Xolani Naku

Xolani Naku

From an early age, Xolani Naku’s interest in music extended beyond the surface of performance into the inner workings of creating and crafting the music that people love to hear. He is a credible live vocalist, and particularly excels in the baritone and second tenor range. As a studio musician, he is able to use his extensive vocal range in all male vocal parts. His expertise and passion for his craft earned him the name ‘Mr Music’ among his peers.

He is a producer that can record, edit, mix and master – an aspect of his artistry in which he has invested a lot of effort over the past 8 years.

With a profound understanding of vocal harmony, Xolani has been involved in several singing projects including: The Sing-Off South Africa with SOLID, Virtual Group SA, Cape Town Ensemble, Tonality’s debut album Tonicappella - The Journey, and various single projects such as the ‘Churchified’ series for Metro FM’s William Lehong Time show on Sunday mornings, 6 jingles for the same show, and various other Cape Town-based productions. Xolani is indeed a natural producer and music is his niche.

He completed his first full-project mixed vocal harmony mix in 2014 with Selected Voices’ debut album Sebenza kuz'ukuhlwa, a mix for an amazing cover ‘Farther along’ transcribed version featuring Evan Sanders (USA, 2015). Co-produced and mixed his first virtual project A cry, A smile and A dance. He mixed and mastered his first live album for The Cape Town Ensemble En Route, and the Multi-Tracking Project with Bulumko Papu with whom he also co-arranged and co-produced, edited and mixed the album Roots: The Hymns Project (2017), a product of the Ecks & Bullz collaboration which has been well appreciated both in Africa and abroad and aired on both local and international radio stations. Together, they also produced the cover ‘Joy to the world’ - It was from the ‘Joy to the world’ project that the establishment of the South African Virtual Group, featuring Sam Robson (UK) came to be, and as part of this virtual group Xolani transcribed and produced ‘You better mind’ featuring Gabe Kunda (USA) an internationally celebrated vocalist and voice actor (see gabekunda.com).

The Ecks & Bullz Project incorporates a broad variety of artists based in South Africa and abroad, featuring the likes of Alain Gervais also known as Tomy (USA), Elliot Robinson (USA), Even Sanders who sings with a virtual group called Accent (USA); Mduduzi Ndebele, an incredible bass singer and musician (South Africa, Durban); Sandiso Nduna also well known as Pinno, an incredible African enthusiastic vocalist and musician (SA, Cape Town); Siphelele Kweyama, a bass vocalist and a good friend; Babalwa Dlangamandla, a formidable female vocalist from No Limits (SA, Cape Town); Phozisa Nciya, a beautiful second soprano singer (SA, Cape Town); Danielle van Wyk, a good friend and outstanding Broadway vocal approach (SA, Cape Town); and Sam Robson, a well-established musician and a good friend of Ecks & Bulls based in South London, UK. All these musicians added great value in making the Ecks & Bullz Album the success it is.

Xolani is passionate about music, and regards listening to a broad spectrum of genres as a primary influence in the growth of a musician. He loves singing, and even more, he loves creating music – for both stage and studio. In addition to the great musicians he worked with on the Ecks & Bullz project, Xolani has also worked with and shared stages with the likes of Danny K, the late HHP, Sipho HotStix Mabuse, Vuyo Tshuma (Mentor & Friend), DJ CLEO (Mentor & Friend), Lisa-Marie Smith (Mentor & friend), and Zakes Bantwini. He has been described as a studio prodigy doing backing vocals and co-arranging, the Hong Kong Jazz vocalist Brigitte Mitchell’s single The Chorale. His creative arrangements have covered mixed, male and female vocal harmony. He has included both talented people and people he admires in his productions and he keeps growing with each successful project.