Independent on Saturday

Durban hip hop artist Dinkie drops new release

TANYA WATERWORTH tanya.waterworth@inl.co.za

LOSING his mother when he was 15, bunking classes to earn enough to buy food, being months behind on rent, and finding love and hope, including the birth of his son Micah this week.

That’s local hip hop artist, Dinkie, aka Buntu Manjati, 26, who taps into his emotions surrounding his life story when he writes music and hopes fans will welcome his latest release, Face My Truth, which dropped yesterday.

Speaking to the Independent on Saturday this week, Dinkie, who grew up in the Mthatha, Eastern Cape, said he moved to KwaZulu-Natal to stay with his older sister after his mother died. He attended Clairwood Secondary School.

“But my sister lost her job and moved to Johannesburg, so my two brothers and I had to look after ourselves. I was living with my big brother and we were months behind on rent.

“We still had to buy food and have bus fare to get to school,” he said, adding that he started missing school for hard labour jobs which would bring in R70 a day.

“I would not go to school and at one time missed almost a month straight. The teachers saw my grades were dropping and they intervened.

“The physics teacher would bring me lunch and give me money for bus fare. I ended up doing eight matric subjects, picking up visual art as an extra. I moved to Bellair so I could walk to school, about an hour away, because I couldn’t expect the teacher to give me bus fare all the time,” said Dinkie.

Advised to follow a career in science, Dinkie said his love for poetry, which he had from an early age, defined his choice to follow the arts and his dream of a music career.

“There was also no money for studying, and straight out of high school I went into hard labour jobs to save money to start recording seriously, which meant I had to pay for studio time,” he said.

His music focuses on his personal experiences with the tapestry of Durban as his background. His latest release is a mix of isiXhosa, isiZulu,

isiSotho and English.

“I’m a good writer and when it comes to composition, I don’t go into the studio and just do it off my head. I write about what I’ve been through and the informal settlement lifestyle, to tell the stories of all these people around me. The passion for music drives me and releases all the pain I’ve

been through. I suppose it’s my way of crying through the music,” he said.

Since getting married in 2019, he has worked in various side hustles as he continued to focus on his music career, releasing Long As I Live, as well as shooting music videos. During lockdown, he used his social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook, to promote his music and brand.

This week saw the birth of his son Micah, and Dinkie said while it was still early days in his music career, the birth of his child had added to his determination to succeed in the tough music industry.

“I’m so happy at the moment. I love the woman I’m with, and if there’s anything I’m going to teach my son, it’s to keep his eye on the end goal, and that it doesn’t matter where you are right now.

“At one point I worked as a volunteer at a job for six months, so I got no money during that time, but I did get a two-year contract once I’d done the six months. Complaining doesn’t help, you have to go out and just do it, and as a man, you have to earn respect,” he said.

Face My Truth is on YouTube Music, YouTube, iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, Tidal as well as other music digital stores. Instagram and Twitter @Dinkie_za

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2021-05-15T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-05-15T07:00:00.0000000Z

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