Master KG
South African musician and record producer
Kgaogelo Moagi (born 31 January 1996), professionally known as Master KG is a South African DJ, singer and record producer. Born and raised in Tzaneen, his debut studio album Skeleton Move achieved acclaim including an AFRIMA Award for Best Artist/Group in the African Electro category. He is also known as the pioneer of "Bolobedu" dance.
His second studio album Jerusalema (2020) was released, containing international successful single: "Jerusalema", featuring Nomcebo Zikode and Burna Boy, was certified diamond by FRA and topped Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart.
01Early life
02Personal life
Master KG was in a relationship with musician Makhadzi. Around early 2022 he re-united the relationship between him and Makhadzi and crowned it up with Kulakwe as they celebrated the Valentine's Day together. They split up in 2023.
03Career
Master KG's music career started when he got in touch with DJ Maebela and they began experimenting with music software specifically FL Studio. In 2016, after much practice, he released his first single "Situation".
2017-2020: Skeleton Move (2018)
After getting signed to his former record label, Open Mic Productions, he released his chart-topping single "Skeleton Move" featuring Zanda Zakuza. On 21 September 2018, his debut album Skeleton Move was released. The album features artists including Zanda Zakuza, Makhadzi, Team Mosha and many others. He sings in his local language Khelobedu, a language spoken by Lobedu People. Master KG has performed in a number of other countries including Zambia. In December 2018, his song "Skeleton Move" was apparently voted Thobela FM's song of the year and sparked controversy as King Monada's fans felt "Malwedhe" (which is King Monada's song) deserved the award.
In December 2019, Master KG released the song "Jerusalema", featuring Nomcebo Zikode. In mid-2020, it went viral online, charting internationally and spawning a remix with Burna Boy. The video of "Jerusalema" was taken down on YouTube on the late hours of 5 August 2020, but was restored on the following day. The song earned him the MTV Europe Music Awards, NJR Music Awards in France, Feather Awards, and African Muzik Magazine Awards. The song Jerusalem also caused a stir after nomcebo zikode claimed it's her song whereas she was featured on it and it caused misunderstanding between the two when nomcebo wanted more percentage of the royalties. He signed a record deal with Elektra France. At the 2020 edition of African Muzik Magazine Awards he took-home three awards Best Male Southern Africa, Best Collaboration, Song of the Year and Artist of the Year Award.
2021-present: Makhelwane
On 26 May 2021, he released a single titled "Shine Your Light" with David Guetta featuring Akon.
In September 2021, he embarked to Jerusalem Live Concert Tour to United Kingdom in support of his album, toured with Zanda Zakuza.
"Dali Nguwe" featuring Nkosazana Daughter, Basetsana, Obeey Amor was released on December 3, 2021. The song charted number 1 on Local Radio Chart Top 100.
His single "Makhelwane" with Nkosazana Daughter was released on November 17, 2023 as albums lead single.
In July 2024, Nkosazana Daughter and Master KG announced their collaboration studio album Makhelwane. The album was released on August 30, 2024.
Makhelwane was certified gold in South Africa with over 100 million streams on its first day.
