Ntsika Ngxanga is one of the most celebrated Afro-soul vocalists in Mzansi and after winning various accolades with The Soil and as a soloist, the musician is all about moving up the ladder of success and his family is the greatest support he could ever need to keep his drive.
While speaking to Ntsika Ngxanga during a recent interview, I learnt an interesting fact about him, the artist has never worked a day in his life outside of the music industry.
The musician revealed that before getting their big break with The Soil, he had experienced nearly seven years of struggling and his wife was beside him.
“When I met her, The Soil's name was starting to make rounds...everyone in Vaal…and we would send them out there on purpose for them to go viral and they did, but when I met my wife in Varsity, even when those songs were making rounds, she did not even know what or who The Soil was...I kept telling her about my chemical engineering and how I’m the most amazing student there is to ever meet...she did not even care about that too, she cared about the person that I was and till this day, with all the accolades that have come my way, with all the success that I continue to reap...she still treats me like Ntsika, not Ntsika the soloist, Ntsika from the Soil or the scholar and that has always been the link that just makes our relationship very amazing…." he said.
His long-standing union with his wife has led to him becoming a father of two beautiful children, which has also influenced his views on his career, and if his family puts a stamp of approval on his music, he is certain that the whole world will enjoy the music.
“When it’s a show that is regional, I make sure that I get a return flight...if I can come back the same night, I always take that opportunity to come back to my family cause I know every little time spent with them makes it worth it. I have a five-year-old son, and my four-year-old daughter and my beautiful wife," he added.
Speaking of how he tests his music he said:
To finally hear my kids sing my songs, on key and for me to record a new song that is meant for another artist and prior to me sending it, playing it for my daughter, and if she Okay’s it, if she says: It’s a good song daddy...play it for my wife, my wife says: “Yeah it’s an amazing song”...my son, well he’s not a musician, he’s an academic but when he says: “Play it again daddy” then I know...so the gratification that comes from my family before I send it out there, that's the most prolific…”
Speaking about his future endeavours, the musician said that he wanted to start “a coffee and tea slash muffins bar” and a Ntsika Foundation in collaboration with Taffies, and while he is still aiming to have those dreams fulfilled, he is currently stepping into the fashion industry with the Fez hats, which happen to be a part of his staple image.
“We’re starting with a range of four hats with Dean, the MD at Simon and Marry but I want to have a fourteen piece range, and SA Fashion Week, if they take my application, I’ll then showcase there, I want to showcase my hats everywhere...The Soil...we decided on our style based on the Sophia town era, they used to wear suits back in the day...so we get artists that always benchmark fashion with the music and the time in which that music was recorded, so, I also would like one day for a kid out there to say: “I’m doing the type of music that Ntsika used to do, and me wearing a hat, is an ode to him…”
Main image credit: instagram.com/@ntsikamusic