Samkelo Kati is a talented Maskandi musician whose future looks brighter than the stars.
The 32-year-old, who is known, as Magnet has released his latest album titled Impilo Yomnt’ Omnyama under a new name iKumkani Yomaskandi.
The softly spoken artist says he took the bold decision to release two projects a year under the names Magnet and iKumkani Yomaskandi.
Young and old from Samora Machel and surrounding communities braved the chilly weather last Saturday to attend the official launch of the album.
Kati says his latest offering was unique and that on this project he had mostly written about love – and predominantly in Xhosa.
He says on this album he wanted to re-introduce another side of himself to the music industry.
Asked about the idea of having two projects a year, he says he realised that Cape Town-based artists took a long time to release their albums so he decided to challenge himself to release two a year.
He adds that the massive support he received from his first album as Magnet had prompted him to get on with his latest project.
However, he says his musical journey had not been an easy one as he had encountered a number of challenges which he overcame only because his love for music had given him the strength to do so. “I want to become one of the greatest Maskandi artist but I cant do that alone,” he tells Vukani.
“I need the support of everyone. I want to preach spirit of unity in my music and love. In this album, I have extensively kept the Xhosa Rhythm.
“I want Maskandi artists to be respected. But my plea is to get bookings because for some of us this our only source of income,” he says.
Reflecting on his experience in the industry, he says in 2011 he attempted to release his first album but things did not work out as he planned and he was forced to put his ambitions of releasing the album on ice.
This, he says, nearly destroyed him, but he opted to use the challenges he encountered as a learning curve and continued to hone his skills.
He says he knew that the right time for him to release an album would come and three years ago he released his first album.