Born in KZN, Mooi River, Sanele Sithole, popularly known as Sun-El Musician has fast become one of South Africa’s best exports. From working as an in-house producer at Demor Music, to owning his own record label, El World Music, producing studio albums for iconic vocalists such as Bucie, winning multiple awards, working in studio with Swizz Beats and Alicia Keys and still maintaining his identity and uniqueness, Sun-El Musician’s career path is the perfect epitome of an African child’s dreams being valid.
When speaking about his high school journey, Sun-El Musician reminisces about his younger self as an overachiever where he was the captain of his cricket and football team as well as a prefect. He credits his musicality to his upbringing and this would later inform how he finds talent.
“I think the musicality came from my family. My sister loved Kwaito, my dad played American soulful music and my grandmother played gospel hymns from Natal. I think all these dynamics have created a musical DNA that stuck with me as a result of that bringing.
This is why I first interview an artist before touching the computer because I know there’s a musical DNA from their childhood that they can tap into. That’s also how I unlock the musicality in an artist. It’s easy for me to design a sound around someone if I understand their musical upbringing.”
Sun-El Musician has worked with some of the best songstresses in South Africa including Simmy, Ami Faku and Msaki just to name a few. His ear for good talent was honed at Demor Music where he worked as a producer for 5 years. This is also where he learnt how to conduct himself as an artist and a producer, how to work with other artists to get the best out of them.
“Being an in-house producer at Demo Music for 5 years allowed for me to watch DJs like Black Coffee coming to the studio to work on Bucie’s album, the DJ Tiras of the world and people who I looked up to, do their thing- then seeing Bucie performing in places like Angola, Porto and Europe, I got to witness the behind the scenes of this craft. I got to learn from it, I saw the mistakes that happened and could plan to say when I get my chance, I wouldn’t repeat those mistakes.”
In a conversation with Slikour, Ami Faku shared how the best thing about working with Sun-El Musician was his ability to get her to be her best self in the studio.
“I believe that I’ve been blessed with the right people who are meant to work with me. My brother and I designed the sound, having been from Mooi River together. We’ve always been around each other and he actually found Simmy because they went to the same college. I was working on Bucie’s 4th album when I met Simmy.”
Social media is another avenue that Sun-El Musician uses to find new talent. Social media has contributed to the growth of many careers in different industries and has done wonders for artists. Being easily accessible to people around the world through social media heightens chances of being discovered by more established artists, producers and labels. In the past few weeks, we’ve seen Uncle Waffle go viral on Twitter and Instagram and even gaining a following from individuals such as Drake.
“I use social media to find similar talent. I just go through the person’s profile. It’s a CV. People DM and tell me they know how to sing but there isn’t a single video of the person singing. I need to find you on a path of readiness to being an artist. That’s how I found Ami, she had a whole lot of videos of her singing and I just knew that was it.”
Following "Akanamali" by Samthing Soweto, Africa to The World was easily one of the most appreciated albums Sun-El has ever worked on. With features such as Mlindo and Simmy, Africa to The World is a great representation of South African music and the aspiration to make an international buzz. Producing the album did not come without challenges- Sun-El Musician had been going through a tough time mentally and spiritually, and almost packed his bag to go back home in Mooi River. However, knowing that he was destined for success kept him going and today we can celebrate and appreciate his work.
“Working on my first album was the toughest thing ever. I even thought about going home and being a security guard at FNB. I wasn’t prepared to sleep under the bridge just because I was scared to go back home, so I was ready to pack up and turn a new leaf.
I felt so lost at the time and I think I shared the deepest parts of myself on that album. I think I was depressed but I didn’t know it at the time. I realize now that I feel happier. I was going through a lot at the time, but it unleashed my greatness. I’ve now become a very positive person as well. I’m able to find positivity in negative situations and I focus on that.”
Sun-El Musician has been highly lauded for taking African to the world not only through his album also titled Africa to the World and his cover arts for his projects, but also through his fashion. Everywhere he goes, Sun-El can be seen in an attire that encompasses an element of African heritage. His album cover art always have a symbol that represents the African continent and its people.
“The cover art ideas used to come from being broke. At one point we couldn’t afford a studio shoot but I knew I had amazing people around me so I figured we could animate an artist’s painting as my cover art. We added an African print which was important to me because I love history and following change and why things change. I felt like I wanted to meet the world halfway by exporting African music, fashion, culture etc and take Africa to the world.”
Sun-El’s love for Africa goes beyond his passion but has also influenced his vision for his record label. Whilst the trend is still to discover fresh new talent and make a success out of individuals, Sun-El Musician has chosen to take a path less traveled. Through El World Music, he wants to be able to produce African sounds that people know they can only find in Africa at the El World Music studios. This enables him to maintain his authenticity but still export the sounds of Africa to the world.
“I watched a documentary called This is Pop where they talk about how pop music is actually made and written in Sweden, so I think there’s a gap for us there. My team and I want to build a production system and service different people rather than focusing on building one artist.
In this way, we also get to employ a lot more people and work with a lot more people to produce amazing music and still make money. I want someone to say “‘where do we go to get that sound?’ and come to our studios for it.”
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