Mlindo the Vocalist

Lindokuhle Magedezi was born in the year 1995 in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal. At the age of four, he became part of a local church where he discovered his vocal skills. Mlindo attended the Phathwa High School in Gcilima, a borough of Margate.[2]

As he considered starting a musical career, Mlindo later went to Eastern Cape where he joined a hip hop group Flow Riders in 2010. He mainly took part in vocals.[3] In 2014, he established an a cappella group White Bread, after his departure on Flow Riders. White Bread was a success as they won several accolades, including Search for the Stars, held in uShaka Marine World, Durban.[4] In 2017, he won a talent competition Golden Search in Richards Bay, which gave him an opportunity to work with record label Afrotainment, owned by producer DJ Tira.[5] At this year, Mlindo the vocalist was a social media sensation as he uploaded videos covering popular songs. The notable video of him covering a stripped-down version of DJ Maphorisa song "Midnight Starring" went viral.[6] After being discovered by DJ Maphorisa on Twitter, he signed him to his label BlaqBoy Music, then later signed with Universal Music Africa.[7]

On 6 February 2018, Mlindo was featured on Sun-El Musician's song "Bamthathile", becoming a successful hit in various South African radio stations, reaching atop on local charts.[8] He then released his debut single "AmaBlesser" which featured and was produced by DJ Maphorisa.[9] The song eventually became a hit and was certified four times platinum by RiSA on 10 May 2019.[10] As he rose to prominence, Mlindo helped his family by concluding disadvantages they faced. He managed to hire a house for his brother, and helped his unemployed mother.[11]

After the success of his single "AmaBlesser", Mlindo revealed his debut album cover and its release date as it was made available for pre-order on iTunes.[12] His debut album Emakhaya was released on 21 September 2018.[13] The album was certified platinum by RiSA and managed to get almost 45 million streams countrywide as of May 2019.[14] The second single "Macala" managed to reach number-one in South Africa, following the success of his lead single. The album earned Mlindo three nominations at the 25th edition of the South African Music Awards; Best Newcomer of the Year, Best Produced Album and Best Afro Pop Album.[15][16]