newBreed’s hobby now best part of his life

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Ishmael newBreed Rammbwa is a producer, singer, music arranger and multi-instrumentalist who has a good ear for rhythm and sound.

The 26-year-old producer is slowly but surely establishing himself in the industry which continues to frustrate even seasoned practitioners as a result of the spread of piracy. “I am not fazed by the spread of piracy,” he states. “I remain focused and goal directed.”

newBreed set a milestone in his music career when he worked with the legendary musician Vho-April Samuel Ramufhi on his comeback album, Tshanda Tshi a Levha. Ramufhi noticed young newBreed performing at a party with a band and requested his contact details.

“He said he liked my music,” he says. The next thing, Mr Peter Maleti, who came from Muraleni with Ramufhi, brought Ramufhi to the studio and requested the studio to revive his talent.

The young producer says that working with Ramufhi was an unforgettable achievement in his life. “It was my first time working with a legendary musician,” he shares his experiences. “He corrected me a lot and he also accepted my critique on other issues relating to sound and arrangement. When I heard songs from our project playing on radios and saw the article in Limpopo Mirror, I knew that I had done some good work in the history of the traditional music.”

His music credentials include working with three children from the Tshilwavhusiku Razwimisani Special School. The group is called Special Force. “Some of the children come to me without even a small knowledge on how to write lyrics, but I am patient enough to help build up a song, word by word,” he says.

He started playing drums at church. He would move from the drums to rhythm guitar or keyboards when one of the players were not present. “That’s how I got to play all instruments,” he reveals.

He has worked with artists from different genres, such as C-Man (Lufuno Lwa Vhabebi andVuwani), Thabo Mamphaga (Vho Fanelwa), Bhamba (Trouble in Paradise), Dream Catcher (Mvulatswinga), Prisca (Khonani Vhukuma), Comingo Familie (Vhembe Rhythms), and BornWise (Lufuno Lwo Fhela).

The director at Ballitainment Media, Mr Ballican Sikhwari, couldn’t stop singing the praises of  newBreed. “I see him as everything in the studio; he can compose, produce and he’s an author,” says Sikhwari.

newBreed is busy in the studio, working on several individual projects for singers such as Jonny ‘Vho-Mahwayi’ Malungisa and C-Man.

“It all started as a hobby, but I am confident today to say that music is part of my life and my daily bread,” he concludes.

By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.