Blog: We have a Superstar on our hands!

This past Friday I went out to my home at the State Theatre for a presentation of Mandisi Dyantyis’ latest body of work, Intlambululo: Ukuhlambulula.

It felt full circle in more ways than one for me, having attended his first-ever concert at this very venue in Tshwane (as people from outside of Pretoria so charmingly call it) back in 2021. At the time, he was still playing the music of his debut album, Somandla, and many of us were pretty much strangers to a Mandisi Dyantyis live performance.

Fastforward to 2025 and at face value not much has changed since then. The show was sold out then, and it was sold out now. The band setup felt familiar. The reception and interaction with the audience mirrored what I remembered it being. Even aspects of the performance carried the same spirit. If anything, the most obvious contrast lay in the ticket pricing, yeyi! talk about yesterday’s price not being today’s price (rightfully so).

But beyond all of that, the real difference lay in the aura of it all. It is undeniable that Zizi is now a superstar.

He sang the first few lines of his opening song to a wild roar of the audience, and the man wasn’t even on stage yet. When he eventually glided onto stage, he looked like a modern-day Michael Jackson, in his striking silk shirt, cotton pants, and loafers with exposed white socks; but it was his endearing confidence that truly landed. Not forgetting his outstanding trumpet playing which often goes under the radar because of the “mainstream” association of his music, but make no mistake, Zizi is easily one of the best players in the country; if not in the continent. His skill hasn’t diminished over the years – if anything, it has sharpened quietly in the background. As a seasoned professional, he knows that it the devil is in the detail and leaves nothing to chance.

Zizi is a superstar, and he knows it. But that stardom hasn’t arrived by accident. Zizi is a superstar now because he has invested deeply in his craft over the years. His music feels close to home whether you’re hearing it for the first time or returning to it years later. His repetitive lyrical style makes it easy to catch on, easy to sing along, easy to feel.

The people he plays with have remained consistent. The shows have remained communal and interactive, never distant. The arrangements feel almost hymnal – a sound many of us relate to, having grown up around hymns, and especially given how universal those melodies and tunes are. Across all three albums, the patterns remain intact: the love songs, the odes to loved ones, the wind instrument solos, even the gentle, pleasing introductions where he greets the audience and converses with them before fully settling into the body of work.

And perhaps most importantly: Zizi sounds exactly like he does on record.

Zizi is also a superstar because of us, and he is not blind to that fact. He never fails to acknowledge that we listened, that we brought others along over the years. Some of them we gave no choice in the matter and dragged them along anyway. Today, Zizi is one of the most booked artists in the country. The spaces he occupies are diversifying in real time. He plays in rooms you would never have imagined for this kind of music, and he belongs in every single one of them.

Not because of hype.
Not because of trend.
But because he really is that good.

And on Friday night, standing once again in the State Theatre, that truth felt like a brand new discovery.

Dear reader, I’m afraid we have a superstar on our hands.