Oskido

Oscar Sibonginkosi Mdlongwa (born 23 November 1967[1]) is a South African recording artist, DJ, record producer and businessman. [2]Having been in the music industry for over 30 years, Oskido has reached a prominent status in the South African music industry, more importantly in popular youth culture. He is undoubtedly one of the pioneering artists that popularised the kwaito genre of music outside the townships of South Africa, and he’s been central to the rise of Afro-house and newer genres like amapiano. Oskido is the co-founder of Kalawa Jazmee Records (formerly Kalawa Records), a record label that is home to musical acts like Mafikizolo, Bongo Maffin and many other foremost groups.[3]

Oskido
Born
Oscar Sibonginkosi Mdlongwa

(1967-11-23) 23 November 1967
Oukasie Township, Brits, North West Province, South Africa
Other namesOscar Warona, Godzilla, The Big "O"
Occupation
  • Record producer
  • Businessman
  • Dj
Musical career
GenresKwaito, afropop, house music
Years active1989–present
LabelsKalawa Jazmee Records
Associated acts
Websiteoskidoibelieve.com

Early life

Born to the late Esaph Mdlongwa, a Zimbabwe politician, and mother Emily Sophia Molifi at Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Oskido spent most of his early life in Luveve 5 Township in Bulawayo Zimbabwe. Here he went on to finish his basic education after graduating from Gifford High School, Bulawayo. After school he left the dusty streets of Luveve 5 township and jumped the border via Beitbridge seeking greener pastures in Johannesburg leaving behind his mother as well as brothers Liberty Mdlongwa ( Dj Pepsi) and Bobby Mdlongwa ( Dj Bobsta) as well as four sisters.

Career

After jumping the border, he went live in Hilbrow like most Zimbabwean illegal immigrants did, he got to buy a hot dog stand, this was an ingenious move as it allowed him to sell boerewors (sausage) rolls outside the Razzmatazz nightclub in Hillbrow, Johannesburg. And later on, he started sneaking his way inside the club to spin the closing sessions and slowing down American house tracks. Oskido was inspired by Zimbabwean radio 3 presenter The Hitman who was popular for the programme the Jacking Zone which played Euro House Music every Saturday evening and would often blast the sessions loud on the FM stereo back in Luveve 5.

Oskido's career kicked off after he volunteered to perform at Razzmatazz when the scheduled DJ failed to show up. The late Ian Sigola played a major role in guiding him in the club scene by lending him his vinyls. After reworking songs and formulating his own sound in the studio, he went on to release the cassette compilations ‘Mixmaster’ and ‘Big Jam’, thus boosting his popularity outside of Johannesburg, before he was introduced to Bruce "Dope" Sebitlo, a South African music artist who went on partner Oskido in the Brothers of Peace group. Under the Brothers of Peace banner, Oskido and Sebitlo released and produced eight albums between 1994 and 2004, including the kwaito classic ' Makwerekwere' which discouraged Xenophobia on foreigners particularly Zimbabweans, as well as ‘Traffic Cop’ and the ground-breaking ‘Project A’ and ‘Zabalaza: Project B’ albums, which are Afro-house pioneers. The ‘Zabalaza’ title track made it to dancefloors across the globe when Louie Vega licensed and remixed it for his MAW Records label. He was also influential in setting up groups such as Mafikizolo, Bongo Muffin and Trompies.

Personal life

After the deportations of Zimbabwean radio personalities such as 5FM's Tich Mataz and Merto FM's Tonderai Katsande, Oskido has been denying that he is a Zimbabwean. He has constantly refused to acknowledge this fearing deportation as he is now well established in South Africa. He has however been involved in the popular festive season gigs in his home town of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe called the Homecoming. Oskido managed to refurbish his mothers house in Luveve 5 and also bought his mother a house in Luveve 4. Osikido's mother single handedly took care of the family as the father went to live with another woman in the same township of Luveve 5.

Some years back in the 90s, popular Drum magazine broke the news that Oskido is a zimbabwean, reports he has tried to refute in vein. Some believe that South African authorities are turning a blind eye since he pioneered the music industry and would be a big blow if he was deported back to his motherland Zimbabwe.

