Sotho rapper making it big

A distinctive sound … Andrianto is taking the country by storm with his Sotho rapping.

When Andrianto Ngwana Mosotho burst onto the local music scene a few years ago, his critics said he would never succeed in selling his vernacular, Southern Sotho.

But an award-winning album later, Andrianto has silenced them for good. His foot-stomping performance at this year’s Mangaung Beach Party in Bloemfontein had the crowd rocking to his latest singles Why wena and Lerato laka.

Mahlangu first put pen to paper when he wrote his first song in matric in 2003.

Hailing from Bethlehem in the Eastern Free State, the 24-year-old television production graduate’s Motswako style of rap is fast becoming popular on the local hip-hop scene.

Motswako rap originated in Botswana in the late nineties when rappers such as Molemi, Hip Hop Pantsula (HHP), Morafe, and Tuks Senganga fused Setswana with a high-tempo rap beat. It encouraged rappers to be more conscious about their identity and promote indigenous languages.

Andrianto’s album Ngwana Mosotho, famous for its hit track Hele Helele, won him two South African Traditional Music Awards – Best Vernacular Album and Best Song – last year. He also received the Free State Music Awards’ Best Hip Hop Album and Album of the Year.

“I feel that winning the awards has really helped me with my career. The reaction I get when my name is called out before a performance is amazing. I get more bookings now than I did before the awards. I want to make it big as a national artist, and this was a great first step in the right direction.”

Andrianto got his big break during the YBA-Hip Hop Nites hosted by HHP, where he was the first Southern Sotho rapper to win the popular competition in Johannesburg. He went on to work with prolific Motswako rappers such as Thasman, Tuks, HHP, and DJ Lemonka, and was the opening act when Snoop Doggs’s nephew Bow Wow performed in the country.

Andrianto has made television appearances on Jam Alley and Shiz Niz and was recently asked to audition for a part in the soap Rhythm City.

HYPE magazine dubbed him the “The Official Sesotho Rapper” and declared him the “Number 1 unsigned artist in Mzansi” in its April/May 2011 issue.

He started his own recording label called Home-made Productions in 2010 after realising the importance of taking the initiative to succeed in the music industry.

“We felt that it is very important that we start our own record label. We wanted to build something for ourselves. It doesn’t help to wait for a recording deal while you could be working on something before your big break.”