Mamphogoro wins his gospel crown

Ntsako Mabunda

LIMPOPO – Emmanuel Mamphogoro took home the Best Album Engineer Award during the eighth SABC Crown Gospel Awards recently.

Mamphogoro, who grew up in Dzanani village at Nzhelele in Thohoyandou, won the award for Pastor Lungi Ndala’s My Worship Beyond album. Ndala, who had been nominated for Best Xitsonga Gospel award at Munghana Lonene FMs 13th Xitsonga Music Awards in 2015, received three nominations for the Crown Gospel Awards and managed to walk away with the one he worked on together with Mamphogoro.

This is the second year Mamphogoro won in the same category.

“I felt I deserved to win this year as I worked on four albums nominated in various categories.

“Last year I was nominated for working on the late Mpho Regalo’s album,” said Mamphogoro, who missed the Durban awards ceremony as he was on duty as a policeman.

Growing up as the child of a priest of the Apostolic church, Mamphogoro grew up never missing church, the place he fell in love with God and music. Sibasa-based Mamphogoro has fond memories of growing up in the same village as chief Mphephu of Venda. After singing lead in the church choir, he was part of a band called The Word, singing with them until he went solo and recorded two albums.

For Mamphogoro, being creative and being part of the entire production process of an album appealed to him greatly, which led to him studying and receiving two diplomas as a qualified sound engineer.

Being musical did not kill his need to want to serve the community and have the backing of a more stable career which led him to be gainfully employed as warrant officer at the SAPS.

Mamphogoro has engineered many albums such as Malo a Botsheba, Rudolph Mabasa, and Lufuno Dagada among others in and outside South Africa.

He also dreams of being known world-wide and spending more time with his wife and son, who he says suffer most when he’s busy making music.