Disebo Ntsolo was lost to the world of fashion buying, but has found her way back to music. She has cornered her own share of the Afro-soul market with her unique style.

The 30-year-old Durbanite has embarked on a musical journey that will delight discerning music lovers and appeal to pop sensibilities.

Her first single, the sunny, vibey and rollicking Zungibambe with its impressive horn section and drums is a refreshing take of the genre. She has borrowed the influences of the 1960s while she remains authentically African and soulful.

Listening to the song will take you back to the sounds of River Deep,Mountain High by Tina Turner first released in 1966.

"I wanted to sound different. I also shot a video for it and it's amazing. I have a brass band and dancers, the song is influenced by the brass band. I like musicians like Diana Ross, Miriam Makeba and the 60s stars.

"Anita Baker is also a favourite even though she is from the 80s. And I know every single song of Lulu Dikana."

Ntsolo was born in Durban, even though her father is a Mosotho from Matatiele and mother also hailing from the Eastern Cape.

While at Danville Girls, she was in the chamber choir made up of the school's eight best singers. She says she was encouraged to sing by her supportive parents but they insisted that she study something else and not performance.

So she opted for media and communications degree at University of KwaZulu-Natal. After studies she knocked on music doors but nothing came of it. She ended up working as a fashion buyer at Mr Price and saved enough to fund her dream.

"I knew it would take me two to three years to save and then I would meet the producer I wanted to work with. It worked out with Fundile Mdingi who is married to and produces Maleh. Fundile and I grew up together in KwaMashu and I've been asking him to work with me for two years.

"I didn't want an Afro-soul that sounded like everything else. We started working together and I had wanted Maleh to write a song for me; she delivered on Ungenza Nje?"

The talented Ntsolo, who has been an opening act at jazz festivals in Durban, says she started singing at 16 and has been in the music singing competition space for many years trying her luck at Idols SA back in 2002 where she reached the top 32.

Fast forward to her recent past, she has featured on the Yamaha Young Talent search, but her big moment came in 2014 when she was a finalist in the Castle Milk Stout Unplugged on MetroFM.

She says entering all these competitions prepared her: "They taught me how to survive the industry. I also learnt that sometimes it's not only about a great voice, the further I got. I understood that you had to brand yourself and be unique and be relatable and have the confidence to stand in front of people. It's been a hard but great journey.

"God has blessed me so much. I pray and I have big dreams. I now have a deal from one of the biggest distribution labels. I set goals every four months and try to achieve them and that has worked out well.

"The reception has been amazing as I was nervous. This is a fresh and atypical sound, I took a risk."

mofokengl@sowetan.co.za