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Mthabisi Tshuma, Online Reporter

DAY IN, day out, the Amapiano genre welcomes a new kid on the block because of its popularity, not only in the Southern African region, but worldwide.

One such artiste is up-and-coming Amapiano singer Calvin Mangena who is part of Solydfactory by Solyd the Plug, an initiative where newbies in the industry are being helped to grow their careers by being given advice needed to navigate in the sector.

Chronicle Showbiz caught up with the 20-year-old artiste whose brand motto is “insizwa engena kube’nontshintsho”.

He said growing up, people around him always told him that he had the talent within him, and that is the reason he ventured into the music sector.

“I ventured into music to build a brand of my own. Singing has been the only thing I’ve always wanted to do. That’s where my crown is as it’s like the only thing I can give out and get satisfaction,” said Mangena.

He said with his journey having started a couple of years back, the Covid-19 period strengthened him as it gave him time to think thoroughly about the future of his brand.

“Covid-19 made me open up digitally and from the lessons learnt, what I can say to fellow creatives is that, don’t quit and be the best for you. The key also is to know why you’re doing it and never quit,” he said.

Mangena has a string of singles namely Tora, Thelu’lwazi, Ngak’kholelwa, Imizwa, Indlela and the recent track Ama German Tanker.

“As a musician trying to break new ground, I’m playing around with a number of genres, and this time around I opted for the Amapiano route. The song Ama German Tanker talks of beer imbibers who purportedly, in slang, are regarded as German tankers because of their ability to drink too much,” he said.