Kaunda Selisho

By Kaunda Selisho

Journalist


The artist formerly known as B*: Bonang becomes mononymous

Much like Prince, Madonna, Cher and Diddy, New York resident Bonang Matheba has introduced a new change to her brand.


There are a few figures in history who have gone by just one name and South African media personality Bonang Matheba looks set to join those ranks.

Much like Prince, Madonna, Cher and Diddy, Bonang – who has temporarily moved to the United States to lay the groundwork for the next chapter of her career – has made another new change. 

She announced the change on Monday amid the chaos of the Facebook outage by thanking Twitter for assisting her in changing her Twitter handle from @bonang_m to just @Bonang. While her Instagram handle currently remains @bonang_m, that is subject to change given how focused Bonang is about her branding.

That focus would also explain her shift from being referred to by her name and surname to just a mononym – a person’s name consisting of one word.

Bonang shuts down return to South African radio

Over the last few weeks, fan haves been pushing for a “Fired FM” radio station featuring the talent that has, over the years, been let go from various radio jobs for being too controversial. This includes the likes of DJ Fresh, Robert Marawa, Tbo Touch, DJ Sbu, Phat Joe and Gareth Cliff. 

A fan even designed an image of what the line-up of the station would look like and Tbo Touch shared the image. 

“If only @bonang_m was around,” tweeted user @_lekoh, to which Matheba simple replied: “No.” 

Among the many things she is in New York to do is a podcast on Charlamagne tha God’s Black Effect Podcast Network, in partnership with America’s iHeartMedia.

The project was announced some time late last year via a post on the radio host’s Instagram channel. 

“The vision for Trhe Black Effect is to amplify, elevate and empower emerging and established talent. Our goal is to shift the narrative from black creators signing transactional deals, to instead forming legacy partnerships that build generational wealth while allowing each creative to have an equitable stake in their future,” wrote Charlamagne.

She is set to feature on the platform alongside acts such as Flame Monroe, Dwight Howard, Jess Hilarious, Michelle Williams and Zuri Hall, to name a few.

Some of the podcasts on the network have already launched so fans will just have to wait and see when Bonang’s podcast is launched and what content she will be covering. 

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Bonang Matheba Twitter

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