Makrila

Twenty years ago, I met a young man from Newcastle in Durban. L’vovo Derrango. My brother. 🖤 Although he wasn’t from Durban, Durban is where we would make history. It’s where I discovered him, believed in him, and signed him as my very first artist, ever, at just 24 years old. It’s where I built him a home at Mayonie Productions Label. Together, we created something so unique that it needed its own name. I began referring to it as Durban Kwaito Music, because there was nothing else quite like what we were doing. And we took that sound everywhere. Johannesburg. Cape Town. Barcelona. Stages across the world. Two boys from KZN, carrying our story further than we ever imagined. Yesterday, twenty years later, we stood on that same stage together in Durban, this time for my own festival. Some of the people in that crowd were born in the very same year I discovered and signed him. Twenty years! We’ve been through more than most people will ever know. We survived an accident together that took people we loved. We built a sound that became part of this city. We fell out, and somehow found our way back to each other, because real brotherhood survives all of that. And then came the stroke. Watching him fight to stand again. To speak again. To walk back into a studio. To reclaim pieces of himself and his glory. That kind of strength is difficult to put into words. His mother asked me to look out for him a long time ago. That was never a favour. That was family. So when he walked out onto that Mayonie Open Air stage yesterday, I wasn’t just proud of the artist. I was proud of the survivor. The fighter. The brother. My first artist. And the man who is still here. Still standing. Still rising. Twenty years, L’Vovo. From Durban to the world. Durban Kwaito Music forever. I’ll always be right there with you. #MayonieOpenAir #DurbanKwaitoMusic #DKM God Speed Osama. 🖤