After years of being snubbed, Zakes Bantwini is looking for his first win this weekend at the SA Music Awards (Samas), where he's leading the pack with seven nominations... but he's not banking on it.

Bantwini undoubtedly has won the title of the biggest musical comeback of the year thanks to his album Ghetto King and chart-topping hits Osama and iMali.

His nominations include album of the year, male artist of the year, best collaboration and best-engineered album of the year. “Because I don’t have that much experience with awards, I don’t pay attention to them. I’ve done that deliberately because I have been snubbed so many times,” he says.

“Every time I tell people that I don’t have a Sama, they don’t believe me considering my colourful career. The news of the nominations came when I least expected them and in the same breath I don’t want to put my hopes high that I will win.

"Yes, I hope to win at least one award but I was nominated in 2012 and I still walked away with nothing... Whether I get an award or not, I’m just happy that people recognise my hard work and love my album… that’s the biggest win for me.”  

Born Zakhele Madida, the music producer made history last year alongside Kasango when their song Osama sat at No 1 for 11 weeks on the RadioMonitor SA airplay chart. 

Ghetto King, with guest appearances by Amanda Black, Nana Atta and Skye Wanda, is considered one of his best offerings to date.

“It feels good being at the top again. To me it says people may be wrong when they tell you that your moment has passed, which has somewhat been the story of my life,” says the 42-year-old muso. “I believe one can have multiple moments in their career of great success."

After taking a three-year hiatus before releasing the album, Bantwini admits that touring or gigging as much as he is doing right now was something he thought he’d never do again. He just came back from a successful international tour of Europe.

Ghetto King, which leans towards techno house, came at a time when most SA music lovers were still captured by the sound of amapiano, which continues to dominate commercially on radio and TV and on the streets.

“In South Africa we are told there is only one genre at a time, and at the moment amapiano is it, hence I thought my music wouldn’t be as [well] received as it is," he says.

“I knew my music was beautiful and captivating but I didn’t think my sound would be a game changer. It proved that there’s a market for Afro-tech amid amapiano… to me it says all music genres can co-exist."

With a music career that has seen both ups and downs, the music producer credits having a solid family structure as the main reason he was able to stay in tune with himself as an artist.

“Your family is like your teammates and when you have a solid family structure, the chances of winning at what you do are higher than someone who doesn’t have such a foundation. We’ve seen this in African families… this is why when colonisers came to Africa they destroyed African families because a strong family structure poses a threat,” he says. 

Zakes believes he would not have achieved half of what he has today if it wasn’t for the love and support of his wife Nandi. She will be hosting the awards this year alongside Lawrence Maleka.

“My wife loves celebrating other people, hence I think it’s great that she’s hosting this year’s awards. I hope I win an award so that it’s a beautiful sight on the stage.”   

Among the lessons that the renowned DJ has learnt is to make sure to choose your team wisely and always have everything written down… “It can be on a text, a voice note or paper. Always make sure you have proof of any sort of agreement you have with anyone regarding the decision you make with your career. This is the best way to avoid issues, legalities or someone claiming to have said something different than what they initially stated.”

With the awards just a day away, Zakes plans to wear one of his designer suits co-created with Xolisa Mgqubeni of Suit Luxe. “When Xolisa matriculated years ago, he went to a tailor to recreate the suit I wore to Samas in 2012. Fast-forward to 2018, we designed a suit that I will wear to the Samas tomorrow [on Saturday].”