There’s the instant a crowd sees on stage, and then there’s the long, often unseen runway that gets an artist there—years of repetition, the mentors and family members who steered them, and the neighborhoods that gave their voice a place to land. For Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, that difference isn’t poetic; it’s personal.
The celebrated music figure frames his upcoming appearance with a reality many performers rarely say out loud. “The two hours that you’re asking me to come and perform took me 56 years of everyday work,” he explains. “You become a person because other people lifted you, other people embraced you, other people celebrated you.”
That sentiment sets the tone for Materials that Matter, a new multi-year cultural storytelling platform that was launched after Old Khaki’s sponsorship of the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. Rather than treating music and sport as isolated achievements, the project is built to spotlight South African artists and athletes—and, just as importantly, the communities that shaped them well before the spotlight ever turned toward them.
Mabuse, whose legacy includes the iconic Burnout and a career spanning five decades across South African pop, jazz, and protest music, is stepping in as the opening chapter. His background is deeply rooted in Soweto, where he grew up with traditional healing-ceremony drums in the mix and with the political conversations that marked his parents’ generation. In his telling, music wasn’t something he “picked” later—it was part of the rhythm of everyday life long before it became a profession.
The platform’s central message is echoed through his path: talent seldom develops in a vacuum. Years of commitment to a craft, Materials that Matter suggests, eventually turn into a form of personal expression—yet when you trace each journey back far enough, it becomes a story about the people who supported it.
At this year’s Cape Town International Jazz Festival, Mabuse performed during Old Khaki’s pop-up activation, sharing the spotlight with fellow South African musicians Rorisang Sechele, Sibusiso “Mash” Mashiloane, SIO, Tutu Puoane, and Vuyo McGlad. Each performer brought a distinct sound, and each is set to be featured in upcoming installments under the same banner—connected by one shared theme, with individual chapters that highlight the communities and experiences behind their artistry.
For Hotstix and for the stories still to come, Materials that Matter is not simply about the moment a set ends or a song lands. It’s about everything that happened before that—every person, every influence, and every thread that helped shape the final performance the audience sees.
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