Kalawa Jazmee

Kalawa Jazmee Records (sometimes "KJ Records") was formed as Kalawa in 1992 by Christos Katsaitis (who departed in 1995), Don Laka and DJ Oskido and took its name from the first two letters of their respective surnames (Oskido often used "Warona" at the time). Boom Shaka (Lebo Mathosa, Theo Nhlengethwa, Junior Sokhela and Thembi Seete) were the new label's first signing, with debut album "It's About Time" released in 1993.Joining with Trompie's label Jazmee in 1995, it then became known as Kalawa-Jazmee Records,[2] later dropping the hyphen completely. The company is currently run by Oscar Mdlongwa, Don Laka, Bruce "Dope "Sebitlo, Zynne 'Mahoota' Sibika, Mandla 'Spikiri' Mofokeng, and Emmanuel 'Mjokes' Matsane. The record label has been at the forefront of youth culture and has produced other top acts like Bongo Maffin, Mafikizolo, Thebe, Alaska, Professor, Uhuru, Dr Malinga Black Motion, Zonke, Winnie Khumalo, DJ Zinhle, Busiswa and many others.

Kwaito revolution

Kwaito is a music genre that was originally created in South Africa during the 1990s. It has been described as the music that defines the generation who came of age after apartheid. Oskido was amongst the first artists to produce kwaito tracks by adding vocals to the slow tempo house beats, and it went on to become popular in South Africa.But Oskido’s music could be differentiated from the rest of the Kwaito genre with its particular jazz elements. His co-creator, Don Laka, who’s a jazz maestro, gave their production a hybrid sound that set them apart from the rest. Oskido and his producing partners faced an avalanche of criticism from all quarters of the music industry for creating Kwaito. His contribution to the development of dance music in South Africa earned him a Special Recognition Award at the 2012 Channel O Music Video Awards.He was also part of the Kalawa Jazmee crew honoured at the SA Dance Music Awards in the same year.

House Music

Oskido is also known for his top selling ‘Church Grooves’ compilation series, which kicked off in 2001 and changed the face of South African house compilations, making them a staple in the industry for the next twenty years. In 2012 he launched the "I Believe" project, which is also the name of his radio show on Metro FM. This programme that was started with his Madlozi partner, Maloka, and the NYDA, and seeks to turn young music names into serious businessmen and women.

In the mid-2000s, along with Greg Maloka, DJ Fresh, Vinny Da Vinci and DJ Christos, he started DJU (Deejays Unite), and this crew was responsible for equipping young music names and DJs with valuable industry information through the annual Southern African Music Conference (SAMC). The conference lead to names like Black Coffee, DJ Tira, Euphonik and more breaking into the music industry and has opened doors for many others.

In the summer of 2019, he released a new album called ‘Akhiwe’, which paralleled his distinctive midtempo sound with the emerging amapiano genre. He collaborated with a number of artists on the album, including amapiano pioneers Kabza De Small and MFR Souls, and vocalists including Toshi (who was named Top Vocalist of 2018 by Traxsource), Monique Bingham, Winnie Khumalo, Zonke Dikana, and Tamara Dey, whose career Oskido helped kickstart when she sang on BOP’s "That'Impahlayakho".

These major names are joined by younger, equally highly gifted talent, including Drum Pope (who has collaborated with DJ Vetkuk vs Mahoota) and Mapiano, who worked on an early (and highly successful) cut from this LP, "Balambile". The atmospheric "Ma Dlamini" features Kalawa alumni Professor.

Earlier in 2019, Mdlongwa shared a snap of his new restaurant, Daruma By Oskido Japanese Restaurant, in Waterfall Corner Johannesburg.

Discography

Compilations
This list of songs or music-related items is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
  • Star taxi music
  • Oscar Warona: The New Testament

See also

References
  1. Joseph Nkosi. "Oskido Biography, Age, Restaurant, Wife, Albums & Net worth 2019". The Nation News.
  2. "DJ Oskido Biography: Age, Family, Wife, Career, Awards, Controversy, Net Worth". ZAlebs.
  3. "Oskido – Keep The Faith EP". 28 November 2020.
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