When was the last time you listened to kwaito?
We all still have love for this sound but the changes it has taken on over the years are what we prefer these days.
The flavours of gqom a few years ago and now amapiano. Those all stem from kwaito no matter what the streets would have you believe.
A fortnight ago, the Metro FM awards were held and honoured some of the more noteworthy musicians in the country and among these is a DJ by the name of Kotini who walked away with honours in a category that concerns kwaito.
Siyabonga DJ Kotin Zikode is a 39-year-old veteran of life and the music industry. Quietly he has been awaiting his moment in the sun which would seem to have arrived.
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Mandeni in the North of KZN couldn’t be prouder of this hometown hero.
“I’m so happy and honoured to have reached this milestone in fact I’m over the moon. To be quite honest I was expecting it because my song was one of the most popular songs during the festive season and still is. We also had an extraordinarily strong campaign, so I was confident,” he explains.
To put in work for over a decade and only be recognized now is something, most of us would be disheartened by but not Kotini.
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“Everything evolves with time, I think we’ve tried to move with times as well,” he says commenting on this journey and what it took for him to get to this moment.
Armed with this award he has a hit list of artists he wants to get in the studio with and these include Professor, Cici, Nana Atta, Cairo, skills, Mr JazziQ, Thukzin, and Thakzin to mention a few.
As for why he thinks he won the award for Best Kwaito, “Because I had the best team, from the features to PR and Marketing to the voting campaign team.”
The future would appear too bright for Kotini who is plotting his next moves in the hopes of striking while the iron is hot.
“I’ve just dropped my new single titled Amajuba and I’m working on my album to be released later this year.”
