PLAYWRIGHT Cont Mhlanga last week launched an astonishing attack on Ndebele musicians, saying they had deferred to “overrated and overused South African DJs who come to Bulawayo to play CDs to our gullible and drunk youths”.

One Ndebele artist is trying to answer Mhlanga’s challenge, but thousands of miles away in England. Nkosana Mangena, aka Mangesto, has been producing beats from his home studio in Southampton and shortly hopes to release his music to the mass market.

Marital Status & Children: Married, with a son Donel

Cont Mhlanga says Ndebele music is dying, and describes Bulawayo as a “total shame” for supporting South African artists and not their own. Does he have a point?

He has a point and I partly agree with that because we as Ndebeles we don’t seem to be supporting our music. Music is an art, we needed to support our artists by buying the music.

Isn’t it part of the problem that because of the common language, Ndebele artists must be prepared to compete with what comes out of South Africa?

I strongly believe whether you are Ndebele or Zulu, if you are talented then you are talented. People tend to be prejudiced against their own, we are more ready to support foreign things. You find that people buy music just because they know a particular artist from the past, they don’t judge that music for what it is. I think we should listen to it for what it is, not where it’s from or who has done it.

How concerned should people be about the decline of Ndebele music?

They should be concerned. If we are not, then we will end up with a situation where we don’t have our own music, or heritage. We will have talented artists giving up because they don’t have the support.

You have a Degree in Maths, so how did you end up recording music?

Music has always been my passion, just like maths. I was chasing two dreams at the same time, I’m glad I’m still in on top of my dreams. I do think that music and maths go hand-in-hand, Guffy [Godfrey Philane, South African hit maker] was a maths teacher before becoming a producer.

As a new artist, do you find it difficult to get your music into the mass market?

It’s impossible. I would like to get my music out there, but there are blockades. Records companies don’t have much time for new artists unless you are introduced by someone who has already made it big ... you give them a demo and they don’t give themselves time to listen to the music.

I have tried a lot of record companies but they have gone only as far as licensing a few tracks. It’s not easy.

You have not just been doing your own music but have produced tracks for other artists. Which artists have you worked with?

I produced an album for Phitso Mabuza, and have done a track with Biblos (South African artist). I have also worked with BlackHole and produced for a couple of other guys who are not well known, including two Nigerian artists.

A music producer must be a song writer ... but I don’t consider it my strength, my strength is on the production side.

I attended Losikeyi Primary School and later Hamilton High School in Bulawayo. I was hyper, energetic and was always interested in music, bicycles and cars.

When technology started coming in, I got hooked. I liked to play around with a lot of electric gadgets and learnt how to use computers. I must say though I always played by the rules, reward for which was an appointment as a prefect I guess.

If you were to be 18 again, what would you do differently?

Driving a forklift truck when I was at university. I had no passion for it, I was working in a cold environment, driving these things around a warehouse all night long knowing that in the morning I had to go to university. Imagine that!

New School’s Ola Oops Siyay’jika. The song takes me back in time to my youth, in fact I remember listening to the song and telling my friend I would be a music producer one day.

What is the greatest song ever recorded?

Home by Brian McKnight.

Computer Music: Synthesis, Composition, and Performance by Charles Dodge and Thomas Jerse.

Hell is the home of the devil and demons, and those who do not follow Christ. They will all burn there.

My phone because it’s got all my music, and I listen to music all the time.

What’s the scariest thing you have ever done?

I went on a holiday to Spain and went on a boat. We stopped in the middle of the sea and challenged each other to a swim ... it was reckless, there could have been sharks. Not all black men can swim, but I proved to them that this one can!

If one artist was to perform at your party, who would get the call?

There are two people actually. The bishop TD Jakes and Ryan Leslie, one of the biggest music producers in America.

DJ Sbu, he was really nice. I can’t tell you what he said, but he was really encouraging.