Gospel gave amapiano star a taste for music

Amapiano vocalist and songwriter Daliwonga Matiwane has mastered consistency.

Since his rise to stardom in 2019, the Soweto-born heartthrob has dropped hit after hit and shows no sign of stopping anytime soon.

Teasing his third album set to be released later this year, Dali, as he’s affectionately called by fans, has recently dropped 10 Kilometres, a single that is inspired by the late Brenda Fassie’s hit-song, Too late for Mama.

“I drew inspiration from the late Brenda Fassie and we sampled some of her work and decided to drop the song towards Valentine’s Day since it’s a song about love and its struggles,” he tells Sowetan at the recent launch of the single in Rosebank.

“I put myself in the shoes of a person who is crying over having trouble with a partner that comes home too late. So that’s where we drew the inspiration from Too late for Mama,” he explains.

When asked whether he had obtained the rights to sample the song, Dali admits that he only thought of the technicalities after recording the song.

“So, when we are in studio, we never immediately think of those things. When something inspires you at that time, you do it right there, and everything else only gets sorted out formally afterwards. My team did that for me and they obtained the rights,” he says.

Although his new album will still cater to groovists and get people dancing, Dali reveals that he wasn’t always a musician that made club bangers. Instead, he was a gospel singer.

“I grew up in a family where music was a thing and we’d sing every single day and go to church every Sunday and that’s how I fell in love with music. At quite a young age I started to sing and would sing at church and even at school. I even had a choir after high school that was named the Southern Melodies.

“I’d say my father saw that I had a musical talent before I even knew it because he made sure that we’d be back home by 4pm each day so that we could sing and pray.”

But he knew being a gospel artist wasn’t part of his plan.

“I was never really looking into becoming a gospel star but I’d get a lot of inspiration from gospel music and would write gospel songs for church and for my choir. My parents are happy with the transition into amapiano and I’m glad they understood me.”

Breaking into the main industry was not too difficult, he says. All it took to get his big break was releasing his hit song, Friends with Benefits. DJ Maphorisa heard it, and reached out to him so they could start working together.

“Although the song got the attention of DJ Maphorisa, people did not know me too well and I’d say they started to recognise me after I was featured on DJ Maphorisa’s Izolo. Izolo really changed the game for my career and people wanted to work with me after that song. After the release of my Uyang’Tester album, people were really curious to know what I was all about.”

Social media has also helped him achieve success.

“I think social media plays a huge role in a lot of artists' careers. A lot of us (musicians) become successful because of being mentioned on social media. I think without it, it would have been a lot harder to be successful.”

And while he sings social media's praises, the 27-year-old says social media can be toxic.

“I’ve learnt to keep focus because even though social media is a great platform for an artist, it can also break you, especially Twitter. But if you dwell on the negativity that’s where you’ll fall.” 

Having worked with a number of artists, including King Monada, Kabza de Small and Focalistic amongst others, Dali says his new album will feature a lot of up-and-coming artists. Even though he’s very keen on collaborating, he admits that he has refused to be featured by some artists because he knows his market well.

Going forward, Dali promises more music and hints at a surprise listeners can find in his new album.

“For the rest of 2023, expect more music, performances and stripped down versions of my songs where it’s just me and a microphone. Who knows? You might hear me sing something outside of the amapiano genre in the album,” he laughs.