It’s the unequivocal confidence that makes an artist stand out and wow a full room with only a simple greeting. On the warmest day of the year, South African star Lloyiso arrives at the EMPIRE offices in London, with no sign of jet lag or any travel fatigue from the 13-hour-long journey. Wide-eyed, ready to embrace the reality of his stardom, Lloyiso settles in the conference room, discussing zodiac signs and his earlier press commitments.
The road to him sitting in London, across the globe from his hometown of Kariega (formerly Uitenhage), to dissecting his debut album, Never Thought I Could (Part 1) with a stranger, has not been the easiest, smoothest journey, quite the contrary. As soon as we sit down, you can feel Lloyiso is ready to bare his heart out, ready for intrigue to fill our facial expressions.
Kariega (formerly Uitenhage) is an industrial town, 30 minutes outside of Port Elizabeth which is the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Lloyiso’s first memories of music happened right there, in his childhood house, alongside his siblings and family. “My sister used to listen to Jordin Sparks a lot, it was the song that starts with footsteps,” he starts singing and humming the famous hit ‘Once Upon a Time.’ “I remember that being the soundtrack of my life, waking up on a Saturday morning. She loved buying CDs. There was a South African group called Adilah, I used to sing that a lot, and my brother, who is a horrible singer, used to love Wastlife. So, when he used to sing Wastlife, I used to be like, damn, this guy can’t sing, but the music is amazing,” Lloyiso recalls.
As the middle child, Lloyiso proclaims himself as the chaotic, troublesome, and mischievous one, “but I used to sing, so I was doing something good,” he adds. From singing at school and at the church, it was his grandmother who quickly took on the role of a booking agent, having young Lloyiso sing at community events, weddings, and funerals. “I was singing everywhere. I used to be their trophy child. I was a gift to them, giving to the community,” he says.
But it was on one specific weekend, at a church youth gathering, when, as a ten-year-old boy, he finally understood the magical power of his voice as he sang his solo. “I remember this surge of the Holy Spirit. It takes over your whole body. I remember the church atmosphere just erupting with joy and love. I think that was the first time I saw what my voice can do. First time I experienced my voice changing the mood and the energy in the room,” Lloyiso describes with a smile on his face.
“It was addictive,” he adds, wanting to do it again and again ever since that moment. Two years later, Lloyiso’s parents gifted him a keyboard, and it was the one-chord progression in Sam Smith’s ‘Stay With Me’ that propelled Lloyiso’s songwriting journey: “I wrote my own songs, but I joined the choir at school. I was a diva. I always wanted to think my own way.” At 14, Lloyiso decided he wanted more and began to bet on his talent: “I entered SA’s Got Talent, I remember skipping school, and then my mom drove me to Cape Town,” he notes, which was eight hours away from where they used to live.
After not getting through the TV rounds with his audition of ‘Feeling Good’ by Michael Bublé, Lloyiso waited another two years before giving it another shot on Idols (South Africa). As the youngest contestant, Lloyiso reached the top five, and the top four traveled to London to be mentored by British singer Ben Harlow. Lloyiso speculates: “I didn’t make it to the next round, possibly because I was too young to travel to another country.” Still, despite the result, his determination stayed intact: “The experience was intimidating. Everyone was older than me. Everyone wanted it urgently. For me, I knew I was destined for this. So I wasn’t really sad. I knew that, whether it happened now or later, I was going to go to London and do it myself. When it’s time for me to be here and take over the world, it’s going to happen,” he tells proudly, as he looks around the room, making it to London despite all rejections and obstacles.
On top of his experience at talent competitions, Lloyiso lived through his fair share of not-so-prosperous record deals. He shares the story of how he signed his first record deal, and the worst deal of his life: “After school, I decided to take a gap year because I struggled to figure out what I wanted to do, but a part of me wanted to be a teacher.” It was during this time that he spent classes producing his own music with his big, colorful headphones on.
A few days after playing his music in class and seeing everyone wanting to hear more, a South African-based record label reached out and flew Lloyiso to Johannesburg. A four-hour flight later, he was sitting in front of a 20,000-page-long contract without a lawyer, “I’m just there as a boy who’s hungry for music,” Lloyiso recalls with a slight ache in his voice, remembering the helpless feeling of being so close to his dream, but knowing this didn’t feel right.
