Cape Town - One Cape Town DJ and producer is set to embark on his second international gig at The Clapham Grand in Birmingham, UK, from August 24 to 27.
This comes after embarking on his first international gig in Seoul, South Korea, earlier this year.
Simphiwe Sihawu, 23, popularly known as Mr Thela, was born in Gugulethu and raised in Samora Machel in Philippi. He began his music career in 2016.
The pastor’s kid who has defied the odds said: “I’m incredibly humbled by how my music has travelled across the globe.”
Noluthando Sihawu, his mom, told the “Weekend Argus” that it has always been her son’s dream to perform abroad.
“It was as if he was joking, but I could see how serious he was from how hard he worked on developing his music and the many hours he spent on making music,” said Noluthando.
Noluthando continued to say that her son had always looked beyond his dark and tough circumstances growing up, and he believed he would become a global DJ one day.
Their heart fills up with indescribable joy for him. Even though at first they were not happy at all, eventually they supported him as they now know that Mr Thela was destined for this.
Speaking to Mr Thela, he is excited about his UK trip.
“I am speechless, feeling blessed and excited,” he said.
Mr Thela has recently worked with Skyy Vodka, sharing his music exclusively with his fans and recording a live session that can be found on his YouTube Channel.
The live session is a 42-minute mix of his popular tracks and unreleased music. He is still in awe as it was beautifully put together, with the mountains and ocean as backdrop in Kogelbaai. The live recording reached 100K views in 18 days.
“It was an idea I shared with my team on how I wanted to tease new music to my fans and followers,” he said.
Mr Thela is confident that this is not the last international gig. He is in conversation with other promoters from countries such as France and Ireland.
Mr Thela said he had wonderful years creating great music with Mshayi and Shaya Records, being nominated for a South African Music Award, and his song being featured in a Netflix original movie, “JIVA!”
“Thank you to my team for the hard work we have put together thus far. I pray that God continues to keep us together and build this brand to where we want to take it and together,” he said.
He said he is grateful to everyone who supports his music from all corners of South Africa.
“Still amazed that I have a global audience too and my music has reached countries such as South Korea, UK and Ireland,” added Mr Thela.
He told the “Weekend Argus” that the support has changed his life in ways he couldn’t have imagined.
He is excited about the line-up as he is going to share the stage with A-listers such as TDK Macassette, Aymos and Zuma.
“This will be different because we’re sharing a stage abroad and we’re going to represent SA,” said Mr Thela.
He said he admires all these fellow artists and he’s open to the idea of collaborating.