Mhlobo Wami

This is Teargas. A South African kwaito group that raps and sings in Zulu, English and Sotho comprised of two brothers and a friend (plus background musicians?). The main members consist of Ntokozo “K.O.” Mdluli from Piet Retief in Mpumalanga, and two brothers Ezee “Ma-E” Hanabe and Bantu “Ntukza” Hanabe from Soweto, Johannesburg. Teargas was signed to Electromode Music in 2005, and subsequently released their debut album, K’shubile K’bovu. They fell off my radar, being in the Diaspora its easy for one to be out of the kwaito loop, so I've only just discovered this song. (I thought it kind of weird to discover a band called Teargas at a time when Egyptian and Tunisian forces are using gas to crush civilian uprisings (upcoming blog post).) ...Anyway, Teargas are an established band in SA, having been nominated for a SAMA Award (SA Music Awards) for the 2007 album 'Wafa Wafa' (Due or Die). They've since released another two albums, their latest being Teargas 101 that dropped in December 2010. They seem to be doing big things at the moment and may it stay that way. Sky's the limit.


About this song, Mhlobo Wami is Zulu for My Close Friend / Relation - in other words his wife who cheated on the video's actor/singer with his good friend called James. The song basically relays how he got played out, and expresses his pain and disappointment. I'm sure the video is quite clear on what the song is about for those not conversant in Zulu. Lovin' the Mzansi style Dougie dance towards the end!