Spoek Mathambo Profile - Early Life, Career Beginnings & Achievements, Discography, and Filmography

Fortune Samuel | September 18, 2024 | Profiles | No Comments

Nthato Monde James Mokgata, born on May 14, 1985, is a South African artist, producer, singer-songwriter, and rapper known professionally as Spoek Mathambo. He gained prominence in the late 2000s with his innovative fusion of various musical influences. Mathambo is particularly recognized for coining the term "Township Tech" to describe his unique sound.

Early Life

Mathambo is originally from Rockville, Soweto, a township on the outskirts of Johannesburg. His uncle is the renowned trombonist Jonas Gwangwa. Born in 1985, Mathambo grew up during the state of emergency in the final years of Apartheid. In the mid-1990s, his family moved to Sandown, an affluent suburb in Sandton, north of Johannesburg, where he attended St John's College.

As a teenager, Mathambo developed an interest in creative writing and music, which he continued to explore while initially studying medicine at the University of Cape Town and later studying graphic design. In Cape Town, he became involved in the local rap and electronic music scenes, where he began performing and collaborating with notable figures such as Waddy Jones (later known as Die Antwoord), producer Simon Ringrose (known as SiBot), and Markus Wormstorm.

The stage name Spoek Mathambo is inspired by the South African sitcom "Emzini Wezinsizwa," which Mathambo enjoyed as a child. "Spoek" translates to "ghost" in Afrikaans, and "Mathambo" means "bones" or "skeleton" in isiZulu, together forming a name that can be interpreted as "Ghost of Bones" or "Ghost Skeleton."

Career Beginnings and Achievements

In 2006, Mathambo and Markus Wormstorm launched their electro rap duo project Sweat.X, gaining national attention by releasing various mixes on their MySpace page. A year later, they signed with the UK label Citinite, released their debut EP "Ebonyivorytron," and embarked on a European tour.

In the late 2000s, Mathambo also formed the duo Playdoe with Simon Ringrose (SiBot). Their debut mini-album "It's That Beat" was released in 2008 under the label Try Harder, followed by a European tour. That same year, Playdoe released the album "Sibot & Spoek are Playdoe," and in 2010, they released the EP "African Arcade" under the label Jarring Effects. Another album, "Bubble & Freeze," was released on Leonizer Records in 2010, and they collaborated with Starkey on the EP "Freeze Step" in 2009.

A series of mixtapes titled "H.I.V.I.P.," released periodically on Mathambo's blog in 2009, helped establish his reputation for creatively blending various styles and genres. His collaboration with Richard Rumney, known as Richard The Third, led to the formation of a live band supporting Mathambo on his first album.

In 2010, Mathambo released his debut solo album "Mshini Wam" on the Stockholm label BBE Records. The title, derived from "Umshini Wami" (meaning 'Bring me my machine gun'), references an anti-apartheid struggle song popular with Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress, in the 1960s, and Jacob Zuma's signature song during his political campaign in the late 2000s. Mathambo explained that "My Machine" symbolized his platform to express a new wave of electronic African music emerging on the continent. The album features the acclaimed track "Control," a cover of Joy Division’s "She's Lost Control." The music video, directed by South African photographer Pieter Hugo and Michael Cleary, won the Young Director Award at the 2011 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and the Gold Award at the South African Lories in 2011. Mathambo was also nominated for Best African Act at the 2011 MOBO Awards.

In September 2011, Mathambo gave a presentation at TEDxSoweto.

In 2012, Mathambo signed with the Seattle label Sub Pop and released his second album, "Father Creeper." The album received four-star reviews from The Guardian, Mojo, and Q, and earned Mathambo a second nomination for Best African Act at the 2012 MOBO Awards. Unlike his previous work, "Father Creeper" featured live arrangements and was noted for its blend of styles, described as "a juxtaposing meltdown of styles that transcend even his own self-prescribed label of 'Township Tech'." Later that year, Mathambo toured the UK with Damon Albarn and Nick Zinner. Additionally, he released his first compilation album, "Future Sound of Mzansi," which consisted of tracks he had produced over the previous four years.

Mathambo's fourth full-length release, "Escape from '85," came out in July 2013. The mixtape served as a musical homage to his birth year and was accompanied by a themed video game. He also contributed two tracks to the 2013 "Red Hot + Fela" compilation and released a collaborative mini-album with US rapper Shamon Cassette titled "Wave Crusher." In 2013, Mathambo was again nominated for Best African Act at the MOBO Awards.

In mid-2014, Mathambo released his debut feature-length documentary film, "Future Sound of Mzansi," directed with filmmaker Lebogang Rasethaba. The three-part series explores South Africa's vibrant electronic music scene twenty years after the end of Apartheid. The film, which premiered at the Durban International Film Festival, features genres like Shangaan electro and gqom, and includes appearances by musicians such as DJ Mujava, Black Coffee, and Okmalumkoolkat. Mathambo and Rasethaba traveled across South Africa for two years to document the country's diverse and progressive electronic music movements.

In early 2014, Mathambo also released material from a side project called CasaCosmica. The project’s album "Dark Arts" featured contributions from artists in six cities around the world, with material shared via Dropbox. Additionally, Mathambo released a mixtape titled "Cava The Combo" featuring South African rap.

Following two solo albums and two compilations, Mathambo formed a new five-piece group called Fantasma. The band includes Marvin Ramalepe (DJ Spoko) from Pretoria, Maskandi multi-instrumentalist Bhekisenzo Cele from Durban, psychedelic rock guitarist André Geldenhuys from Cape Town, and drummer Michael Buchanan. Fantasma combines influences from traditional Zulu maskandi music, Shangaan electro, hip hop, punk, house, and more. They released their debut EP, "Eye of the Sun," on Soundway Records, featuring vocals by Moonchild on two tracks. A year later, Fantasma released their debut album, "Free Love," in March 2015.

In 2017, Mathambo released his fifth solo album, "Mzansi Beat Code," through Teka Records. This album marked a departure from his earlier work, featuring minimal vocals by Mathambo himself and instead showcasing other artists singing over his beats. Isa Jawards of The Guardian described the album as having a "less raw and adventurous" sound, leaning more towards "club-friendly house beats." Piotr Orlov from NPR noted that "Mzansi Beat Code" represented Mathambo's "lifelong pursuit of a pan-Mzansi aesthetic" while incorporating global influences.

In 2015, Mathambo teamed up with DJ Aero Manyelo and vocalists Carla Fonseca (also known as Manteiga) and Nandi Ndlovu to form a new collective called Batuk. According to Carla Fonseca, "Batuk" means "drum" in Portuguese. Batuk recorded their debut EP, "Daniel," in Mozambique, which was released in early 2016. This was followed by their debut album, "Musica da Terra," also released in 2016. The album, recorded in South Africa, Mozambique, and Uganda, included collaborations with artists from all three countries. Batuk's mission is to use house music to explore and unify different African sounds in a pan-African fashion. Mathambo explained that their goal was to blend different cultures and languages to foster unity and a sense of belonging.

In 2018, Batuk continued as a duo with Mathambo and Fonseca. They released their second EP, "Move!," followed by a worldwide tour. Later that year, they released their second album, "Kasi Royalty." While their first album emphasized a pan-African approach, "Kasi Royalty" focused on South African township sounds, with "Kasi" being a South African slang term for township.