SA’s top acapella group Hush SA has been crowned the winners of Season 2 of the Old Mutual Amazing Voices competition.
The group wowed the judges at the spectacular pan-African singing finale at Sun City, last Sunday.
The Joburg-based group walked away with a massive $ 100 000 (R1 433 580) after securing 5 Golden Voice wins for best performance throughout the season.
They are an all-male gospel group of six members, formed as a brotherhood of childhood friends spanning over a 10-year period.
Tsholofelo Ntuli, Phumlani Tshabalala, Sinethemba Magubane, Zamokuhle Nkosi, Thamsanqa Mthabela, Nicholas Malimba, started the competition known as Hush Male Group. However, their new fans who have followed their progress across the DStv Amazing Voices competition, changed it to Hush SA, which is now the sextet’s official name.
The group entered the competition that attracted 546 initial online video entries from across the continent. The top 10 acapella groups came from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
During an interview via the Microsoft Teams, one of its members, Magubane, said the prize money will be reinvested and most of it will be used to build their own studio.
“Our mission is to have a massive impact to humanity. So, we will continue to do music. It is going to be invested into the group, where we will be getting monthly salaries and the ultimate goal is to build our own studio, because already, we are seeing the love that Africa and the world has shown us. We will also nurture the talent of other young Africans to achieve their goals,” Magubane said.
Mthabela, the most outspoken member of the group, said they have learnt a lot from this competition, especially about other cultures across the continent.
“We have learnt that even if we are from different countries, we still share the same love for music, we still share the love of God, and so, what I can say is, we learnt a lot and we got to experience each other's strengths and weaknesses.
“We’ve also learned that humility is an important attribute of growth, both in singing, and personal interaction.”
Asked what advice they can give to other aspiring young artists, Mthabela said: “I would like to say if you believe in your dream, if you love something, be it your job or a career, just push until you get it.”
During the early stages of the competition the second group leader, Ntuli, described their group as a relationship.
“A strong foundation is based on understanding each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” he said.
Ntuli added that performing during Covid-19 restrictions was not easy, as they were used to performing in front of a live audience.
He said it was easy for the judges to identify mistakes which they couldn't have seen if there were audience members cheering them.
According to Magubane, little did they know that their initial entry would see them beginning a long and rewarding process that would end with an ultimate victory in Africa’s premier acapella event.
At the same time, they were awarded with the benefits of learning the skills and gaining the important insights needed for groups to succeed in the challenging world of music.
After an initial screening process, Hush SA advanced to the second gruelling step, attending closed auditions before celebrity judges Ammara Brown, Trigmatic, Evelle, Filah and Vusi Nova (where two groups from each country were selected).
The group then succeeded in being selected to partake in Amazing Voices Season 2 Top 10 and got to attend an intensive musical Bootcamp at Sun City.
They were mentored by Khaya Mthethwa to refine their musicality. During this intensive three weeks, the finalists prepared for the final phase sing-off by having their vocal and performance abilities honed by the Amazing Voices team.
For many contestants, not only Hush SA, it was their first exposure to the glittering but demanding stage of world-class TV productions.
In the end, the journey has left South Africa with national singing sensations whose voices could be the ticket to international stardom and ambassadorship for the country and its people.
The group say they are now planning to expand their footprint across the African continent and to feature some of the continent’s talented female artists.
This week, their single, Indumiso, will be available on all digital music platforms.