Thuphaki has his hands full as the wedding season dawns

His over-sized suit, overly pointy shoes and smooth dance moves are the talk of the town and as a result, artist Lindough, who is now loved for his character "Thuphaki", is booked for the entire wedding season. 

Travelling the country performing his hit single Oksalayo, which features Freddie Gwala, King Short and DJ Active, Thuphaki is sure to make any wedding fun. 

But for Lindough, whose real name is Lindo Sithole, fame is not a new thing. Having started his career as a backup dancer and content creator alongside his son Valdo,  the artist says he never expected Thuphaki to blow up this much. 

“The Thuphaki character comes from when I starred in the Mandoza biopic (Nkalakatha: The Life of Mandoza). I was a choreographer for the biopic and I also played the character of General. So, there’s a scene where he is dressed in an over-sized suit and is dancing to a wedding step. We shot that in April and I kept the clip and only released it recently after I had edited it with my song,” he told Sowetan. 

“I initially did that to promote my song but the video trended and had 18-million views. In the comment section, people were calling me Thuphaki and I saw that they loved this character. So, I decided to capitalise on it while promoting the song.

"I also shot the music video for the song and included the character and now people book Thuphaki to perform at weddings, which is a market I’ve always wanted to break into,” he explained. 

Lindough says his background in musical theatre has made it easier for him to get into the character of Thuphaki. “As soon as I put on that suit and shoes I change drastically,” he said. 

The single, which currently sits at 1.7-million views on YouTube, was inspired by veteran musician Freddie Gwala’s song Matshidiso. 

“I was travelling from KZN to Gauteng and was listening to Freddie Gwala’s album and when I heard Matshidiso, I liked the melody and thought how I would switch it up if it was my song. So, I took that further and actually switched the melody up and words then I asked him to feature on the song because I wanted to honour him and acknowledge him,” he shared. 

Having worked as a dancer, content creator, actor, musician and MC, Lindough says performing his own music on stage is what he enjoys most. 

“Just performing my own music on stage is amazing. I do not accept gigs at clubs because my brand is family-oriented, so I’d rather perform at weddings or corporate gigs,” he said. 

In the near future, Lindough hopes to retire and give other upcoming artists a chance through his record label VNS. 

“Soon I’ll be releasing my first artist and pushing them. I hope to see myself winning awards and getting recognition in South Africa before internationally. I plan to drop an album for my fans in January and the roll-out of it will be very interesting. Fans will also get to see more of me on TV and acting.”