A relatively unknown musician from a little known Eastern Cape town is rewriting music history books.
In just two months since the release of his debut album, Nathi Mankayi, 32, from Maclear, has zoomed up the food chain to nibble on the upper crust of success.
Currently, out of the 20 most downloaded songs on iTunes in South Africa, seven are from Buyel'ekhaya, his 10 track album.
He is the second best selling artist at Musica record charts and the best selling local artist. He is also top of the charts at MetroFM.
He is fast turning into a social media phenomenon with the hashtag #nomvulafever trending.
From the bellow of the first note and the scintillating guitar riff of Nomvula - his career-making hit single - South Africans are in the grip of Nathi-mania.
And when you get Bonang Matheba to play your song everyday for the past month on her MetroFM show and even adopt the name of your song as her nickname, you must be doing something right.
Mankayi's rise proves that lightening does strike the same place twice. Much like Zahara who hit the industry like a tsunami in 2011, Mankayi is from rural Eastern Cape and also strums the guitar.
Comparisons between them are unavoidable. It's the timbre in their voices and the authentic delivery that bears testimony that they are cut from the same cloth. And everyone loves an underdog story.
He rose through the ranks after winning a talent search called Dare to Dream in the Elundi municipality in Maclear.
He then worked with Jaziel Brothers as his prize, but was never released. His music ended up with Vusi Nova who took him to Muthaland Entertainment that finally released his album in April.
Mankayi has been fine tuned by the university of hard knocks. He did time behind bars for robbery; he served four of an eight-year sentence for robbery. He has turned a new leaf. Now based in the big city of Johannesburg, he has found a cheerleader in Matheba.
She gushes at the mention of Mankayi.
"Nathi is in a league of his own. I find him to be so refreshing and incredibly humble," she tells Time Out.
"He is like a rare diamond. It's his destiny to be where he is now. It's my duty to support local talent and to let the listener feel what I feel. My fans even call me Bonang Nomvula Matheba."
When I finally meet the man about town I'm greeted by a shy reluctant star. For a man so revered, I expected a flashy showman but he is the antithesis of the rock star he could easily carry himself as. Modest and a man of a few words. It might be the heaviness of the talent he carries around with him.
"I didn't expect people to like my music the way they have. I'm really pleased though," says Mankayi.
He shares his theory why people love his music: "I talk about things that come from the heart and go straight to people's hearts because they can relate to it."
Not only is Mankayi a formidable vocalist, he draws and sculpts. In fact the drawing of his face on the CD is his work.
His mother, who worked as a hawker, brought him up and his five siblings with difficulty. He had to sell his works and artefacts for extra cash.
He says his relationship with his father is nonexistent after he left the family to work in Johannesburg. He never sent money nor came to visit. The title track, Buyel'ekhaya, addresses this sense of loss.
"I don't really communicate with my father that much. I have a stronger relationship with my mother. She's all I have."
A self-made star, Mankayi never had formal training.
"I never went to school for any of the things I do. Even with the singing... I've been singing for as long as I can remember. I was born with it," he adds.
With the success of Buyel'ekhaya and Nomvula, Mankayi reckons he's here to stay.
"I don't want silence after this album. I would still like to work with Caiphus Semenya because I believe there are things I still need to learn. Working with him would be a learning experience for me."
Source : Sowetan
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