Lebo Mathosa

Electrifying songstress

Photo courtesy Justcurious.co.za

Lebo Mathosa was an accomplished R&B and kwaito star who was born in 1977 in Daveyton, a township on the East Rand of Johannesburg. She was a gifted albeit controversial singer, who toured the world and achieved much in her short life until a car accident in Germiston on 23 October 2006 robbed South African music fans of her talent. She was only 29.

Described by the people who worked and lived with her as a loving and funny, her fans will always remember her powerful voice, electrifying live shows and provocative dance moves.

Mathosa first came to public attention fronting the hugely successful four-piece band Boom Shaka in the mid-1990s. Their first album It’s About Time was an instant hit. Boom Shaka set new trends in the South African music industry; they came up with music that combined elements of rhythm and blues (R&B), kwaito, rap, ragamuffin, dance and funk.

Mathosa embarked on a solo career in 2000, releasing the album Dream, which went gold within four weeks of being released. The album won three South African Music Awards in 2001 in the categories: Best Dance Album, Best Dance Single for Intro and Best Female Vocalist.

She was aware of unscrupulous business practices in the music industry and was one of the first South African musicians who succeeded in negotiating for full publishing rights for Boom Shaka and for herself as a solo artist.
She was instantly recognisable by her blonde hair, regarded as a sex symbol and often featured on magazine covers. She won the Style Best Dressed Woman of the Year Award in 2001 and was nominated by FHM magazine as one of Africa's sexiest women.

In 2004, Mathosa released her second album, titled Drama Queen, on which she experimented with different styles to break out of the house and kwaito mould. The risk paid off and the album won the South African Music Award for Best Dance Album.

Some of her other achievements include having shared a stage with US artist Keith Sweat and acting roles in three of South Africa’s leading soapies, Generations, Backstage and Muvhango.