BY PHUMZILE NDLOVU
MBABANE—Hustling just like his stage name.
Local rapper Pro Hustler, born Smanga Mavuso, is already making waves in South Africa with his talent. At 30 years old, he released an Extended Playlist (EP) and opened his own record company, Svuuu Records.
He was born in Sandleni, in Hlathikulu, in 1994. Pro Hustler started his music career in 2013. He was inspired by a United States of America (USA) rapper called Roy’ce Da 59 and Ma E from a group called Tear Gas at the time. When he started his music career in 2013, he was a member of a rap duo called S’vunguvungu. It was him (Pro Hustler) and Eyo MpZee.
When reached for comment, he said, “We dropped our first project in 2014 titled Fall In or Fall Out Mixtape. This seemed to open doors for us when it was aired on the radio. After that, we started performing regularly in and outside the country—Mozambique and South Africa, to be precise.”
He then went solo and released his first solo project, an EP, in 2018, titled The Gold Rush. “After my EP was released, I was interviewed by newspapers, and it received airplay on the radio regularly. I worked with Diba Diba, Kena, Space Cardeth, and Popzin, and it was produced by Da Coolest D.
Pro Hustler, true to his name, trekked to SA to push his music career further. He opened his own record company in 2020 called Svuuu Records, and then he started working with different upcoming artists from SA. He recently dropped his second solo project, called, Gold Rush. It’s a four-track EP that was recorded, mixed, and mastered by himself at his own record company, Svuuu Records.
When asked how the EP is doing on the market, he said, “The EP is doing great, and it is available for streaming on YouTube and AfroCharts. One of the tracks, track 2, called Pritty Girl, has topped the top 20 charts in Botswana. The EP was inspired by my hustle because I’m all about the gold. That’s why it’s called Gold Rush ll EP, and all four tracks have once been on the top 100 on the Hip-Hop Charts, in AfroChart, securing numbers 1, 2, 3, and 7 spots.”
He went on to say, “I’m encouraging all my fans and my music family to go stream it and share it. I’d like to tell all my fans that I’m still in the game and pushing more than before; it’s just that I lost almost all my accounts and access to my page that they used to know, so that’s why they can’t get hold of me. So now I’m using a new page; it’s Pro Hustler Svuuu. They must check it out on Facebook and follow.”
When asked what he is currently busy with, he said, “I’m currently pushing my latest EP and also working on my first album, and it’s going to drop this year. Its title and release date will be announced soon. All I want to tell young and upcoming artists is that they must believe in themselves.”
He added, “Just because you didn’t achieve what you wanted last year or today, it doesn’t mean you are a failure; keep trying; you’re going to make it one day. It might not be now, but later. Surely you will archive one day. One more thing, you don’t have to quit just because your friends don’t support or stream your music.”
