Everything seemed to click into place when Zakes Bantwini and his manager and business partner Sibo Mhlungu joined forces towards the end of 2021.
The veteran singer and music producer had just released “Osama” and Mhlungu, a seasoned entrepreneur and talent manager who earned his stripes working with talent from around the world including the internationally acclaimed Lebo M from “The Lion King”, was looking for a new challenge.
After a few meetings, the pair decided to join forces and launch a new agency called IMG Africa.
Together, they set off to maximise the potential of “Osama” and leverage this hype to build Bantwini into a globally competitive music star.
Within months, “Osama” was breaking records on local radio and Bantwini was touring the world more than ever before.
“To people on the outside it may look like this all happened overnight, but it didn’t,” Bantwini says over the phone from Paris.
“I’ve been working tirelessly throughout my career for this moment. And when we realised that we had struck gold, we quickly assembled a team at IMG Africa that was well-equipped to help us capitalise on the run that Sibo and I knew we were about to embark on.”
And what a run it’s been. Over the past year, “Osama” has bagged a handful of awards, including two South African Music Awards (SAMAs) for Highest Airplay and Best Collaboration, as well as the Most Popular SA Song on Social Media at the South African Social Media Awards (SASMAs).
Bantwini also recently won GQ’s Musician of the Year award.
Now, like icing on the cake, the 42-year-old recently earned his first Grammy Award nomination under the category Best Global Music Performance for “Bayethe”, his collaboration with Wouter Kellerman and Nomcebo Zikode.
“That was a really exciting moment for me and my team. This feels like the culmination of all the hard work I’ve been putting into my craft over the past two decades in the music industry and it’s such a blessing that this moment comes just before I release my final album, ‘Abantu’.”
Given his recent purple patch, I ask him if he feels confident that he’ll bring that Grammy home.
“Right now I’m just proud of my team for putting in the work to get us to this point. I’m also super grateful that we’re being recognised at the biggest music awards show in the world.
“I won’t lie and say we’re not aiming to win because I truly believe Wouter, Nomcebo and I made magic, but just being honoured in such a way feels like a win already.”
Bantwini recently said through a press release sent to IOL Entertainment that he and his team had manifested this nomination.
He vividly recalls how “Bayethe” first came about.
“I’m really big on collaboration, so when me and Wouter linked up at last year’s SAMAs I was eager to discuss the prospect of us working together.
“After that, I then spoke to Nomcebo and she was on board to work on this collaboration together. Things moved really quickly.
“At the time, my business partner Sibo and I were intentional that we were trying to make a song that was strong enough for Grammy consideration – we really manifested this moment.
“A lot of credit is also due to Wouter for making sure we got done in time and submitted the song for the Grammys right on deadline.”
With a winning formula now in motion, Bantwini also looks set to carry this success over into 2023. And he’s already off to a great start after his latest collaborative effort, “Asanda” topped Metro FM’s highly-regarded Top 40 chart a few weeks ago.
“That’s a really special record,” he says of “Asanda”.
“Kususa and Argento Dust really came through and made this one of my favourite recent collaborations. We’re shooting the music video very soon and I can’t wait for people to see what we have in store.”
It feels like every other week Bantwini is travelling the world. Over the past two months alone, he’s travelled and performed in places like Qatar, Paris, London, Bali and Dubai.
“I love travelling and it’s such a blessing that I get to go to all these different countries and perform my music to thousands of people,” he says.
“I definitely don’t take it for granted. I can’t wait to travel even more this year and continue to spread our music to a global audience.”
As far as the rest of the year is concerned, Bantwini says there’s a lot he and his team are working on. But the main focus will be his upcoming concert and final album, which are both titled "Abantu".
“We will be aiming to take things to a whole new level in a few months when we take Abantu to DHL Stadium in Cape Town.
“We’re gunning for 25 000 people and we’ve got a few surprises that we’ll announce soon. It’s going to be a day to remember.”
What a way to go out!