Buffalo Souljah

Buffalo Souljah
Background information
Birth name	Thabani Ndlovu
Born	(1983-09-16) 16 September 1983 (age 37) Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Origin	Mufakose/Harare/Zimbabwe
Genres	Dancehall Reggae Afrofusion
Occupation(s)	songwriter record producer musician
Instruments	Vocals, sampler, percussion
Years active	2000–present
Labels	United Nations of Africa Music Group
Associated acts	Beenie Man Oliver Mtukudzi Winky D D'banj Fally Ipupa Diamond Platnumz Jah Prayzah Burna Boy Patoranking Shatta Wale Stonebwoy

Buffalo Souljah is a South Africa-based Zimbabwean 10 time African Channel O,Soundcity,Zima reggae dancehall award winning reggae recording artist and songwriter. He owns the record label U.N.A (United Nations of Africa Music Group).^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}

Early life background[]

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Born just five months after the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980 in Bulawayo, Thabani Ndhlovu is the third born in a family of four. He then moved to Harare where he was raised in the high density suburb Mufakose. He attended Mufakose High School and then moved to South Africa soon after high school to seek opportunities.

Career background[]

Buffalo Souljah started his career when he composed his first song at the age of eight "Zuva Randisinga Kanganwe" (The day I will never forget). The song was inspired by a hilarious childhood incident in which he and his brother were chased by some baboons after having touted and provoked them. Buffalo credits his talent and thirst for music to his father who was also a musician. His father was a jazz artist and saxophonist who worked with Thomas Mapfumo in the late 1970s and early 1980s.^[8]

Buffalo Souljah also recorded an Afro jazz album called Indolvu Yangena on VaNyoni Beats Records, working closely with Mzilikazi Wa Afrika.^{[citation needed]}

Early collaborations[]

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In 1996, Buffalo Souljah and his friends David Zulu aka Deva Soul and Stewart Chamirai aka Jon Doe formed his first group "Intelligent Racuss Cruuks" formally known as ULD a/k/a Prettybway. The group released three afro hip-hop albums, a mix of traditional music called jiti and hip-hop which involved a hip-hop drum, kick and bass sequence fused with the Zimbabwean traditional instrument Mbira.

When Buffalo moved to South Africa in 1999 he entered the music industry and worked with several South African artists featuring on their albums. In 2002 he had his first break working with a Ghanaian artist aka Instinct. He was later involved with a group called Street Disciples and they dropped an album called The Chosen Ones under the label (Da Apostles).

Record deal: United Nations of Africa (U.N.A)[]

After some years in the hustle, Buffalo Souljah finally got his big break and signed with HOTWAX records, a record album owned by veteran DJ Waxxy. He now owns and heads a record label called U.N.A (United Nations of Africa), and signed his first artist, Vanessa Sibanda, formerly known as Queen Vee, in 2010.^[9] Queen Vee is a former pageant queen, crowned Miss Zimbabwe in 2008. After relinquishing the crown as Miss Zimbabwe in 2009, Queen Vee relocated to South Africa and met Big Buff, who eventually signed her to his label United Nations of Africa. Since 2010, Queen Vee has worked with celebrated musician such A L-Tido, Ziyon from Liquid Deep and AB Crazy among others.

Endorsements[]

One Campaign^[10]

Coke Studios^[11]

One Man Band^[12]

Performances[]

• Harare International Festival of the Arts Zimbabwe
• Lake of Stars
• Nigeria Calaba Festival
• Tanzania Hip-Hop Mag Festival
• City of Joburg New Year's Eve
• Washington DC African Summit Concert
• Lake of Malawi
• Malaysia African Diaspora Festival

Notable singles[]

In 2008 Buffalo Souljah released a dancehall single "Bubble Ya Bums" for his debut album. The single became a hit, the video was on high rotation on Channel O and MTV Base and got him winning two Channel O Spirit Of Africa Awards in the categories "Best Newcomer" and "Best Dancehall/Ragga" respectively.^[13][14]

Discography[]

Awards and recognition[]

In 2013, Buffalo Souljah was appointed the Zimbabwean Youth Cultural Ambassador by Minister S. Kasukuwere^[16]

Buffalo Souljah is the only Zimbabwean artist to win multiple Channel O Music Video Awards (6 in total).^[18][19][20]

References[]