# Sho Madjozi
**Sho Madjozi** (born Maya Christinah Xichavo Wegerif, 1992) is a South African rapper, singer and poet from Limpopo who raps in Xitsonga, English and Swahili over gqom (South African electronic dance music genre from Durban townships), Afro-pop and hip hop production, and who broke through internationally with the 2019 hit "John Cena"[1](https://musicinafrica.net/directory/sho-madjozi/) • [2](https://iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/2022-08-30-she-ro-sho-madjozi-the-musical-cultural-and-fashion-phenomenon/). She is one of very few young South African artists working in Xitsonga, a language spoken as a first language by about 4.5% of the country's population[3](https://theconversation.com/sho-madjozi-the-pop-star-using-traditional-culture-to-shape-a-fresh-identity-for-young-south-africans-213599).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Birth name and date | Maya Christinah Xichavo Wegerif, born 1992 in Shirley Village, Elim, Limpopo[2](https://iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/2022-08-30-she-ro-sho-madjozi-the-musical-cultural-and-fashion-phenomenon/) |
| Parents | Swedish father Marc Wegerif, an academic with a PhD in food security; Tsonga mother Rosemary Phaweni[4](https://www.news24.com/drum/celebs/sho-madjozi-on-what-inspires-her-being-black-in-sa-and-her-come-up-20191216) • [3](https://theconversation.com/sho-madjozi-the-pop-star-using-traditional-culture-to-shape-a-fresh-identity-for-young-south-africans-213599) |
| Breakthrough | "John Cena" performed on COLORS in 2019; over 3 million YouTube views in a month, later 27 million on the COLORS channel[5](https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/sho-madjozi-john-cena-ellen-interview-8532922/) • [6](https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/magazines/sho-madjozi-s-expansive-journey-beyond-music-4436282) |
| Albums | *Limpopo Champions League* (2018, independent); mixtape *What A Life* (2020)[5](https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/sho-madjozi-john-cena-ellen-interview-8532922/) • [1](https://musicinafrica.net/directory/sho-madjozi/) |
| Awards | Two SAMAs in 2019, BET Award for a best-new-international-artist category in 2019, two more SAMAs in 2021, 2020 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Favourite African Star[1](https://musicinafrica.net/directory/sho-madjozi/) • [6](https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/magazines/sho-madjozi-s-expansive-journey-beyond-music-4436282) |
| Label deal | Signed with Epic Records, the first African artist on the label's American roster[1](https://musicinafrica.net/directory/sho-madjozi/) |
| Streaming | About 130,222 monthly listeners on Spotify at retrieval[7](https://open.spotify.com/artist/08V2vgJBY6VLoUPWlznRKo) |
## Early life and background
Sho Madjozi was born Maya Christinah Xichavo Wegerif in 1992 in Shirley Village, Elim, in Limpopo province[2](https://iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/2022-08-30-she-ro-sho-madjozi-the-musical-cultural-and-fashion-phenomenon/). Her parents named her after the American writer [Maya Angelou](https://www.edgepedia.org/maya-angelou)[8](https://www.vogue.com/vogueworld/article/sho-madjozi-rapper-global-100-style-profile-tsonga-south-africa-gqom). Her father is the Swede Marc Wegerif, an academic with a PhD in food security; her mother is Rosemary Phaweni, from the Tsonga community[4](https://www.news24.com/drum/celebs/sho-madjozi-on-what-inspires-her-being-black-in-sa-and-her-come-up-20191216) • [9](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/17730017). Her parents separated when she was four, and she was raised mainly by her mother, a municipal worker, in Elim[4](https://www.news24.com/drum/celebs/sho-madjozi-on-what-inspires-her-being-black-in-sa-and-her-come-up-20191216).
