Producer and musician Lebo M has hailed the talent of Thandiswa Mazwai, insisting that the Jikijela hitmaker is as talented at global stars Beyoncé and Celine Dion.
Lebo told TshisaLIVE that Thandiswa was one of many talented South Africans who had the potential to rule the charts globally if given proper support by her country.
“I was at the 6664 concert in New York (in 2009) when Thandiswa Mazwai walked on stage for her set. I said to myself, ‘there is the real authentic Miriam Makeba. Where are the South African brands to give her the same support as Beyoncé and Celine Dion’ Because Thandiswa is on the same level, and has the same talent, as Beyoncé and Celine Dion,” he said.
Lebo said he believes Thandiswa may have “maxed out” her exposure in South Africa because she did not sing in the popular RnB or hip-hop genres.
“She’s the biggest asset to South Africa since Miriam Makeba,” he added.
He added that South African talent needs to work with South African investors to catapult their brand overseas.
“Black Coffee is an institution. Trevor (Noah) is iconic, bigger than anything else. But you don’t see global South African entities, businesses, doing endorsements and deals with Trevor, Lebo M or Black Coffee- artists that are global. That is the problem I have. South African brands need to get behind South African talent.
“We need to all be flying SAA and be hosted by SA tourism overseas. We need to do these deals. There’s a business behind this thing that South African investors don’t want to acknowledge.”
