Singer Behind Kwesta’s ‘Mayibabo’ Surfaces: “I made 59 cents”

Former YoTV presenter Itumeleng Bokaba has left music Twitter captivated with her revelation that she wrote and sang the hook on Kwesta’s 2016 ‘Mayibabo’ featuring DJ Maphorisa, DJ Buckz, and Okmalumkoolkat. 

The hook has always been assumed to be a sample as there was no singer credited, but the singer demonstrated that it was indeed her voice and broke down how she came up with the lyrics. 

“In the beginning, I kind of made it up with Google Translate so I know it’s grammatically incorrect, I’m so sorry to the whole of India. It was just vibes.”

Sadly, though, Itumeleng has also shared that she didn’t make much from the song. 

“I fought for that song but I didn’t win,” she says. 

“I was told by Nota the money was given to Themba (Maphorisa),” she wrote on TikTok captioning a screenshot of her SAMRO portal. “At least I made 59 cents after trying to get SAMRO to add my name.”

Makwa, who produced the song, has since stepped in to clear Maphorisa’s name saying he wasn’t the one responsible for “this fuck up”. 

The singer says she’s in the process of launching her solo career.