A star in the making, Cape Town-born, multi-award-winning artist Sinesipho Peter, better known as Bravo Le Roux, is shining bright with his new album Igazi, Iinyembezi, Nombilo.
Who is Bravo Le Roux?
Bravo was born in the township of Khayelitsha and grew up in many areas of the Cape which include Kleinmond and Gansbaai. However, with the help of Rands’ Cape Town performances, his roots trace back to East London. Through dancing, painting, poetry, and singing in the choir, Bravo found his love for rapping, having entered and won a few rap battles.
He describes his sound as coming from “iSpaza, a sound that’s been famous in the streets of Cape Town, down to all Xhosa-speaking provinces in the country. I am an evolution of that.”
Speaking about how he got his stage name, Bravo shared with BONA, “I got my name Bravo from soccer. It wasn’t my initial name.” He explains that a person by the name of Brandon Poole said it to him after he scored a goal.
“I wrote it on my school bag. Since it’s a culture in the township for students to graffiti their nicknames on school bags, the streets just concluded that that was my name and started calling me that and I embraced it.”
Regarding his last name, Bravo said, “The Le Roux came from me coming from the township or being black and going to a white school. I wasn’t white or rich enough for my schoolmates, and I wasn’t township enough for the streets. So, they called me the ‘Black Le Roux.’ At first, it bothered me but I just embraced it.”
Igazi, Iinyembezi, Nombilo
Translated to blood, sweat and tears in English, Bravo released his 15-track album on 30 June which took two years to make. “During the two years, I wasn’t creating the album, but I was focused on life and doing a lot of introspection. All the risks, chaos and stillness is what created the album.”
The artist also mentions that his album is themed. “Every song needs all other songs to make sense. The body was crafted that way, hence I get offended when you shuffle it.”
The album includes artists such as Touchline, Youngsta CPT, iFani, Gemma Fassie, Digital Sangoma, Prince SA, Zusiphe Msitshe, Payseen, and most popularly, Sjava.
Bravo and Sjava received much success with their collaborative hit Umntu, reaching over 250,000 streams and more than 200,000 views on YouTube.
Regarding the other featured artists on the album, Bravo believes that the features were done by “the most high.” He says, “I didn’t decide who I was featuring on the album but the energy found me and we just connected and created.”
One-man show
On 27 October, Bravo will be hosting his one-man show titled Come Alive with Bravo Le Roux at the Old Biscuit Mill in his home city. “The one-man show is very important to shift the culture. We’ve been doing some events and I have been doing the same thing everybody does all the time, but now it’s time to shift the culture totally and bring in diversity with pure art in it.”
Regarding what fans can expect at the show, Bravo simply says, “South African art experience.”
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