Thato Madonsela (born 30 January 1985), better known by his stage name L-Tido, is a South African hip hop recording artist from Alexandra, Johannesburg. He is best known for being one of the few independent artists"INDEPENDENCE AND THE SUCCESS THAT COMES WITH IT IS WHAT L-TIDO LIVES AND CELEBRATES " (5 July 2011). BPM Mag. Retrieved 16 December 2013 in the country to reach commercial success, winning the Best Newcomer in Africa award at the 2010 Channel O Music Video AwardsPereira, Sergio (8 November 2010). "L-Tido is the Most Gifted Newcomer". Music Review. Retrieved 18 December 2013
Life and early career L-Tido's music career began in 2009 when he self-released, self-marketed and hand-to-hand distributed his mixtape City of Gold. The success of the mixtape lead to award nominations and the winning of Channel O's Most Gifted Newcomer award.
2011: All or Nothing
On 30 June 2011, L-Tido independently released his debut album, All or Nothing, which was said to reveal everything about his journey and what it took for this rising star to get to where he is. The album includes collaborations with K.O from Teargas, Nigerian singer Banky W, Tumi from Tumi and the Volume, Da L.E.S of Jozi and Maggz.
The album was well received with several songs topping numerous charts, including Channel O Weekly Charts, MTV Base African Chart, E.tv's Club 808 Chart, French music channel Trace TV's Africa Top 10 Chart; and "We Rollin""We Rollin" becoming the number 2 most played song in the country according to the country's RAM charts"L-TIDO LANDS TOP HIP HOP SONG IN SA" (3 June 2011. Wonted.co.za. Retrieved 16 December 2013 (a site which organises, calculates and analyses the most played songs on various local radio stations in the country), a first for a hip hop song in the country. L-tido also became the first hip hop artist to have two songs in the Top 10 of the RAM chart at the same time.
L-Tido directs and conceptualises all of his music videos. He was one of the artists who pioneered the shift in the level of quality of music videos delivered by hip hop artists in the country. Lerato Matsotso of the Daily Sun (South Africa's biggest daily newspaper"Daily Sun ". Media24. Retrieved 18 December 2013) noted this movement by saying, "Artists from SA are shifting from just shooting party music videos with the usual pool full of half-naked girls to investing in videos and coming up with great storylines", and identified L-Tido's work as "music videos that will give the international videos a run for their money".Matsotso, Lerato (8 May 2013). "L-Tido’s cool, fresh videos ". Daily Sun Newspaper. Retrieved 18 December 2013
L-Tido also has a Channel O nomination for Best Video, a Metro FM award nomination for "We Rollin" featuring Teargas' KO, and a South African Music Awards nomination for Best Hip Hop album in 2012.
2013: All of Me
L-Tido's second album All of Me was released on 8 November 2013, through a licensing partnership between the artist and Electromode Music and Business Solutions"Electromode: Music & entertainment Business Solutions". Electromode. Retrieved 16 December 2013 and debuted at number 2 on iTunes' South African Hip Hop chart."SA DIGITAL CHARTS – iTUNES November 5th 2013 " (6 November 2013). The Beat Resource. Retrieved 18 December 2013 The artist said the album was "inspired by personal circumstances and situations that my friends and family have gone through in the last year". The album is said to have a current hip hop sound, infused with L-tido's African heritage, with this coming through clearly in the instrumental of his first single "Who You Loving","Who You Loving" and the sampling of kwaito artist Doc Shebeleza's "Get Getsa" in his second single, "Steve Kekana"."Rapper calls on musical icons for his album " (5 December 2013). City Vision. Retrieved 13 December 2013
Controversy
The beef between L-Tido and fellow South African hip hop artist AKA began in 2009 when AKA went on the social network Facebook to publicly disrespect L-Tido, while commenting on a song which features fellow hip hop artists Da L.E.S and Bongani Fassie of thee group Jozi, and Maggz. This sent the South African hip hop scene into a buzz, as artists started to feud. The beef saw both artists recording diss tracks, which marked the end of the public quarrelling between the artists and South Africa's most exciting beef. The beef almost ended Thato's rap career, however in May 2013 the artists put up photos on Instagram of them in the studio together, AKA, L-TIDO in Studio... Beef squashed." They have since released music together.
Shuga
L-Tido was the first South African artist to be part of the campaign to promote the second season of the MTV award-winning youth drama Shuga,"L-Tido to perform for MTV drama " (1 February 2012). Entertainment Africa. Retrieved 16 December 2013 commissioned by MTV Networks Africa in association with the MTV Staying Alive Foundation, the Partnership for an HIV-Free Generation (HFG) and the Government of Kenya, by coming together with artists Banky W, Wizkid and Bon-Eye to create the soundtrack for the season. The music video was shot by acclaimed African director Clarence Peters in Kenya."BN Exclusive: Banky W, Wizkid, L-Tido and Bon’Eye present “Shuga” – The title track of the MTV Base TV Series “Shuga: Love, Sex, Money" (10 February 2012). Bella Naija. Retrieved 13 December 2013
Performances and appearances
L-Tido has performed several times in the country's major cities and in many small towns,Mxolisi, Mngadi (3 May 2012). "Crowd goes crazy for L-Tido’s hip hop". Daily Sun Newspaper. Retrieved 11 December 2013 and has opened for Rick Ross, The Game, Slum village, Maino and Usher.Fletcher, Jeni (11 March 2012). "Usher rocks Soweto: iLIVE". Times Live. Retrieved 13 December 2013
Discography Studio albums + List of studio albums, with selected information Title Album detailsCopies soldAll or Nothing Released: 31 January 2011 Label: Formats: CD, Digital download12000All of Me Released: 8 November 2013 Label: Electromode Formats: CD, Digital download1,60016 Released: 2018 Label: Self-Release Formats: CD, Digital download800City of Gold Released: 2008 Label: Self-Release Formats: CD, Digital download50,00
Mix-tape albums + List of mix-tape albums, with selected information Title Album detailsCertificationCity of Gold – Mixtape Released: 31 January 2011 Label: Formats: CD, Digital download50,000
References
External links Official website