“They told me, it’s either you sign now, or the opportunity’s gone. In a hurry, I signed a 360 deal, the worst deal of my entire life. Four albums in four years, and I didn’t even have three songs that were actual songs that I could release,” he reveals. Lloyiso moved to Johannesburg to live with his uncle, trying to figure it out and making music that never got released. After COVID in 2020, he describes a shift when he started posting covers, and he gradually was able to sustain himself and quit his restaurant gig, receiving recognition from the likes of Kygo, Martin Garrix, Tyga, and more.
Unable to work on other people’s projects because he was bound by a contract, Universal Republic Records eventually reached out to buy him out of his first deal. “It felt like I was being pawned. It felt like I was being sold like a goat. It wasn’t my choice. I didn’t have a say in it. But I thought this deal was at least better than the previous one,” Lloyiso shares.
What seemed like a light at the end of the tunnel, starting with his first trip to LA, Lloyiso was once again at the crossroads: “I thought that this was going to be my big break. I started making my own music. I started being in these rooms with the big, huge producers. I submitted the album that I’ve done with the producers that they sent me, and after back and forth, they told me they’re dropping me.”
The album in subject is Lloyiso’s debut record, Never Thought I Could, which truly emerges from the ashes, three years later. The same album that Lloyiso’s previous label did not align with. Well, one man’s loss is another man’s treasure. In this case, it’s Lloyiso’s current label, EMPIRE, which found him as he was doing his own thing, performing at venues people thought were too big for him, on The Elephant In The Room tour.
After being dragged through it all with different record labels, EMPIRE arrived as a saving grace: “Empire said, we’re going to create a contract, which is good for both of us, and you get to make your own music. That is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Lloyiso looks back.
As the album title suggests, Lloyiso appears to be still in disbelief; he has reached a place of creative freedom: “I never thought I could be the leader of my vision. I never thought I could have so much control.” With the constant breaking down, I wondered if quitting was ever on his mind. Lloyiso swiftly replies. “I want to quit all the time. I still want to quit sometimes. I even wanted to quit before I put out this album. I was wondering why nothing was going the way I wanted it to. But then, I always find a way to come back; music always finds me. I believe I’ve got that purpose-driven mind that never wants to stop.”
The opening track, ‘Rain’ of Never Thought I Could taps exactly into the space of letting go and reinvention. To move on, there is a lot that has to be done in the realm of acceptance and forgiveness, and ‘Rain’ is Lloyiiso’s goodbye to his old self: “I quickly grew up. As I said, I went to my own auditions and did everything I wanted to do on my own. I believe that’s always been my destiny to be who I am. I wanted that independence. So it’s kind of like I let go of my childhood and myself. In that song, I basically cleanse myself of the guilt I put on myself for having to grow up and make decisions that would hurt people around me, for having to make all the sacrifices and move away,” he elaborates.
In July, Lloyiso is ready to share Never Thought I Could (Part 2), which he teases as ‘carefree’: “In Part 2, I’m fully letting go of this era of constantly fighting. Because in this album, I’m fighting for my place in the world. I’m fighting to be heard. I’m fighting to heal myself. And this healing is coming to an end, and it’s leading me to a place of peace. So Part 2 is where I just let go and let the music take me.”
Not everyone’s spirit would have stayed intact, let alone kept chasing the same dream, but Lloyiso stands tall and proud for not losing himself in the process. He says: “I’m proud of being true to myself. I’m proud that I haven’t let the world swallow me and swallow the light in my eyes. I forgive myself and I’m proud of the sacrifices that I’ve made”.
Music is and has always been at the root of it all for a young Lloyiso, singing at church youth gatherings, standing in lines vulnerable at talent competitions, and signing deal after deal, until the right people heard him. The release of Never Thought I Could, even three years later, is the extension of Lloyiso’s relentless determination and a testament to trusting the process. His voice is meant to be heard, destined to move people, as Lloyiso uses the palette of his life as the drawing board, where mistakes become lessons, heartbreak is met with forgiveness, and music is always the answer.
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Words: Karolina Kramplova