Gospel sensation Khanyile casts net wider

Gospel singer and songwriter Dumisani Khanyile has expanded his horizons beyond album sales and live shows since he came into the industry 17 years ago. 

Khanyile, who was born and raised in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, started his music career as a backing vocalist and over the years gained music knowledge by backing many local stars.

Since he came to Johannesburg in 2005 after competing in the Coca-Cola Pop Stars, he backed artists like Sello "Chicco" Twala, Kholeka Dubula, Peter Mokoena, Lundi Tyamara, Deborah Fraser and S'fiso Ncwane, among others.

When the 41-year-old realised his talents and knowledge, he decided to pursue a solo career in 2015, releasing his debut Ngithwale under his own recording company, Born to Reign Recording. The singer says he had to come up with his own independent recording company because he was seeing a lot of artists being exploited.

In 2019, Khanyile released his second album tilted Darkest Times Are Not Forever. The new EP, released in September, is titled Enkosi Bawo.

“I don’t release regularly because if there is no message to deliver I don’t go to the studio. I have released the EP because there was a message to convey but I always wanted to thank the Lord for what he has done for me. I have survived the worst in my life, including corona[virus], and I am still standing.”

Not wanting to depend on music only, Khanyile decided to establish a marketing company to sell other artists and brands to TV and radio broadcasters. The same entrepreneurial spirit has seen him expanding to establish his own recording company and establishing Eminent Video Music Awards (EVMA). The second installment of the awards is set to happen on Saturday at the Market Theatre in Newtown.

With EVMAs, Khanyile wanted to contribute to the growth and development of the South African music industry.

“We want to recognise those who produce music videos and content that meets the highest standard, recognise their work and promote professionalism in the music industry. The event is exclusively dedicated to exposing young talent into the mainstream and recognising the underdogs.

“I noticed that some of them [artists] do not take the issue of shooting a video seriously. They will submit poor-quality videos that lack creativity. I saw it befitting for me to be the first one to do this [awards] and the response has been quite amazing.

"The first awards took place last year. For example, when we talk of the Best Style Video we want to see people going all out with introduction of fashion and glam in their videos.”