Waking Life: I Am HERE!!!

The Monzol!!

Hey there Waking Life Readers! Today’s showcase is all about a man who has gone through so so much, & has risen through the ashes to become one of SA’s young, fresh and up-and-coming rising star in the entertainment business. Although not a household name as yet, he is sure to make quite the splash for himself in the years to come & we are honoured to be the first to tell his story about the life & times of an up and coming producer/rapper. Ladies & gentlemen, Waking Life Presents: MONZOL!!!!

Monzol, also known as Thabo Nevhufumba, is a young, local music producer/rapper who’s trying to make a name for himself in an industry already booming with mad talent. Hailing from Phalaborwa (A Mining Town Located in the Limpopo, South Africa) he was given the name Monzol by a close friend, which he says he welcomed the name with open arms due to the hardships & difficulties that have brought him to where he is today.

Monzol: “Well the name Monzol means ‘the Angry face’ & it basically represents everything I’ve been through as a person & as someone trying to make it in the entertainment business, which makes it even more interesting considering that Thabo means happiness, so Monzol is my alter ego & when I become Monzol I become UNLEASHED!

Born Venda, raised Sepedi , Monzol talks to us about the difficulties he faced growing up in Phalaborwa

Monzol: “Well growing up I didn’t have much. It was such a struggle that, like my dad, I had to leave school to find work but you know, life happens. I have no regrets about my life because I was surrounded by love regardless of what was happening around me such as my parents finding it hard to provide & a sister with Autism, all of that is just something I look back on & thank the Lord that I am where I am today, which is here doing an interview for Waking Life Magazine, my very first magazine piece haha. Never in my life would I have thought to have made it this far.

But yes, all those things made me stronger. It doesn’t faze me as much as it did in the past when people would take shots about my life. It’s whatever. I see it as that scene in 8mile (The Final Battle) where Eminem basically tells the entire audience about his life & the other guy has no response to it. You can’t hurt me anymore than what life has.

It’s been a hell of a ride to be honest. Like I said, I dropped out of high school (in 2007) for about for years & during that time I was finding myself, but in 2010 I decided to go back to high school to finish my matric & man let me tell you it wasn’t easy. But I pushed through, finished high school at the age of 23yrs, so last year, & now I’m doing my first yr of varsity at Boston City Campus.”

Monzol says that he faced a lot of ridicule for going back to high school at a time when everyone his age was starting varsity, but he knew that in order to be taken seriously, he had to take himself seriously. So with his head down in his books, & his prayers out to God, Thabo’s pain slowly & surely started to manifest into dreams with champagne & now, here he is, about to take on the world... With an ANGRY FACE!!

Monzol Unleashed!

Now that he’s in Varsity, Monzol says he gets to do what he really wanted to do, which is productions, and now that he’s got his producing on track he can dictate how he sounds on his own music & which direction he’d like to take it:

Monzol: “As a producer, you how you want your tracks to sound, so now that I’ve got the knowledge required for my tracks, I know how I want myself to sound to the public.

What’s more is that I also see myself releasing music that is just too real, especially as a producer. When I get into this Monzol phase, I just blackout & I become a complete ANIMAL on the tracks!

I can assure you that, what’s going to separate me from the rest is the fact that I don’t really want to be classified to one genre. As a producer I think it’s important to know how to make any type of music! It’s cliché for someone to call themselves a producer yet they’re stuck in one genre & although hip hop & RnB is my strong point, I see myself diversifying into all genres in music because music is in me, it’s what I do, It’s why I am here. I will be able to make all types of genres and you can hold me to that.

In saying that, I’m not taking anything away from my rapping side. I still feel like I have things to say, things that are relatable & things that’ll get the public thinking about realism.

You can ask anyone who’s seen me perform, like in 2005 at the Marula Festival in my hometown. First time on stage, nervous as all hell, especially considering that I had to open for Pitch Black Afro, who was popular at the time, I was only 15 at the time but I performed! I went out there & I did not let the fear stop me at all.

I’ve been rapping since I was 13yrs old, so that’s 10yrs now of me just trying to get my name out there. At times I didn’t even think it would happen but now I have a manager in Lyndsay Smart, I’m doing articles for Waking Life hahaha. My life is picking up & I can’t wait to share myself with the world.

Monzol’s humble beginnings have made him realize that although he’s talent is his own, he is more than willing to help any young artists out there that are also in the process of finding themselves.

Monzol: “The way I see it is, you need to lend your ear out to people. A lot of rappers, & I have met plenty, forget about the struggles they went through & are too selfish to help a struggling artist out. I’m not like that. I believe that all music should be explored you know & the only way for the music down here in South Africa will reach new heights is if we help one another out.

My life is not my own, but it is my motivation. So when I’m in the booth, getting motivated by my life, I think to myself; I want to make others feel how I feel you know? That Joy & excitement, I want to transfer those feelings to other up and comers”

With his heart set out killing the music industry (figuratively of course) & his past moving him forward, Monzol’s career seems to be one of those ‘Matter of Time’ situations. Come September he should be launching his 1^st ever mix tape labelled “Dropout Kid” which has a story line about his life & moving past the hardships & heading towards success. The Sky is indeed the limit for this young man.