Simeon Freedom Hlungwani, also known as Simfree by fans, is an award-winning artist from KaGuwela outside Giyani. Some of his songs include Ngholovhani, A ku tlekeki, I ya mani, Mutsong and Mina na wena. “I believe music is something I was born with. I used to entertain people at school, banging my desk in class to rap. When I got my first laptop in 2013 in my first year of studying biotechnology at Vaal University of Technology (VUT), I installed programmes to create music, and my career was born.”

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He released his first single in 2017 and has since worked with various artists. “Working with Emtee on my own song was great.” He has also worked with Lolli native, PH RawX, Lowsheen, Rizzlah, GY Gee, Mapele, Mizo phyll, Ladyshiks, and more. “I have learned a lot from the artists I’ve worked with, and it has pushed me to the next level.”

He says because he raps in his mother tongue, it is difficult to penetrate the mainstream music industry. “The quality of the music and videos is on par, yet the language barrier is blocking me,” he said. He twice won the best hip-hop award at Munghana Lonene FM and also won the best music video award at the Limpopo Music Awards. “I see myself in the mainstream industry and have been close with Ladyshiks. Last year we collaborated and Cina’ was born. We plan to collaborate on more songs.”