DJ Zinhle is celebrating almost two decades in the music industry and says that consistency makes her feel like an OG.
Born Ntombezinhle Jiyane, Zinhle changed her surname recently to Mohosana after she got married to musician Bongani Mohosana, popularly known as Murdah Bongz.
She told Sunday World in a wide-ranging interview recently that her reality show, DJ Zinhle: The Unexpected, has added a personal touch to her career.
“It’s a very powerful platform where I let people in on who I am personally,” she said.
“I feel like my music has done a lot in building my career, but the show just added a personal and intimate relationship with fans.
“Nineteen years makes me feel like I’m in my iconic era, I feel like an OG. It’s been almost two decades of consistency.”
She said her lifestyle has changed since she became a wife and a full-time mother to two daughters, noting that she did not think she would be able to do the things that wives and mothers normally do.
“I really have great support, Bongani is very supportive and understanding. It really helps that we have the same goals and we are in the same industry, so we push each other a lot.
“We are driven by the same things and he makes me feel like I’m a great wife.”
Zinhle added that it was much easier with one child, but said even with two, her life is amazing.
For Zinhle, balancing work and family is “easy” because of her support system.
In the third season of DJ Zinhle: The Unexpected, she cannot guarantee a “surprise”, saying they are picking up their lives after the death of Kiernan “AKA” Forbes, the father of her first child.
Forbes was shot dead outside a Durban restaurant early in February.
“There are things that we had thought would be surprises in the past seasons [of the show], but something else picked up.
“I can’t even tell you what the big surprise is this season, we are picking up our lives after the death of Kiernan and figuring it out.”
She explained that her relationship with Nadia Nakai, who was AKA’s girlfriend at the time of his death, has been great.
When the rapper was around, said Zinhle, they never really spent time together but would bump onto each other from time to time.
“We were never really intentional about the relationship, but there was never really anything that we had against each other.
“We were always so cool, but we just feel we could have been cooler than we were already,” she said.
Zinhle added that she wants to do things right by her daughter Kairo, and spend more time with her.
“I work so much. In the past I would always make time or space for her in my environment. I realised how boring that is for her, so I am trying to spend time with her in her world.
“We now do a lot of the stuff that she wants. I’ve even started skating with her, which is something she enjoys.”
The Umlilo hitmaker said social media is a new trend and they have been comfortable with having kids on socials.
However, she said, many things changed after AKA’s death, which made her question whether children should have social media accounts.
“We believe Kiernan has been trying to communicate with us, and we are gradually taking the kids off social media,” she said.
“The ideal situation for me would be to take them off completely.”
Season three of DJ Zinhle: The Unexpected will premiere on Saturday on BET Africa (DStv channel 129).
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa.
