Shiz Moz addresses road tragedies in new song

IN March, a dark cloud befell not only South Africa but the greater Christian and African community too when 45 people who were travelling from Botswana to Moria, South Africa for an Easter conference tragically lost their lives in a bus accident.

There was only one survivor in the bus crash, an eight-year-old girl. It was the tragedy of Moria and many other catastrophic accidents that have happened on our roads, claiming many lives, which drew Shiz Moz (real name Mgcini Mkhanyeli Ndlovu) to pen a prayer, asking for road mercies from God.

Titled Hamba Nathi, Shiz Moz in his new song, which is set to be officially released on Friday, speaks to God, asking Him to guide and light the way whenever people embark on any journey by road. The singer/songwriter, however, said despite it being a prayer, the song does not fall under the gospel genre.

“The idea behind the song was inspired by the bus crash towards Easter that claimed the lives of a group of people who were travelling from Botswana to South Africa for a conference. That’s where I got the idea to make a song addressing road accidents.

“Even though the song doesn’t mainly focus on that specific accident, it speaks to the tragedies that happen on the road. The song is basically like a prayer because, from its title Hamba Nathi, the lyrics are a prayer of some sort.

“I cannot call it a gospel track, but it does have some links to gospel. It has some gospel vibes, but it’s not gospel; it’s just a prayer to God that, wherever we go, He guides and leads us on our way, especially on the road. Basically, it’s just me praying to God that He keeps us safe, wherever we go,” said Shiz Moz.

The upcoming song is set to be the lead track on an album he is working on and plans to release soon. This will be Shiz Moz’s second single this year having also dropped an Afro-pop love song titled Pununu in February. Popularly known for his digital Maskandi style, the Bulawayo based artiste — over the past months, has proven his versatility and capabilities to adapt to any environment.

In July last year, he released Umdlwenguli, a song addressing the need to tackle societal ills like rape.

As a student at the National University of Science and Technology, Shiz Moz prefers to release his projects in July when he faces less pressure from academics.

With the arts industry seemingly unfair to rising artistes like him, he would rather focus more on his schoolwork, where he seeks to build a successful career.

“My musical career isn’t that strong yet, so I don’t want to focus too much on it. All I want to do is make music and communicate with people. If things go well and I succeed in music, it will be a blessing, but my main focus is academics,” he said.

Testament to his all-round skills, Shiz Moz’s love for music has seen him produce his own work at his “Theatre of Dreams”, a garage in his house. It is a place where he has managed to create magic over the past couple of years and he affectionately calls the garage the “Magic Room”. — @brandon_malvin