**East African years.** She followed her father to Tanzania, where he worked for Oxfam, and the two also spent time in Senegal[10](https://mg.co.za/friday/2018-11-16-sho-madjozi-s-musical-lineage-is-larger-than-large/). She spent most of her high school years in Tanzania, attending the International School of Tanganyika, and learnt Swahili there[9](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/17730017) • [2](https://iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/2022-08-30-she-ro-sho-madjozi-the-musical-cultural-and-fashion-phenomenon/). She is fluent in isiZulu, Tsonga, Sepedi and English, and also speaks French and Swahili[4](https://www.news24.com/drum/celebs/sho-madjozi-on-what-inspires-her-being-black-in-sa-and-her-come-up-20191216). She was a young child when apartheid was dismantled in 1994, placing her in South Africa's post-apartheid generation[8](https://www.vogue.com/vogueworld/article/sho-madjozi-rapper-global-100-style-profile-tsonga-south-africa-gqom).
## Poetry and early career
She began performing as Maya the Poet. By age ten she was writing plays, short stories and poetry, and after high school she took a scholarship to [Mount Holyoke College](https://www.edgepedia.org/mount-holyoke-college) in Massachusetts, where she studied creative writing and African studies for four years[10](https://mg.co.za/friday/2018-11-16-sho-madjozi-s-musical-lineage-is-larger-than-large/) • [11](https://www.papermag.com/sho-madjozi-gqom) • [4](https://www.news24.com/drum/celebs/sho-madjozi-on-what-inspires-her-being-black-in-sa-and-her-come-up-20191216).
She turned to songwriting for money. "I was broke. I wrote articles for a long time. Then I thought, 'Lyrics, I can write lyrics'", she told *Drum* about starting out as a ghostwriter in 2016[4](https://www.news24.com/drum/celebs/sho-madjozi-on-what-inspires-her-being-black-in-sa-and-her-come-up-20191216). Her rise to fame began with collaborations with the rapper Okmalumkoolkat on the tracks "Ngiyashisa Bhe" and "Gqi"[4](https://www.news24.com/drum/celebs/sho-madjozi-on-what-inspires-her-being-black-in-sa-and-her-come-up-20191216) • [2](https://iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/2022-08-30-she-ro-sho-madjozi-the-musical-cultural-and-fashion-phenomenon/).
## Music career
Her debut single was "Dumi HiPhone" featuring PS DJz, dated 2017 by IOL[2](https://iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/2022-08-30-she-ro-sho-madjozi-the-musical-cultural-and-fashion-phenomenon/) and 2018 by Music In Africa[1](https://musicinafrica.net/directory/sho-madjozi/). She appeared on [DJ Maphorisa](https://www.edgepedia.org/dj-maphorisa)'s *Gqom Wave* in 2017, and released "Huku" in March 2018; the gqom track trended in South Africa and reached 2 million views[2](https://iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/2022-08-30-she-ro-sho-madjozi-the-musical-cultural-and-fashion-phenomenon/).
**Limpopo Champions League and What A Life.** She independently released her debut album *Limpopo Champions League* in 2018, mixing pop and gqom[5](https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/sho-madjozi-john-cena-ellen-interview-8532922/) • [1](https://musicinafrica.net/directory/sho-madjozi/). Her mixtape *What A Life* followed in 2020[1](https://musicinafrica.net/directory/sho-madjozi/). Apple Music lists among her top songs "John Cena (A COLORS Show)" (2019), the 2021 single "Stepping Good", and her feature with Mayorkun on "I Got a Friend" from Davido's 2020 album *A Better Time*[12](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sho-madjozi/1188607542).
**The "John Cena" moment.** In August 2019 [Missy Elliott](https://www.edgepedia.org/missy-elliott) retweeted her video to her 6.7 million followers[5](https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/sho-madjozi-john-cena-ellen-interview-8532922/). After she performed the song, rapped mostly in Swahili, on the COLORS platform, it scored over 3 million YouTube views within a month, and she released it independently in September 2019 with distribution from Africori[5](https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/sho-madjozi-john-cena-ellen-interview-8532922/). Cena walked out to the song at a match and danced to it on *The Ellen DeGeneres Show* in September[5](https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/sho-madjozi-john-cena-ellen-interview-8532922/). The COLORS performance drew attention from Missy Elliott and [Kelly Clarkson](https://www.edgepedia.org/kelly-clarkson) as well as Cena[1](https://musicinafrica.net/directory/sho-madjozi/).
