Solo Ntsizwa Ka Mthimkhulu (Zothile Langa), one of three children, was born and raised in Diepkloof, Soweto. Having written music for 15 years, he was known as a rapper and performer throughout his high school years. Solo finished high school in 2005 and went on to study Accounting at the University of Johannesburg. He did not finish his degree because he chose to persue a career in music.
The centre of his music is the art of story-telling and creating a visual picture. His first offering was in 2011, with an E.P. entitled ‘No Shades of Grey’ which received a review of 4/5 in Hype magazine. In 2012 he came out with his first single and music video entitled ‘Bad’ and later on that year went onto sign a recording deal with Grey Dreaming under Kabomo Vilakazi.
In 2013 Solo released two more singles ‘Star Dust’ and ‘The Frolic’ which feature on his debut studio album, ‘.Dreams.A.Plenty.’. In January 2014, he released the remix to ‘Star Dust’ which features Tumi from the Volume and Proverb, which also features on the album. ‘.Dreams.A.Plenty.’ was released on the 4th April 2014 and can be found in music retail stores as well as iTunes. Hype Magazine gave this album a stellar review and awarded it 4.5/5 in June 2014.
Solo also won the coverted ‘Best New Comer Award’ for 2014 at the SA Hip Hop Awards in December 2014.
In 2015, Solo released the 1st Single off his sophomore album, ‘Dreams.B.Plenty’, entitled ‘Overtime’. ‘.Dreams.B.Plenty.’ is the first album that Solo released under his own record label, ‘1988 Music (Pty) Ltd’.
Solo was also roped in by the car brand, Jeep to write and record a theme song for their 2015 release, Jeep Renegade. This campaign assisted in the car being the highest selling model for Jeep in 2015.
Solo released a joined album with label mate, Buks under the banner of BETR GANG in November 2015. The album was called ‘We Need A Title’ and was distributed on their website www.betrgang.com. Fans were given the opportunity to purchase the album at any amount they wanted.
BETR GANG won the ‘Jameson Indie Grant Challenge’ in 2016, which saw them receive a grant of R100 000 to shoot a music video for their single, ‘The Heist’. The music video was released on the 5 August 2016.
On the 16th September 2016, Solo released his sophomore album, ‘.Dreams.B.Plenty.’ under his label, ‘1988 Music’. The album features great artists like Kabomo, Ziyon, Spoek Mathambo, Lilly Million and more. This art piece also features renowned South African actors like Tumisho Masha, Fulu Mugovhani (SAFTA Award Winner for Best Lead Actress 2016), Altovise Lawrence, Richard Lukunku, Neo Ntlatleng, Tango Ncetezo and Mpume Mayiyane.
The stand out single, ‘Jubilee No Ligamo’ climbed all the way to number 11 on the Kaya FM top 40. On the 5th November 2017, Solo alongside his partner Dineo Moeketsi won the ‘Most Stylish Couple’ award at the 2017 SA Style awards. This came as no surprise after the self-proclaimed ‘Dapper Rapper’ won the ‘Best Dressed Man’ of the night the year before at the GQ Man style awards and multiple style features in their print magazine over the past 3 years. Solo’s love and passion for music has always shown through the work he puts out to his audience, on the 8th December 2017, ‘Solo and The BETR Gang’ announced the release of their second album ‘Tour Dates’. This concept album which was released on 3 January 2018, is a collaboration project, that sees Solo & The BETR Gang team up with 14 phenomenal features in SA Hip Hop.
The album is structured in the same way that a nationwide tour would be set up. Each song on the project represents a city in South Africa. All the regions are also represented by a feature from an artist, who originate from said places. This further reinforces the tour concept. Solo & The BETR Gang went on to create a never done before, 8-week residency at the AGOG Gallery in Maboneng and have not disappointed by putting on a brand-new show every week featuring special guests from the album as well as other industry heavyweights.
At the Grand Finale of their residency, Solo and The BETR Gang announced their new EP titled ‘des DATES de TOURNEE’ (Tour Dates - France Edition), which is the 3rd offering from the digital hip hop band. The 5 track EP was released digitally on Friday, 08 June 2018. The band then went on to announce their 3-city France Tour to promote the EP, they performed in Bordeaux, Nantes and Paris from the 18 June – 30 June 2018.
On the 5th October 2018, Solo and The BETR Gang released their new project, ‘Tour Dates Deluxe’ which featured 5 new tracks with 7 additional artists. The launch of their deluxe album was also the launch for their nationwide tour, which would see them performing in different regions with the artists who champion that region as headliners on the ‘Tour Dates for Tour Dates’ Tour.
In October 2018, Solo was named as number 4 in the Top 10 Best Dressed Males of 2018 by GQ Magazine.
For bookings or more information on Solo, please, get in contact with an agent at Owen S. Management on 011 483 0940 / [email protected]
