On Thursday, South African music sensation Sho Madjozi revealed that her upcoming album will be her last, marking the end of a whirlwind journey in the music industry. Speaking to The Citizen, the 32-year-old artist shared her reasons for stepping back, citing her exhaustion with the demands of modern-day artistry.
“Tomorrow, I drop the lead single for what will be my third and last album,” Madjozi announced. “It’s been the wildest possible ride. Grateful for most of it. Limpopo Champions League Vol. 2.”
Real name Maya Wegerif, Madjozi explained that the relentless pursuit of attention in the industry has drained her creative spirit. “The way that the music industry is set up at the moment, you spend more time trying to get attention,” she told The Citizen. “You have to spend so much more time just to post things that are gonna trend, you have to dance this on social media, post this, do this public stunt. It just feels like more energy is spent in this kind of attention economy than in actually doing anything creative.”
Madjozi, who rose to fame with hits like Huku and John Cena, says the pressures of constantly performing for attention have become unbearable. “I don’t have the energy to play that game and constantly be performing for attention or calling for attention. I’m not really good at that,” she admitted.
Her frustrations with the industry began brewing during her time with Epic Records, a US label she joined in 2020. While the deal was a significant milestone, making her the first South African artist signed to the prestigious label, the partnership soon soured.
“I was not happy with being signed, I was not happy with what my label was expecting me to be,” she said. Reflecting on her time with Epic, Madjozi shared how the label pressured her to conform to international standards, asking her to use more English in her music or dress in ways that didn’t align with her identity.
“I’m being told I need to add more English or I need to wear less clothes, and I’m just like, ‘this was not part of the plan, this is not me, it was never me,’” she said.
As a proud ambassador of her Xitsonga roots, Madjozi struggled to reconcile these expectations with her authentic self. “I’m like, ‘What you’re asking me to do is so clearly not what I have been doing, so how did you manage to not see what I am?’”
Despite parting ways with Epic Records in October, Madjozi found that the effort required to sustain an independent music career was equally draining. “I realised that it’s actually gonna be a lot of work to be trying to do things [on a daily basis] — competing for attention online, and I was just like, ‘I actually don’t want to do this,’” she said.
