POETRY | Ntsiki Mazwai

Ntsiki Mazwai was born in Soweto on 3 September 1980.

Powerful, fresh and blessed with an enviable stage presence, poet and musician Ntsiki Mazwai also goes by her clan name, MaMiya. In addition to poetry and music, Ntsiki has also made her mark in the fashion world and, recently, the theatre, with her debut onewoman poetry play, Ntsiki Speaks, which she also wrote and directed. She performs in a variety of permutations – be it her solo unplugged poetry set, or with her five piece band or her energetic performance alongside hiphop dance group, Amagenge.

Mazwai has worked with household music industry names such as DJ Mbuso, Zynne “Mahoota” Sibika, Bruce Sebitlo, Duda, Kyllex Faku and the Kentphonik team.

Her single “Uwrongo”, which featured on DJ Fresh’s Definition of House Volume II, received heavy rotation on YFM and Metro FM and culminated in her SAMA nominated poetry/music debut release, MaMiya. Ntsiki describes the album as “a new genre: kwai-hop-soul.
The songs…narrate honest stories that everyone can relate to”.

Her unique style of fusing her inspirational poems with beats has proved immensely popular and she comments “I write to release the emotion. To prevent an emotional breakdown...I feel too much. I write because too many things remain unspoken. I write because it keeps me sane in this world of conflicting realities.”

Ntsiki is also involved in numerous women’s empowerment projects, such as Feela Sistah! Spoken Word Collective (Poetry Africa 2003) and, earlier this year, was part of an anti-rape campaign, which saw celebrities pose nude to protest against rape and sexual violence.

Mazwai is a spirit who uses music to translate and enhance her poetic abilities. This daughter of the soil is equipped with a strong weapon, and that weapon is her voice: voice that produces words that are more than just any ordinary rhymes you have come to hear. The impact of her poetry mixed with the right musical beats is outstanding.

The Mazwai sister has an amazing energy and when she is on stage or in the studio, her rhymes touch souls and brings joy. She said it was no surprise that she found herself offering her poetic talent to the music industry because she always knew that she had a strong connection to music. Ntsiki has been in the music cycle for six years but she still finds it hard to believe that she is one of the people involved in giving the local music industry a life.

Writing poems and marrying them with beats is like breathing for Ntsiki. According to her, she does not have a formula that she uses to perfect her writing. “This is my passion; I love what I’m doing. I love writing and being on stage connecting with the people, touching their emotions is the most important part of my gift”. She says that she does not have any rules when it comes to constructing her verses, she just aims at telling honest stories. “I just speak what’s in my heart and I know that human beings connect to the story on an honest level”.