Showcasing his home language on a global stage is Afro-soul singer Mthandazo Gatya’s main priority.

The singer, who recently dropped his EP titled Journey To Infinity, has been a trending topic on social media for his rendition of John Legend’s Nervous. In the duet video, the South African Music Awards (Samas) nominee adds a Zulu spin to John Legend’s popular song.

He’s not the only local muso to catch the American singer's attention with his spin of the song, SMag cover star Sio also achieved the same feat.

“I want nothing but to be heard and I plan to do so through my music. I want to take our African languages and showcase them to the world. We as Africans have a lot of stories to tell that the world needs to hear. I want us to have pride in the languages that we hardly hear being sung anymore and I plan to do my part by adding a modern twist to it,” said Gatya. 

“As a singer, I am solely focused on extending my name with the use of my very own African language.”

Having the All Of Me singer praising his rendition has served as validation for Gatya.

“I received a lot of backing from my fans as well as a few South African celebrities who were instrumental in John finally seeing the duet video that I shared on TikTok, Twitter and Instagram.

“These celebs include Khanyi Mbau, Miss Pru and Black Coffee. The video blew up the most on Twitter and I am grateful for the recognition – this is a clear display of God’s work… he can take you from a complete nobody to something big.”

Gatya added that he wanted to reintroduce himself to the South African audience, having first stepped into the limelight during the pandemic two years ago.

“I dropped my EP last week Friday, the very same day as the duet video... I knew that it’d help give my music the attention it needs and also showcase my skills as a singer.

“I hope that with all this hype, something beneficial will come out of this because my team has already reached out to John’s team for some sort of collaboration,” he revealed.

Gatya believes that music is a universal language and he will continue to get recognition for his sound using his mother tongue.  

“When I first stepped into the music scene, the world was under serious lockdown. I had to be innovative in how I got my name out there. I would sing on video or go live on Instagram for people to know my name.

“Now that we are slowly recovering from the effects of the pandemic, it’s quite nice that I can sing in front of a live audience. The ambience hits differently when you’re on stage as opposed to singing on camera.

“I have experienced great success in the past two years. My single Senzeni went double platinum and I’ve managed to tour various parts of SA with Canadian singer Neon Dreams.

“I’ve also been able to collaborate with UK-based singer Simba. Things have truly looked up for me so far and I hope for more success in the music industry.”