The hustler, the dancer, the dreamer

When you see Nkosinathi ‘Mr NT’ Ngwenya — dreads peeking out from under his funky cap, fresh sneakers and the whole outfit dialled in — you might just think he’s all about the latest trends. 

I mean, the fella born in Soweto can be firmly described as a TikTok star with his 1.4 million followers. His work has caught the attention of US rapper Snoop Dogg, thanks to his trending dance videos.

However, there is more to the dancer than meets the eye.

Mr NT is the real deal, blending a powerful business mind with serious cultural authenticity that runs deeper than his style. And as of recently, he is  a SuperSport Real World Champion – an initiative that celebrates ordinary South Africans doing extraordinary things to positively impact their community through sport and sport adjacent activities.

After spending a few hours with him on a Tuesday afternoon at Glenanda Village Shopping Centre in Johannesburg south, I was left with an appreciation that Mr NT is an idealist with a practical outlook on life.

“I’m a hustler dawg,” Mr NT avers as we unwind at Pizza Del Forno.

He is a hustler in a non-performative way. He uses what he has to get to his destination.

Ngwenya has worked as a kitchen manager at a Lebanese restaurant, he toiled as a character performer at Gold Reef City, has sold furniture on Facebook and learnt how to use the camera – all this as a way of making money when his passion wasn’t paying the bills.

During the COVID pandemic, when dance gigs had dried up, he took the little money he had and invested in selling furniture.

“I had to find ways of making money while doing my socials. I didn’t do TikTok [videos] expecting money, I’m doing TikTok because I love dance. But in real life, I need to make money because I have two kids now.”

The dancer saw an opportunity in using TikTok as a way of showcasing his dance moves.

“I remember I was still renting a backroom in Soweto and spoke to one of my friends about this TikTok thing.”

After posting the first video, there were some detractors who thought he should stop what he was doing. He didn’t listen; he kept to his ideals.

He then conceptualised a video, featuring one of his friends, where they danced over Busta Rhymes and Janet Jackson’s What’s It Gonna Be?!

“Bro, I think that video got to 500k likes. I was sleeping and when I woke up I saw Americans commenting and reacting to the video … a friend of mine called to say that I’m trending.”

After doing a few more videos using US songs, he began tapping into the growing Amapiano wave. The first video he did using an Amapiano ditty was in 2021, where he danced to VigroDeep and Sdala’s Celebration Day, which turned things up another notch.

With his videos trending and en route to drop off one of his kitchen units at a customer, Standard Bank reached out to him wanting to collaborate. 

This was his biggest collaboration with a brand and from then he began working with other brands, whilst still competing in dance competitions with his crew, Nice Things.

Mr NT got into dance in the noughties while still a teen. 

His face lights up and the pitch of his voice rises in excitement speaking about the time he got into dance when the street dance Isibhujwa was gaining popularity.

“We used to go to places like the jukebox, where people from different kasis (townships) would meet up for battles,” he says.

By ‘jukebox’ Mr NT refers to arcades where kids from Soweto would go to but they were actually there for the jukebox where they would slot in some coins and select songs to compete to.

He wasn’t the one contesting in the heated battles in those early days, but his fascination with dance was brewing, as he analysed some of the biggest dancers at the time. 

“Master was good on the floor while B was with his upper moves,” says Mr NT, speaking about Soweto street dancers he looked up to at the time.

In his teens, he would travel with friends to places like Orange Farm and other parts of the province to watch battles or compete as part of a group.

“This was before social media. It was word of mouth, but we would know that there was a battle on a certain day.

“We were quite invested. I remember that I had piercings on my lips; I’d wear is’fazo [skinny jeans]. It was those days,” he reminisces.

A few years into his life as a dancer, he came across the film You Got Served that changed his outlook on dance.

“One day I’m chilling watching TV, this movie comes on, and it’s a Hip Hop movie where they’re really dancing. That’s where I saw that I’m not in love with Is’bhujwa, I’m in love with dance as a whole,” he says.

The first time he went to the cinema, it was to watch a dance movie, Step Up 2: The Streets, soon after Maponya Mall was opened in Soweto.

“We walked to go watch that film, that’s how much I was in love [with dance]. I had saved up the money.”

Soon after embracing his fervour for dance and being fascinated by Hip Hop dance styles, he began auditioning for Hip Hop dance crews outside of the township. He yearned for growth. 

“Being in the hood for me was not good enough, because at the end of the day, we’re not going anywhere, and we’re limited, and for you to do this thing, you need to see more. I was limited to the TV. Things are happening [in dance], but they’re happening in the north, those kids are advanced.”

Through construction work, his father moved to Rosettenville, which placed the Soweto-born creative in proximity to life in the suburbs and the hip-hop dance crews he revered.

After joining one of the popular dance cliques, Buck Fam, he had the chance to appear on TV.

Buck Fam was invited to perform on SABC 1 dance show Turn It Out.  

However, like in sport, you can get benched in dance if the group believes you aren’t ready for the big stage. 

That was the case for Mr NT when his crew performed on Turn It Out.

But being the opportunist he is, he approached the judges and inquired about an open spot in the solo categories.

Lo and behold, one of the judges, media presenter Luthando ‘Loot Love’ Shosha, told the ambitious dancer that there’s a spot open.

He danced with infectious passion and walked away with the R5,000 cash prize. “That show played on TV and I remember I was using a Blackberry. I took a video of it.”

He says his father beamed with pride that his son had appeared on TV solely for dance.  “I remember he took me to his friends, holding my hand to show me off to them.”

Mr NT has become one of the most recognised dancers in the country and as a way of giving back. He has established a kids’ dance league, Royal Nice Things.

The league sees kids from different townships who are as passionate about dance as he is, compete for the title of Dance Queen and Dance King.

Royal Nice Things is a dance league strictly for kids, to express themselves in the art form.  The dance league moves around Gauteng, where dance contests are held for kids in different categories.

“Firstly, it’s safe and child-friendly. It’s a space where children can showcase their talent and skills,” says Charles De Kock, father of Royal Nice Things champion, 11-year-old Ciara-Lee De Kock.

The proud father describes Mr NT as a person with a heart of gold.

“His heart is in the right place, and everything that he does for the children comes from his heart. Since Ciara-Lee joined Royal Nice Things, she has grown in leaps and bounds. She was runner-up in four dancing competitions where she won trophies and medals,” says De Kock.

Like an older brother, Mr NT gives the kids advice about life and about dance. 

He makes an example; in one of their recent shows, there wasn’t a good turnout; however, he encouraged the kids not to be put off by the low attendance.

“It’s something I always tell the young ones, that you can do an event and, say, only 10 people pitch up, don’t think about that moment, think about how many people are gonna see it. 

“Now the video from that day is trending on every platform.”

He says he’d like to see the league collaborating with big brands and touring schools across the country.