Renaldo ‘super psyched’ about his award nominations

Pretoria-based Secunda-born singer Renaldo is “super psyched” for his three nominations at this year’s South African Independent Artist Music awards (Afri-Indie awards).

He received nominations for Best Pop single, Best Newcomer and Best Overall single.

Nominations for the awards that are taking place in April, were released in January.

Renaldo told Rekord that these award nominations are his first for his singing career, which at times seemed to have everything working against him.

Renaldo released his debut single, “Hoe Hoog”, at the beginning of 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic struck. While he moved back to Secunda to be close to his family, he was forced to put his music career on the back burner like many in the entertainment industry.

Despite the setback, his song did well and paired with his humorous music video for the song, Renaldo put his name on the Pretoria artist list.

Renaldo said that he felt “blessed to be nominated for an award at all”.

He is humble because Renaldo is no stranger to success and performing for a crowd.

In 2013, Renaldo was named Mr Junior South Africa, before travelling to Turkey in 2014 to compete in Mr Junior Teen World.

He was also successful on the sports field, playing for the Blue Bulls u.16 and u.18 rugby teams, even travelling to America during his first year of BCom business studies at the University of Pretoria to play sevens rugby.

These opportunities prepared him for his dreams today.

“It gave me a lot of guts, a lot of self-confidence,” he said.

“I love doing this type of stuff – I tried dancing, although I have two left feet that are made only for a bit of sokkie, so that’s at least some bonus points.

“It’s just fun being involved in so many things because at the end of the day, I can decide what works better for me.”

While he always kept his plate full, singing was his dream from day one. “Singing is fun because you can talk on stage between songs, let the people see the real you and who you are. I’m a people person, so I like performing in front of people and interacting with the crowd.”

Renaldo’s music covers themes such as love and dedication. When asked what inspired him to sing about these themes, he said: “I have always been a family guy, I love my family very much. My whole life, my mum and dad really inspired me – the way they showed me how much they love me and how much they cared for me.”

Renaldo isn’t the first in his family with a passion for performing. His late grandfather was a hit at local gatherings as he and his friends entertained anyone that would listen, performing various shows at bars and pubs with their “boere” music.

Currently, Renaldo is working on building a band that he can perform with. He is fully able to carry a show with just a kick drum, a guitar and his voice, but he said that a band would make it just that much more impactful.

“At the end of the day, I just want to give my audience what they want.”

He is looking to build up his platform ahead of the Afri-Indies, with his latest single being released at the end of March. He will follow this shortly with the music video for the track.

“Then after that, I want to work at releasing something more substantial, whether a full album or a couple of singles over a few months.

“I am very proud of the last song I released, ‘Ek is Dalk Mal’. It was streamed the most, which is so awesome to see.

“My last two felt very meaningful. ‘Perfekte Jy’ has a lot of meaning to me because it is the first song that I wrote from beginning to end. It’s upbeat, and I think it is just perfect. It’s like meeting the perfect person and not being able to get enough of them.”

Renaldo’s music is available on all streaming platforms, and he regularly performs, whether live or on his social media where he often posts his performances right from his bedroom.

Watch his latest music video here:

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