Samthing Soweto is ending 2020 off with a bang as news that his debut album ‘Isphithipthi’, which dropped in September last year, has achieved platinum status in South Africa and, to celebrate, the star has re-imagined the songs as he teams up with the Mzansi Youth Choir for a new EP.
‘Isphithipthi’ broke pre-add records on Apple Music and it solicited a frenzy of media coverage and airwaves domination, paving an unforgettable summer season for Samthing Soweto’s Amapiano hits. Ably created in collaboration with a coterie of star writers, producers and vocalists such as Kabza De Small, DJ Maphorisa, MFR Souls, Mas Musiq, Sha Sha and Mlindo The Vocalist, the undertaking resulted in no musical drawbacks – just dance-floor fillers and distinct future classics.
True to Samthing Soweto’s eclecticism as an artist, the album does not only comprise of dance (Amapiano) music but it takes listeners on a poetic journey with tender Pop-Soul songs (so pertinent during the Lockdown) such as the title track “Isphithiphtihi”, “Nodoli” which was written for and about his own daughter, “Omama Bomthandazo” (an ode to the nation’s downtrodden mothers), and a track which has now become a local cultural meme, “Happy Birthday”; all of them hits in their own right. With either Gold or Platinum status attributable to nearly every track on this timeless album, it’s affirmation of the Rolling Stone review which described it as “verging on beatific”; and no deep listening, most certainly no skips are required, to get through this body of work. ‘Isphithiphithi’ not only earned Samthing Soweto a staggering nine #SAMA26 nominations; he also won the prestigious Best Afro Pop Album award this year.
To celebrate the milestone, Samthing Soweto has teamed up with the Mzansi Youth Choir as they drop their new EP ‘Danko!’. The EP includes a truly unique choral interpretation of the Amapiano hits from ‘Isphithiphithi’. Re-imagined in an inimitable way as a nod to his career beginnings as an acapella star with one of South Africa’s supergroups, The Soil, “The Danko! Medley” is a groundbreaking, genre-bending fusion of Amapiano with choral arrangements, eliciting quite a hedonic thrill.
If new music was not enough, the fans are treated to a special live recording of “The Danko! Medley” exhibiting the iconic choral collaboration, available exclusively on Apple Music for its first week of release.
Listen to the new EP here:
