Multi-award winning musician, Jabulani 'Sjava' Hadebe added another feather to his cap with an international award he bagged at the BET Awards this past weekend.
The 'Ngempela' hitmaker and founder of African Trap Movement (ATM) stayed true to his roots and he sure knows how to slay African style.
At the BET Awards held in Los Angeles, California, Sjava donned full Zulu attire, hitting the red carpet barefoot.
Sjava in full Zulu attire. Picture: Instagram.
It was not the first time the King of African trap music rocked the red carpet in traditional gear. At the 2017 South African Music Awards (SAMAs) Sjava wore his Zulu regalia and it doesn’t end there.
Even when performing, as a proud African man, Sjava embraces most of South Africa's cultures as he’s been seen numerous times wearing Sesotho and IsiNdebele traditional wear.
Sjava wearing Sesotho traditional gear. Picture: Instagram.
Speaking at his welcome party at OR Tambo International on Wednesday, Sjava encourage young people to be proud of their identity:
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“We have to be proud of our identity. I remember at the Metro Awards where I wore black Brentwood and no t-shirt just a leather jacket. Even at the SAMA’s where I wore my traditional attire, I was seen as a joke and people were mocking me. But what they don’t understand is that when I’m wearing ibheshu (Zulu traditional wear), there’s a kid from Bergville who’s making music with self doubt thinking they cannot make it in hip hop because they don’t have fancy hair.
“When these kids see me in my African attire, they are inspired not to change their identity to fit in the hip hop genre. Whether you’re Venda, Xhosa, the whole African Trap Movement is about Africans and that’s why we try by all means to keep it within our culture. We take our music together with our culture abroad without compromise,” said Sjava in a moving speech after he landed from LA.
Sjava looking all stylish in IsiNdebele. Picture: Instagram.