L’Vovo is wearing a black and white spottie. It’s got various typography on it with words like “life” prominently placed. And what a life the Durban kwaito star has led.
L’Vovo always knew he was going to be somebody. “Way before music and everything, I just thought that I wanted to work with people, but I didn’t know how,” he said.
“For my tertiary studies, I did a national diploma in language practice. It includes sign language, interpreting in court. And in my second year, I became popular as an MC and as a member of the SRC That’s when I met Zakes Bantwini.”
A few albums and many awards later, L’Vovo and Zakes parted ways, and L’Vovo attempted the independent route before signing up with Mabala Noise.
Now he has released Iyavaya, an infectious single featuring Dr Malinga and Professor. He says initially, the song didn’t feature his frequent collaborator, Professor, but once he heard it, he couldn’t help but get on board. The song is about hot songs and a winning spirit.
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Video on ur screens soon #Iyavaya ft @drmalinga @professorkalawa 🔥🌪🔥🌪🔥🌪🔥 🎥 @unclescrooch
A post shared by Lvovo(@lvovosa) on Oct 30, 2018 at 11:48pm PDT
Iyavaya has no doubt been played in taxis all over the country. L’Vovo has made it his mission to bring awareness and appreciation to taxi drivers. He often tweets about them and held a braai day in their honour.
Asked when was the last time he was a passenger in a taxi. “I think it was in 2007. But the reason I hosted that braai was that the taxi drivers - especially in Durban - take a risk when they play our music.
“Our music was not out there on radio stations, but we wanted to launch it. “Taxi drivers play our music until people get used to it and start requesting it,” he said.