Anele Mbisha, known to his fans as Saudi, was born and bred in one of Soweto’s townships, Senaone. Growing up in a family that loved music and had a large collection of records. The likes of Brenda Fassie, Michael Jackson and Nina Simone inspired him to pursue music as a career. The Twenty-one year old recorded his first song on an electronic keyboard at the age of 13. 2016 saw Saudi propelling to greater heights when he featured in the hit single “Ameni” by Miss Pru, which features Emtee, Fifi Cooper, B3nchmark, A-reece Sjava, and Saudi. As a producer and songwriter, Saudi talents played a role on A-reece it single “I couldn’t” and DJ Citi Lyts hit “Washa” featuring the ambitiouz family of artist. Following his first feature, Saudi’s debut single under Ambitiouz Entertainment “There she go” was released on the 15th of April as a free download.
One of Saudi’s major roles was his part in Kendrick Lamar’s song “X” from his most recent Black Panther album. Here, Saudi had the responsibility of the first verse of the song after Kendrick. In this verse, references to local language and culture are intrinsically laced through it. Saudi goes, “Fuck-up indawo / come tear this shit down / I see double cups (yonke indawo) / O’volovolo (yonke indawo) / Got Benjamin Franklin phezulu koMadiba (No-homo) / So tough on the jungle / I keep the piece on me, I leave you puzzled / Ngiphethe ucherry we ngamla, black card on her / Money longer than hair on her / In her mouth like cavity / And I’m higher than her dads salary / Saudi, are you on ten yet? / Phuza i-Lean, smokin’, you know poppin’ Xanax / Ngiphaphazeke ngathi i-10 nil / You’re soul-searchin’ if you’re lookin’ for me / Somebody ngiph’ indwangu netissue, I’m drippin’ / Somebody’s daughter finna swallow all these children / Imali in my Achilles’ heel, yeah / I race you to a hundred million.” The entire verse is full of cultural connections with language. He uses Zulu to communicate activities common to black culture of the african diaspora. For example, drinking lean and having guns are one of the first translations of the verse. Saudi clearly emphasizes that he is more than capable of skillfully combining Zulu slang with American language to create a jam that’s down to earth but transcends a message to a larger crowd of listeners.
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