BY PHUMZILE NDLOVU
MBABANE: Art meets fashion line!
This best describes Sibusiso Shongwe from Phonjwane, aka Bless LePoet, who also owns a clothing line named BLESS WEAR. On Tuesday, he released a song titled “Ningamkhaleli, featuring Wayesu Zambia.
He is also an artist and poet; his music has been aired on Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Services (EBIS) and University of Eswatini (UNESWA) radio. He has also been interviewed by different media houses, namely, Eswatini TV, ESwatini Financial Times, News On Africa, and ESwatini Positive News, including the Observer and Times, to mention a few. He was featured in USA Pepper Magazine as well.
He shared with this publication that the journey has been pretty exciting only because he enjoys composing songs or poems with a good meaning, which he then records and performs to the audience.
Can you please tell us how your poetry career started?
I became a poet in 2021. It started off as an idea when I was in secondary school, while I was in Form 3. That is when I was intrigued by the idea of delivering a long message through poetry. That’s how I started to become a person of extraordinary thinking; as the saying goes, the rest is history.” Since I ventured into poetry for the first time, I was inspired by Scooby the Poet (Sibonginkhosi Ngwenya), who made me believe in myself when it comes to writing because he also helped me. I love poetry because it entertains people, and I’m very good at what I do, which is entertaining and giving people a good show. In other ways, I’m that good, and having fun doing what I do best is thrilling.
Where have you performed?
I performed at Manzini, a place called ‘Ocean Waves’. Preforming there was absolutely amazing because the crowd was wild. The whole room was electrifying, and everyone enjoyed themselves. On top of that, I was able to share a stage with giants like Diba Diba, Eimsofly, and DJ MBO, to mention a few.
May you please describe your feelings when you recite?
Whenever I am about to perform, I am not going to lie; I get pretty nervous, but the feeling soon fades away as soon as I get to a point when I am comfortable, and seeing how the crowd grooves to the music and giving people a good show is pretty exhilarating, and I feel levitated when I do so.
What genre of music do you do?
Sometimes I do hip-hop music when I’m bored, then poetry to entertain people, which is also my passion.
Who are your favourite musicians and songs?
It’s pretty tough to say, but ones I always listen to are ‘Doc Shebheleza’ by Cassper Nyovest and ‘Cheese Over Bontjies’ by Illa Penboy.
What is your goal in the poetry industry, Bless?
The biggest goal for me is to be a successful poet, but not only in poetry but also in my side hustle. Connecting with people from different parts of the world by releasing songs with meaningful messages and having a new sound that has the concept of unity, which I know will inspire a lot of people,.
My biggest goal is to be a successful poet.
