Lindokuhle Simelane and Joseph Rugube from Katlehong have dedicated their time to music and putting smiles on taxi commuters and other people in the surrounding area for more than a decade.
“We’ve been singing for more than 10 years, and we sing everywhere we want to sing, especially when we see people because we sing for everyone. The taxi rank is nicer because people are going to work and some of them are stressed and feeling depressed, so we go there to uplift their mood with our music,” said Lindokuhle.
They regard the taxi rank as a convenient place to promote their music careers because commuters watch and record them and thereafter they use their smart phones to post them on various social media platforms.
They want to be seen making people happy and it also helps them to bring more exposure to the Township talent.“We just want to bring and express the love we feel inside, and the best way to do it is through music and all forms of art,” Lindokuhle says.
“We have dreams, we have wishes and we feel like the platform we have is not enough, and we can do more with financially support and it can massively assist us succeeding as musicians,” he added, they have encountered a lot of challenges and recently with the pandemic, and also one of their brothers has passed away and just like any artist they have a lot to deal with.
“We just keep it real and continue with what we do best and anything that tries to stop us we see our way through it. “Our mission is to speak for the voiceless musically, to unite people and express love in all forms, our mission is to let everybody know that God is here no matter the circumstances,” Lindokuhle said confidently.
However, not everybody is as brave as they believe and with that in line talent has gone down the drain because talented singers are scared to sing for the crowd and showcase their talent but Lindo and Joseph gave a practical advice for that.
“Don’t be afraid to sing for the people and if you are, you can just write a song that says ‘I’m afraid to sing for people but I can sing’ and make it fun. This way you’re using your fears to convert them into something positive. Fear is natural and it gives you consciousness to be aware of what’s happening and the worst thing you can do is to embrace that fear and not sing or try at all. Just take a leap of faith and go for it,” the duo advised.
They want their craft to be known worldwide and they are working on means to expose themselves to larger crowd because they believe the world needs to hear them and through their voice “we can heal heartaches and cure sadness around the world.”
“Most importantly, we would like to do more for women and children including old people, because those are the most vulnerable groups in society and they need as much love they can get from us.”
Much appreciation is expressed to taxi commuters and everybody else who ever paid attention to Lindokuhle and Joseph.
“We would love to give thanks to taxi commuters for their time and appreciation because without them we are nothing, we love them as much as we appreciate their ears for our music. We will appreciate it if they keep on supporting us further as we serving them with our souls, minds and bodies,” they expressed in appreciation.
By Thabang Rammutla
