? Johan and I want to put our music out on all platforms and aim to do so in the coming year! We’re passionate about music and to be able to share our music specifically would be amazing. Personally, I would love to play at big festivals in the future, like Park Acoustics or Splashy, so it’s definitely something we plan on working towards!
Parents are usually skeptical about letting their children get into the arts, how did you convince your family that music was the one for you and that you could make it work? Unfortunately in my case, skepticism was never an option for me. My mother was a musician in the 80s and my dad went with her to gigs. So my mom taught me how to play guitar and piano, and my dad would
Is there anything that you are currently working on that you would like to share with us? At the moment we’re working on originals mostly, but we do have an online concert coming up with 11:77 productions which is super cool! It was shot at the stunning Blades Hotel, and I recommend watching their Instagram page (@1177productions ) to see when tickets go on sale!
Image: Instagram - respublica_saratogavillage
