#ThobelaThursday: Malaika And The Destiny.

Announcements:

Welcome to this week's Thobela Thursday episode. We'll be covering Malaika when they were active so 2003 - 2009. We won't go into the drama because that's not what we're here for but it will be a celebration of the music.

So the Malaika story actually starts in the mid 90s when the boys Jabu Ndaba and Bongani Nchang were in the kwaito group Stouters. They had moderate success but it was short-lived so they decided to go back to the drawing board.

After the success of trio Mafikizolo they decided to go in a similar musical direction. Jabu called a church choir friend of his called Matshediso Mholo to join the band they rebranded as Malaika

Their first single Mhla'uphel' Amandla was an instant hit

Their self titled debut album was flying off the charts & Mhla'uphel Amandla quickly went double platinum. With both Mafikizolo & Malaika simultaneously dominating sales and the charts AfroPop started replacing Kwaito as the biggest genre in the country

Its not until their 3rd single off the album that Malaika goes from a popular group to a phenomenon.

Destiny is a pop crossover smash that helps the group define their sound.

Destiny becomes the best selling single of 2003 and helps poo Usher the album to 3x platinum as well as help them win SAMAs, Metro Awards and Kora awards.

Sebaka Nyana is released as a B side to Destiny and is another hit for the unstoppable trio.

In 2005 the group releases their sophomore album Vuthelani to immediate success.

The first single is a song that would become a signature hit for them, Muntuza (2 Bob) becomes a club and radio classic.

In the tradition of Destiny the group releases another English pop single called Fever and its yet another hit for the group. Along with the dominance of AfroPop the group had cemented themselves as one of the biggest groups on the continent.

The final single from Vuthelani is Nguwe. A traditional AfroPop ballad that helps the album also reach multi-platinum status.

It's during the release and promotion of their third album Sekunjanlo that things start going wrong.

Rumors that founding member Jabu Ndaba was fatally sick start circulating after he misses shows, appearances & isn't in the Never Change My Mind video.

After months of missing promotional gigs the founding member and glue of Malaika Jabu Ndaba passed away in 2008 from TB complications leaving his group members in the middle of an album cycle.

After Jabu's death the now duo released their final album together 2009's Mmatswale.

But with Jabu's absence the duo erupted in internal fighting & disagreements that they never really recovered from and they unfortunately disbanded shortly after.

This is where we call it a night for tonight. Please support Tshidi and Bongani's solo work as well as stream Malaika's music online.

Also follow me because we do this every Thursday.