DJ Sumbody wasn’t just anybody he was a son, brother, friend

IN RECENT years, Pretoria has become the epicentre of South Africa’s vibrant nightlife.

Not only is it home to many of the country’s top young acts – the likes of Focalistic, Pabi Cooper, Ch’cco and Mellow and Sleazy are all from Pretoria – it is also home to the most vibrant club scene in the country and is widely regarded as where the best parties are thrown.

Its partygoers are known diehards – tickets for wildly popular Pretoria events like Homecoming and Tshwanefontein sell like hotcakes.

At the centre of this scene was DJ Sumbody (real name Oupa Sefoka), the mercurial amapiano DJ and entrepreneur who was shot and killed in Woodmead last week Sunday.

By all accounts, Sefoka was the engine of this scene. Appropriately known as “The Mayor of Pretoria”, Sefoka’s parties at his club, Ayepyep, and the various other event properties he was involved in were known to be epic.

A veteran of the scene, Sefoka’s success translated into community growth. As he rose, he made sure to lift up those around him along the way.

Not only was he respected by the older acts, the newer guys, such as Pretoria’s latest superstar Focalistic, also embraced him.

When news broke of his death, the rapper was among the first of several celebrities to express his shock and pay tribute to Sefoka: “Love you forever my Mayor. My big brother. Please can we stop the violence. Please. I’m gonna miss my OG. For real. Kale kgopela, are rataneng. Are tlhokomelaneng. Life is short.”

Sefoka’s 2018 hit single, Monate Mpolaye, which featured Cassper Nyovest, Thebe and DJ Vettys, represented his official coronation as one of Pretoria’s most important figures in entertainment.

The vibe – much of it accentuated by Sefoka’s irresistible production – was infectious. Monate Mpolaya was such

an immediate sensation that Nyovest, who isn’t short of anthemic records, made the single the centrepiece of his live performances.

The rapper and entrepreneur, a close friend of Sefoka’s, was among the handful of colleagues that congregated at the Lewende Woord Centurion Church for an all-white themed memorial to celebrate his life on Wednesday.

Nyovest took to the stage to speak on how Monate Mpolaye came about.

“I didn’t really feel the song,” he explained. “I just did it because he wouldn’t take no for an answer, he kept on calling. I didn’t really feel the song. I just did the song because he wouldn’t take no for an answer, he kept on calling me.

“And then when the song was released it changed everyone’s career – not only theirs but mine too. It became one of my biggest songs to perform on stage.”

The rapper and businessman then explained that when he performed the song in his memorable closing performance at Global Citizen in 2018 (which came after Beyonce and Jay-z’s set) while everyone was celebrating his viral showing, Sefoka joked that the only thing missing was his presence on stage with Nyovest so that Beyoncé could see him.

After the viral success of Monate Mpolaye, Sefoka released a handful of singles and the album, Ashi Nthwela. While Monate Mpolaye was perhaps his most important moment, Sefoka also released several popular songs including as Ayepyep and Suk’emabhozeni.

After a run of singles that didn’t quite catch, last year Sefoka released the hit Iyamemeza, alongside DBN Gogo and The Lowkeys.

As far as streams go, Iyamemeza quickly became the biggest song of his career, more than doubling Monate Mpolaye’s streams on Spotify.

He was back at his best form and primed to enjoy another successful phase in his storied career.

One of the more poignant moments of the memorial came when Sefoka’s siblings, Tsibu and Koketso, spoke about their respective relationships with their brother.

Tsibu, who was Sefoka’s younger sister, shared how, lately, despite having been a busy person since they were young, he had started to find time for her.

“He never had time, but funny enough over the past two years he made so much time for me,” she said, her voice breaking with emotion. “He made so much time for me from last year September til this year, he made time for me. And I didn’t understand why…

“The people that took Oupa away from us, they don’t know what they’ve done. My heart is broken.”

She also talked about some of the memories she shared with him and spoke candidly about his warm personality.

“I never called him Sumbody. I used to run away from the fact that I’m Sumbody’s little sister. But today I acknowledge the fact that as much as I wanted to separate him, he was the same person.

“He was no different as Oupa as he was Sumbody, and (it’s all of you that’ve made me understand that).”

As his sister broke down in tears, Koketso took to the podium to share the pain of their loss.

“We’ve been robbed,” he said. “We’ve been robbed of a brother, we’ve been robbed of a son to my mother.”

Sefoka’s death does feel like a devastating robbery.