Hlengiwe Mhlaba was born in the KwaMAshu in KwaZulu-Natal, She discovered her singing talent when she gave her life to Christ at a very young age, she became a house hold name among the crusade goers especially in KZN and Swaziland, as years went by her fan base grew tremendously , she only started singing professionally seven years ago after an encounter with Sipho Makhabane of Big Fish Music known then as Amanxusa Music Production.
Her debut album Dwala lami was released in 2005, she shocked many by not following in the footsteps of any existing gospel musicians of that time, she came out very unique in sound, voice and presentation, this introduced Hlengiwe Mhlaba to the rest of the country as the first Gospel Jazz artist., she received an overwhelming support from people as the industry was becoming dull with no creativity shown by many gospel artists as a result they all sounded the same.
Jesu uyalalela was released in 2006 and this album revealed another different side of Hlengiwe,,she came out powerfully than in the first album, The performances were more stronger and showcased more of her talent and anointing in every rendition of every track, this was a hope album, she emphasised prayer as the answer to any problem faced by mankind , she captivated her audience with performance full of praise and worship.
She returned to the scene in 2007 with a new release titled Blessings (izibusiso), it also never disappointed her fans who already expected fireworks with every release from this gospel diva, The album carried the secret of how the gospel should sound, she packaged all in one the worship ,the dance and the praise, which set this release apart from all the gospel albums that was released in 2007. Live @ Durban PlayHouse(2008) the live DVD which received much love and support from South Africans was filmed together with its live CD, she collaborated with the legendary Sipho Big Fish Makhabane, Pastor Mthunzi Namba of Joyous Celebration fame, together they sang “ I will serve no foreign god” in the middle of the song Ps. Mthunzi Namba delivered a soul touching sermon quoting scriptures from the bible, and the other legend featured was the late king of gospel Vuyo Mokoena.
This is the masterpiece of all time, a job well done; It took two nights of hard work to put this beautiful pair of an international standard together.
Hlala Kuye is her fifth album, released in 2009, her song arranging skill saw her through this one, she was very hands on in the producing side of this album, it boast with tracks like ,What a friend we have in Jesus, Believe, Uhambe nami and Be still, the song in which the worshipper in her came alive, she really gave the song her best.
To this day Hlengiwe has recorded Four live DVD’s (Hlengiwe Mhlaba Live in Concert, Hlengiwe Mhlaba live at the Durban City Hall, Hlengiwe Mhlaba live at the Playhouse and Hlengiw Mhlaba Live at the Pretoria State Theatre) which are counted among her major achievements, and she has collaborated with many other Gospel artists including Sipho Makhabane, Vuyo Mokoena,Ntokozo Mbambo and Joyous Celebration. She has recently released her 8th album “Esandleni Somusa” which came out on the 4th of November 2013. This is her second offering as an independent artist after “Abba Baba” that was released in 2012 November 2 . Her followers once again must wait for fire works as in all her work.Achievements Judging from the sales of all her offerings Hlengiwe Mhlaba has sold almost million copies of gospel albums, this makes her the undisputed queen of gospel, this speaks love and support from South Africans and beyond.
Gear List
AKG C7 Condenser Vocal Mic
AKG C414XL2 Studio Recording Mic
AKG K92 Headphones
Alesis Nanoverb2
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