Mpumi Dhlamini rocks up for an interview in Newtown looking like a hip-hop star.
He is casually dressed, his hair worked into cornrows more reminiscent of rapper Ludacris than a young John Coltrane. He looks as though he could burst into rhyme at any minute, battle any street rapper who dared to challenge him. It turns out he can rap too and occasionally freestyles with the likes of local hip-hop artist Pro-kid.
Dhlamini wears earrings and the general look — something like an African-American basketball player — makes it more difficult to imagine that this baby-face has been described as the next Moses Taiwa Molelekwa. But like the late Molelekwa, Dhlamini is a prolific composer, producer and pianist.
Renowned bass guitarist Fana Zulu, who worked with Molelekwa and features prominently on Dhlamini’s debut album, says it is a good comparison: “That boy is something else, he is very talented. He reminds me of Taiwa.”
But Dhlamini says of Molelekwa: “Those are very big shoes to fill.” Possibly in an attempt to fill them he has dedicated a song to Molelekwa on his album, Combined Elements (Sony BMG).
Zulu says Dhlamini is a rising star who “is still going to mature”. But this musician’s musician, who refuses to see himself as merely a jazz artist, says he is fascinated by the great divide between classical music in which he has formal training and the more irreverent jazz genre.
“Classical theory and jazz theory are totally different things,” says Dhlamini, whose understanding of music first took root at the famous Drakensberg Boys’ Choir School. These days the place is known for producing top musicians such as Zwai Bala of TKZee fame instead of the Afrikaans crooners of old.
Dhlamini, like Bala and his younger brother Loyiso, initially received vocal training. He started playing his first instrument, the piano, after he was told he would not crack it in the vocal arena.
To show that he could succeed, and to keep motivated, Dhlamini switched to piano in grade 11. At that stage he was attending the National School of the Arts in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. He has taught himself to play more than 10 instruments since then.
“I am on 13 instruments,” he says. “I try to learn a new instrument every month.”
Dhlamini was born in the Soweto township of Zola, the place first brought into the nation’s consciousness by kwaito heroes Mandoza and Zola (who named himself after the place). He now lives in the East Rand township of Katlehong.
His mother, Teddy Nkutha, was part of an all-female group called Mthunzi Girls and at one stage sang with the famous Mahotella Queens. His uncle, John Mothopeng, is a pianist.
At the age of 21 Dhlamini has managed to release an album that can be described only as accomplished and mature for his age. In the process he also featured some old hands such as Zulu, Victor Masondo, Dave Klaasen, Andile Yenana and Carlo Mombelli.
“I am the only unknown on my album,” Dhlamini says.
The album is an eclectic fusion of jazz styles. Dhlamini composed and arranged the songs and plays various instruments throughout.
As the title suggests, Combined Elements is a fusion of styles. These include the R&B-leaning When I Met Her (dedicated to Dhlamini’s girlfriend), an evocative Afro-jazz piece featuring the sultry voice of Kgomotso Makhene titled Bana and jazz tracks dedicated to his heroes Yenana and Molelekwa.
Talking about his muses, Dhlamini says: “I play their instruments the way I imagine they would play them.”
The final word should go to drummer Klaasen, who appears on six of the album’s 13 tracks. In admiration of the young muso, Klaasen says: “His talent definitely exceeds his years.”