Blink Digital Magazine talent issue number 03 03 | Page 36

B L I N K TA L E N T

MASTA H

Q: Tell us more about yourself?
A: I ' m a humble man, well mannered, God fearing and very outspoken.
Q: Where were you born and grew up?
A: I was born in a village called Zoeknog, grew up in a village called Madjembeni Mapulaneng Bushbuckridge.
Q: When did your passion for rap / hip-hop begin?
A: My passion for Hip-Hop began while I was at high school, I fell in love with Hip- Hop after hearing Tupac Shakur, Notorious BIG, DR Dre, Nas, Eminem and WuTang Clan.
Q: Why did you choose rap / hiphop among other music genres?
A: I chose Hip-Hop because I can be able to express myself fully without any limitations because I can talk about my struggles, inspire the youth, talk about social ills without being restricted.
Q: You rap in Sepulana, why did you choose to use this language rather than English?
A: I chose Sepulana because, it is the language of my ancestors, our people were forcefully removed from Shakweneng by then apartheid movement, we have a million people speaking this language in Bushbuckridge, Sabie, Pilgrims, Graskop, Hlabekisa, Matibidi, Lebuweng etc. Sepulana is a unique language and I ' m surprised why is not official, I saw the need to promote this language because people out there they must know about Mapulana tribe and
By Sharon Ndlovu
I will never stop promoting it until it because official.
Q: As Musician from Bushbuckridge, what challenges you faced in this music industry?
A: And how did you to overcome them? Challenges I faced as a rapper coming from a village of Bushbuckridge is that people are undermining us even though we have mad talent. And also most national radio stations doesn ' t play our songs, maybe they want payola who knows [ Laughs ] some of these challenges I overcome them by being patient and staying true to myself because I cannot afford to change my style to please certain people or radio stations. I ' m glad that Mughanalonene FM is recognizing our talent and respecting us artists from Bushbuckridge.
Q: You started your own company, let me say your own record label " Lepulana Musik " tell more about it? A: I started Lepulana Musik together with my manager Goodenough Mashego who came up with this idea in 2012. Our aim is to give up coming artists from Bushbuckridge that opportunity to record and expose them wider audience because we noticed that in Bushbuckridge we have lots of talented artists. In our company we have artists such as Mr Doo who released his debut album called PHANDZELA last year festive and TARPS AND KAYCEEZO who have just released their EPs this easter.

I N T E R V I E W

W I T H

A R A P P E R /

HIPHOP ARTIST

MACDONALD

' MASTA H ' HLOMPHO

FROM MPUMALANGA

We want to be the best record label from Mpumalanga. And out artists from Bushbuckrige don ' t have to go to Joburg in order to make it in the music industry, you can still make it while residing in Bushbuckridge because God knows no boundaries.
Q: You ' ve been to Morning Live on SABC 2 last year. How was the experience?
A: The experience was awesome, it increased my profile and my booking fee [ Laughs ]. My people from Bushbuckridge were very proud and it gave me that confidence to work more harder and I ' m running for that SAMA awards.
Q: How many albums do you have now?
A: Have released two mixtapes called Mapulaneng Vol 1 & 2 in 2011 and 2012 and in 2014 I released my debut album called MAPULANENG KE GAE.
Q: What advice can you give to the youth of South Africa?
A: The youth must first fear God, stay away from drugs and alcohol, they must go to school and follow their dreams.
I believe you have a lot of fans including children also.
Q: How can your fans get in with you?
A: They can like my artist facebook page: Masta H, twitter: Masta8h, instagram: Macdonald Hlompho. Lepulanamusik on twitter, youtube and facebook. For bookings: lepulanamusik @ gmail. com
Q: Lastly whose your inspiration and why?
A: My inspiration is my manager Goodenough Mashego, remaining intelligent human being on this planet earth, he ' s a visionary, I ' m inspired by this man. BDM BDM TALENT TALENT ISSUE ISSUE # 03 03
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