04Tours
Headlining
- Jerusalem Live Concert (2021)
05Discography
Albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUT |
BEL (Fl) |
BEL (WA) |
FRA |
GER |
NL |
SWI | |||||||||||||||
| Skeleton Move |
|
, | , | , | , | , | , | , | |||||||||||||
| Jerusalema |
|
54 | 35 | 41 | 27 | 32 | 10 | 12 |
| ||||||||||||
| ", " denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||||||||||||||||
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SA |
AUT |
BEL (FL) |
BEL (WA) |
FRA |
GER |
NL |
SWE |
SWI |
UK | ||||||||||||
| "Skeleton Move" (featuring Zanda Zakuza) |
2018 | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | Skeleton Move | |||||||||
| "Remember" | 2019 | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | Non-album single | |||||||||
| "Jerusalema" (featuring Nomcebo) |
1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 55 | Jerusalema | ||||||||||
| "Shine Your Light" (with David Guetta featuring Akon) |
2021 | 33 | , | , | 29 | , | , | , | 96 | , | , | Non-album single | |||||||||
| "Dali Nguwe" (featuring Nkosazana Daughter, Basetsana, Obeey Amor) | 1 | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | Non-album single | ||||||||||
| "Keneilwe" (Wanitwa Mos, Master KG, Nkosazana Daughter) | 2023 | 3 | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | Non-album single | |||||||||
| "Dubula" (Harry Cane, Master KG, DJ Latimmy) | 4 | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | Non-album single | ||||||||||
| ", " denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||||||||||||||||
Others
- "Jerusalema" (remix), Master KG feat. Burna Boy & Nomcebo Zikode (2020)
- "Jerusalema" (remix), Master KG feat. Micro TDH & Greeicy & Nomcebo Zikode (2020) Dali Nguwe
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Tshikwama" (Makhadzi featuring Master KG) |
2019 | Non-album singles |
| "My Love" (Makhadzi ft. Master KG & Prince Benza) |
2020 | |
| "Xola Moya Wam'" (Nomcebo Zikode ft. Master KG) | ||
| "My Melody" (Nox featuring Master KG) | ||
| "Ntyilo Ntyilo" (Rethabile Khumalo featuring Master KG) | ||
| "Khaya Lam" (Zanda Zakuza featuring Master KG & Prince Benza) | ||
| "This Is Love" (Bongo Beats featuring Master KG & Andiswa) |
2021 |
06Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Associated Artists | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | AFRIMMA | Best Artiste, Duo or Group In African Electro | "Skeleton Move" | Zanda Zakuza | Won | |
| SABC Summer Song | Song of the Year | Won | ||||
| Limpopo Music Awards | Best Dance Song | Won | ||||
| Best Music Video | Nominated | |||||
| Best Song | Nominated | |||||
| Best Dance Song | Nominated | |||||
| 2019 | African Musik Magazine Awards | Best Male Artist Southern Africa | , N/a | , N/a | Won | |
| 2020 | NRJ Music Awards | International song of the year | Jerusalem | Nomcebo Zikode | Won | |
| 2020 African Entertainment Awards, USA | Song of the Year | "Jerusalema" | Nomcebo and Burna Boy | Won | ||
| MTV Europe Music Awards | Best African Act | Himself | Won | |||
| 2020 | African Muzik Magazine Awards | Best Male Southern Africa | Won | |||
| Best Collaboration | "Jerusalema" | Burna Boy | Won | |||
| Artist of the Year | Won | |||||
| Song of The Year | Won | |||||
| AFRIMMA Video of the Year | Nominated | |||||
| 2021 | Vodafone Ghana Music Awards | African Artist of the Year | Won | |||
| K H M A | Best Producer | Nominated | ||||
| Net Honours | Most Played Alternative Song | "Jerusalema" | Nomcebo and Burna Boy | Nominated | ||
| SAMA 27 | International Achievement Award | Won | ||||
| SAMRO Composer highest Airplay | Nomcebo Zikode | Won | ||||
| 2021 | VN Awards | Male Artist of the Year | Won | |||
| 2021 | Global Music Awards Africa | Global Artist of the Year | Nominated | |||
| Songwriter of the Year | Nominated | |||||
| Record of the Year | "Jerusalema" | Won | ||||
| Global Most Popular Song of the Year | Nominated | |||||
| 2024 | SAMA30 | Motsepe Foundation Record of the Year | "Dubula" | Pending | ||
| RAV Music Video of the Year | "Thula" | Pending | ||||
| "Ngiyamthanda" | Pending | |||||
| "Uthando Lwakho" | Pending | |||||
| 2024 | African Entertainment Awards USA | Music Producer of the Year | Himself | Won | ||
| Album of the Year | Nkosazana Daughter | Won |
Sources and credits
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