She later signed with [Epic Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/epic-records), becoming the first African artist on the label's American roster, with a new album planned for global release in 2022[1](https://musicinafrica.net/directory/sho-madjozi/).
## Musical style, language and cultural significance
Her signature is a triple fusion: languages (Xitsonga, English and Swahili), genres (gqom, Afro-pop and hip hop), and fashion (the traditional xibelani skirt worn with Air Force Ones), which Music In Africa describes as paying homage to her Tsonga heritage[1](https://musicinafrica.net/directory/sho-madjozi/). On "Huku" she raps primarily in Swahili over a traditional gqom beat, a language she picked up living in Tanzania as a child, while many other songs carry Tsonga verses[11](https://www.papermag.com/sho-madjozi-gqom). Vogue noted that the single's female-empowerment refrain upends gqom's associations with drug culture in Durban's townships[8](https://www.vogue.com/vogueworld/article/sho-madjozi-rapper-global-100-style-profile-tsonga-south-africa-gqom).
**Minority-language reach** gives this style its weight. Xitsonga is the first language of only about 4.5% of South Africa's population, concentrated in Limpopo, with Tsonga communities also in [Mozambique](https://www.edgepedia.org/mozambique), Zimbabwe and [Eswatini](https://www.edgepedia.org/eswatini-epfgs2bqra)[3](https://theconversation.com/sho-madjozi-the-pop-star-using-traditional-culture-to-shape-a-fresh-identity-for-young-south-africans-213599). She has said she believes she is the first pop star to take Xitsonga-language music to national prominence[10](https://mg.co.za/friday/2018-11-16-sho-madjozi-s-musical-lineage-is-larger-than-large/). A 2023 peer-reviewed article in *African Identities* analyzes her stage act as an Afropolitan hybrid of music, costume and dance, and presents her Tsonga-language rap as an illustration of the role urban African youth can play in cultural preservation at the crossroads of old and new[13](https://doi.org/10.1080/21681392.2023.2227293).
## Awards and recognition
In June 2019 she won two awards at the 25th South African Music Awards: IOL reports them as Newcomer of the Year and Best Female Album[2](https://iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/2022-08-30-she-ro-sho-madjozi-the-musical-cultural-and-fashion-phenomenon/), while Music In Africa describes the same two wins as Best Female and Best Newcomer[1](https://musicinafrica.net/directory/sho-madjozi/). At the 2019 [BET Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/bet-awards) she won an international-newcomer category, reported variously as Viewers' Choice Best International Act[5](https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/sho-madjozi-john-cena-ellen-interview-8532922/) and Best New International Artist[1](https://musicinafrica.net/directory/sho-madjozi/). In her acceptance speech she said one can come from any village and still be a superstar[4](https://www.news24.com/drum/celebs/sho-madjozi-on-what-inspires-her-being-black-in-sa-and-her-come-up-20191216).
*What A Life* earned her two more SAMAs in 2021, for Best Female Artist and Best Traditional Artist[1](https://musicinafrica.net/directory/sho-madjozi/). She also won AFRIMMA Best Female for Southern Africa in Dallas and the 2020 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Favourite African Star[6](https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/magazines/sho-madjozi-s-expansive-journey-beyond-music-4436282). Forbes Africa named her one of its 30 under-30s in 2019[2](https://iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/2022-08-30-she-ro-sho-madjozi-the-musical-cultural-and-fashion-phenomenon/).
