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Amapiano songbird Boohle one day found herself inside Cassper Nyovest’s mansion, unbeknown to her, and moments later they were cooking the magic of Siyathandana.

Suffice it to say that Boohle’s transcendent first encounter with Nyovest is one that many rising musicians only dream of.

The 23-year-old singer, born Buhle Manyathi in Vosloorus on the East Rand, is still befogged even months after the finished product has made her the name on everyone’s lips. She can only giggle as she retraces her steps to the day that changed her life forever.

It was a normal day and Boohle was supposedly driving to producer Abidoza’s house after he shared his location with her. The two had recently met during a studio session with Major League DJz — Abidoza features on the duo’s songs Dinaledi and Le Plane E’Landile.

When Boohle reached her destination, she was greeted by an enormous mansion. To her surprise, she thought: “Why does Abidoza have such a big house?”

When she stepped inside she was taken aback by the opulent interior décor that included sculptural lion statues by the staircase.

“I thought these lions look familiar,” it dawned on her.

If you have been on Nyovest’s Instagram page you’d probably think the same.

As Boohle’s eyes ran across the room, she spotted the real-life Mufasa. Nyovest was busy on his PlayStation. He then stood up and welcomed Boohle to his castle with a smile.

Boohle’s mind was blown away and she was more surprised that Nyovest knew her name. When he started reciting the lyrics to her smash hit Mama, Boohle’s stomach turned upside down.

“That’s when I realised that it’s not by mistake that we were there. These guys called me here to work,” Boohle recounts.

Nyovest later told Boohle that he had a beat for her and they started laying the groundwork for Siyathandana, the biggest song in South Africa at the moment according to Radiomonitor.

“It was a very exciting moment. I thought if someone that big is noticing my voice, then clearly I’m onto something,” Boohle says.

Boohle then started writing the catchy and romantic lyrics for the song, though she admits that when she penned those lyrics she was not in love and had been unlucky in love for some time.

“I put everything into it and I had to be in love in an instant, even though at the time I wasn’t feeling like that. The song only relates to me now,” Boohle confesses.

Yes, Boohle has recently been struck by Cupid’s arrow. She jokes that she found love, fame and success all during a pandemic.

“It feels so good to finally find love, after so many songs singing about it,” Boohle says.

“So, having to now practice it is just beautiful. Perhaps I sang about love so much that I manifested it into my life.”

Before her Amapiano breakthrough in 2018 that has seen her release songs like Mama, Hamba Nobani, Inyembezi and Memeze, Boohle tried many genres that did not work for her.

“People started to know the name before they knew the face.”

Her career launched in 2016 with house music and a couple of months later she found herself singing gospel as a member of Tshwane Gospel Choir. That lasted less than six months after she fell pregnant with her son in 2017. She then tried Gqom and Afro-pop.

The youngest of four children, Boohle has been singing ever since she can remember. But music was never encouraged at home because her parents are church leaders and were very strict.

“Music is a calling for me. I could sing and people used to encourage that we form a musical trio with my sisters. But music was associated with a lot of bad things like drugs,” Boohle says.

“We were always indoors. There was no time for groove or concerts. It was going to church and coming back home.

Everyone knew that they didn’t touch the pastor’s three daughters. Every day we would have our time to pray and sing as a family. Those things built me so that I’m not only able to sing solo, but with others.”

While her parents initially did not understand her music career, they have warmed to it after her success.

“They had to support first and understand later. They are always praying for me,” Boohle says.

“Some things are just fate. You can’t fight a calling. People from church do talk, ask a lot of questions and are judgmental. Thus I say music chose me. I tried other things and I always landed back to it.”

Raising her four-year-old son while trying to break into the music industry has been another challenge for Boohle.

“Motherhood has been tricky, but I love kids. It was not easy not to get income for all these years doing music while I have a son to take care of,” Boohle says.

“I had to leave my mother with my son and she was not impressed. We had a lot of struggles about that, but we are cool now.”

While she has collaborated on countless projects with Nyovest, Busta 929, Josiah   De Disciple and ThackzinDJ, Boohle’s plan  is to release her solo debut album next. — Sowetan