Johannesburg 8 May 2020 – Wandile Mbambeni who was born and raised in the Eastern Cape – a region known as a hotbed for African talent as it’s the birthplace of many icons, including the late Nelson Mandela. Surprisingly, music was not Wandile Mbambeni’s first love. Coming from a sports-focused family, he initially pursued a career in professional rugby. Featuring at scrumhalf, he enjoyed success during the early stages of his rugby career, winning domestic competitions with Border U19s and the Eastern Province Kings U21s.
However, Wandile decided for a complete career switch song is the beginning of big things for this young man. This has seen the highly-acclaimed soul musician become high in demand. While it was a bold life-changing move, the initial stages of Wandile’s musical journey wasn’t easy as he found himself backpacking from friend to friend, sleeping on couches as searched for opportunities on the Cape Town music scene. However, it didn’t take too long before he found his way
A musical team brought together through social media, Wandile first discovered Phonikz on Instagram while watching a video of him producing some beats. “I love people who love JDilla and you can hear it in the sound,” and so the first virtual steps to creating ‘First Night’ were made.
“I messaged Phonikz on Instagram, cause I liked his vibe. We met up at his place and created the song. It was our first time meeting,” recalls Wandile. With meeting a fellow creative for the first time, comes the conversation to get to know each other, which in turn leads to the theme of the single. “We got to chat about our personal relationships before the music. The song was birthed from our first conversation and also ended up putting light on the first time one meets their partner. The first time you meet the person you love today.”
‘First Night’ was created and recorded ahead of the current coronavirus pandemic hitting SA shores with a national lockdown sending the public to their homes, so Wandile has used his time to create more music.
“Lockdown has been tough, as I can imagine for everybody. I’ve been keeping creative and keeping the shows going online as well as the collaborations,” and once lockdown ends, Wandile hopes to reshape his daily life with what he has come to learn during this trying time. “I hope a lot changes. I hope I am this productive if not more. A lot of music will be coming out and it has taught me there’s no real reason to hold back on some of the songs. As an artist I think people need this.”
2019 saw Wandile tour with 6 x Grammy nominated artist Tamia, release his ‘Tell Me’ music video and the successful single ‘Peace of Mind’. The greats of the music world are legends because their work is able to trend in every generation. Wandile creates his music with the same intention. “Every song I’ve created tells a small part of my life story,” he says. “Looking back from where my journey started, I can proudly say that all the hard work was worth it… and now I hope to tell the Wandile Mbambeni story around the world.”
Wandile Mbambeni’s brand new single ‘First Night’ is out now across all digital platforms: http://africori.to/firstnight
Wandile Mbambeni’s debut album ‘Kwakumnandi’ is out across all digital platforms –
http://smarturl.it/WM_Kwakumnandi