## By the numbers
The reach of the COLORS performance grew by orders of magnitude: from 2 million views when the song trended in South Africa in August 2019[2](https://iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/2022-08-30-she-ro-sho-madjozi-the-musical-cultural-and-fashion-phenomenon/), to over 3 million within a month of the COLORS airing[5](https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/sho-madjozi-john-cena-ellen-interview-8532922/), to just under 25 million cumulative per Music In Africa[1](https://musicinafrica.net/directory/sho-madjozi/) and 27 million on the COLORS YouTube account per The Citizen[6](https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/magazines/sho-madjozi-s-expansive-journey-beyond-music-4436282). Her Spotify audience at retrieval stood at about 130,222 monthly listeners[7](https://open.spotify.com/artist/08V2vgJBY6VLoUPWlznRKo).
## Other ventures and advocacy
In December 2022 she made her authorial debut with the children's book *Showma and the Stars*, a tribute to her late sister Makhanani "Nyeleti" Maganye, who died in a car accident in 2019; she planned a Swahili version for East African readers[6](https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/magazines/sho-madjozi-s-expansive-journey-beyond-music-4436282). Her official Spotify profile calls her a best-selling children's author and notes that her outfit from the Global Citizen Festival was featured in the Africa Fashion exhibition at the [Brooklyn Museum](https://www.edgepedia.org/brooklyn-museum)[7](https://open.spotify.com/artist/08V2vgJBY6VLoUPWlznRKo). She has also stated plans to launch a hairstyle brand, write more books and produce films[6](https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/magazines/sho-madjozi-s-expansive-journey-beyond-music-4436282).
## Recent activity
Her official Spotify profile lists the singles "Ndi Rine" and "Kadigong" without dates, alongside collaborations with artists across the globe[7](https://open.spotify.com/artist/08V2vgJBY6VLoUPWlznRKo).
## References
1. [Sho Madjozi, Music In Africa](https://musicinafrica.net/directory/sho-madjozi/)
2. [SHE-RO: Sho Madjozi, IOL/Saturday Star](https://iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/2022-08-30-she-ro-sho-madjozi-the-musical-cultural-and-fashion-phenomenon/)
3. [Sho Madjozi: the pop star using traditional culture to shape a fresh identity for young South Africans, The Conversation](https://theconversation.com/sho-madjozi-the-pop-star-using-traditional-culture-to-shape-a-fresh-identity-for-young-south-africans-213599)
4. [Sho Madjozi on what inspires her, being black in SA and her come up, News24/Drum](https://www.news24.com/drum/celebs/sho-madjozi-on-what-inspires-her-being-black-in-sa-and-her-come-up-20191216)
5. [Sho Madjozi on 'John Cena': How She Landed a Crossover Hit, Billboard](https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/sho-madjozi-john-cena-ellen-interview-8532922/)
6. [Sho Madjozi's expansive journey beyond music, The Citizen (Tanzania)](https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/magazines/sho-madjozi-s-expansive-journey-beyond-music-4436282)
7. [Sho Madjozi, Spotify artist profile](https://open.spotify.com/artist/08V2vgJBY6VLoUPWlznRKo)
8. [Tsonga Rapper Sho Madjozi Is the Radical New Poster Child for Pan-African Pride, Vogue](https://www.vogue.com/vogueworld/article/sho-madjozi-rapper-global-100-style-profile-tsonga-south-africa-gqom)
9. [How South African singer Sho Madjozi learnt Swahili, TRT Afrika](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/17730017)
10. [Sho Madjozi's musical lineage is larger than large, Mail & Guardian](https://mg.co.za/friday/2018-11-16-sho-madjozi-s-musical-lineage-is-larger-than-large/)
11. [Meet Sho Madjozi, the Gqom Pop Star Making Pan-African Music, PAPER Magazine](https://www.papermag.com/sho-madjozi-gqom)
12. [Sho Madjozi, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sho-madjozi/1188607542)
13. [Hybrid 'Authenticities' in youth popular culture: performing costume and identity in the work of South Africa's Sho Madjozi, African Identities (2023)](https://doi.org/10.1080/21681392.2023.2227293)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Music scenes › Transnational genre scenes › Hip hop scenes worldwide › Artists, groups, and people: Hip hop scenes worldwide › African rap*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license