Black Motion is hosting Friends of Black Motion at the Lion & Safari Park at the Cradle of Humankind in the North West.
Dance duo Black Motion has been nominated four times at this year’s upcoming South African Music Awards (Samas), and two categories stand out for them.
“Best Engineered [Album] is the one,” Kabelo ‘Problem Child’ Koma tells The Citizen. “And probably Best Produced [Album],” says Thabo Mabogwane, who is better known as Smol.
Black Motion is also nominated in the Best Dance Album and Best Collaboration categories at the 31st Samas. Their nominations are for their last album, The Cradle of Art.
“It’s all about the quality of the work we put in and not the fame of the song of the fame of the project, but like we work on the quality and years later when you listen to the quality, you’re gonna be wondering how it happened for us to reach such quality…that’s how hard we work for the sound to sound crisp,” says Mabogwane.
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Adjusting to the change
Koma joined Black Motion in 2022 following Bongani ‘Murdah Bongz’ Mohosana’s decision to leave the group and pursue a solo career.
Koma says the Sama nominations are overwhelming after having joined the group just a few years ago.
“For me, this is the greatest achievement, and the warmth both from the crew and the streets is just overwhelming,” he says.
“You know, coming from a lifetime of starvation from the audience and getting to a space where you can be able to express yourself every weekend, every day, is really a blessing.”
Murdah Bongz’s departure from the group wasn’t easy for founding member Mabogwane, even though the pair had been considering it.
“At some point, you understand that one half needs to do something that would make their heart full. It was a difficult time, it was expected but not that soon, cause like, it was something that was in the talks of him exploring DJing solo, which there wasn’t a problem, just the way it happened,” Mabogwane says.
“As years go, you get to understand that there’s something that people see different and there are different visions.”
Mabogwane says he was fortunate that Koma is someone who shared the same vision as him.
“2025 we’re here, four nominations, it means we’re on the right path, and we’re doing a good job…and we’re still gonna be a movement for years.”
Mabogwane says he wasn’t nervous about whether their audience would gravitate towards Koma; instead, his anxiety was about whether he could match Koma’s level.
“I was feeling like, ‘Am I gonna match his calibre?’…’Am I gonna match Problem Child’s level of that genius of music?’, cause hey man, we’ve been fans of Problem Child, everybody in the hood has been a fan of Problem Child,” shares Mabogwane.
“It was a match made in heaven; it’s the ancestors that made it happen.”
Friends of Black Motion
This weekend, the duo is hosting their event, Friends of Black Motion, at the Lion & Safari Park within the Cradle of Humankind in the North West province.
“There’s always these shows in dark places, in a club at night, and a lot of people cannot reach or interact with the performers. We were like, ‘let’s just have a picnic vibe out in the middle of nowhere’ and just set up in the jungle by the Lion & Safari Park,” says Mabogwane.
He adds that this kind of gig is ideal for some people who enjoy daytime events.
“There are some people right now that are over-travelling at night, especially with a whole lot that’s going on in SA.”
Last week, the duo released a single, Monateng, which has landed well with their fans. “Yoh! the buzz is awesome,” exclaims Koma.
“I have phone calls coming in, even now, during our interview… I know it’s about Monateng. We just caught everybody by surprise, you know, because everybody is gunning for something, and where they are going [sound-wise] is a day and night difference with what we opted to go for,” Koma says.
“No one is out there doing Mexican and Spanish sounds. We tend to break new ground, slowly but surely, the small wins get to create new genres”
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