South African singer Samthing Soweto spent years honing his craft before breaking through in 2019 with his second album, Isphithiphithi. • Soweto turned to music after he was arrested for armed robbery as a teenager. While awaiting trial in juvenile detention, he often sang with his fellow inmates, and when he went back to high school after his release, he became a founding member of the a cappella group The Soil. • He left The Soil soon after releasing his 2010 solo debut, This N That Without Tempo. The EP Eb’suku followed in 2014. Soweto was also part of the jazz group The Fridge, which split in 2015. • Soweto got a boost in 2017 when he was featured on the singer Sun El Musician’s hit single “Akanamali”, which won Best Collaboration and two different highest-airplay awards at the South African Music Awards in 2018. • His second album, 2019’s Isphithiphithi, topped the charts on various streaming services and drew rave reviews.