Following the announcement of American singer Chris Brown’s return to South Africa, where he will perform for two nights at Joburg’s FNB Stadium, singer Naledi Aphiwe is hopeful that she will be an opening act for one of his shows.
The 17-year-old has just finished her final matric examinations and hopes to turn her focus to venturing into the music industry full-time. This comes after she achieved great success last year.
Moreover, she is no stranger to the R&B singer, as he previously used her vocals as a sample to one of his songs Shooter on the highly successful 11:11 album.
This came after a video circulated on the internet showing the teenager performing backup vocals to a friend in the classroom. Her soulful melodies turned out not to be in vain as they soon reached the ears of the multi-award-winning singer.
In Chris Brown’s fresh 11:11 album, he included Naledi Aphiwe’s “uBaba Ulala Nami” in the tune “Shooter” while also acknowledging and crediting Aphiwe on the track. pic.twitter.com/Zhn5AP1mTe
— SA HIP HOP 247 ? (@sahiphop247) November 10, 2023
Reports by TshisaLive stated that this has earned her R56 200 from Chris.
Meanwhile, these were the very same vocals that featured yet again when he announced the news of his upcoming concerts in South Africa.
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Naledi will soon be celebrating her 18th birthday on 16 December, and with Chris’ shows taking place that same week, she claims that opening the evening with a performance of her own will be the perfect birthday present.
Speaking to the news and entertainment publication Daily Sun, she said: “Seeing Chris Brown coming back to South Africa makes me feel like I’m important because I was able to be part of him and it makes me very happy.”
The singer explained that this past year was a year of sacrifice as she made the conscious decision to focus on her schooling journey, adding that she had to turn down several shows and performances, bearing in mind that should she excel in academics she would have something to fall back on.
Meanwhile, she encouraged others to do the same. “Stay in school, even if good things are already happening in your life. Be patient and finish school because we need education in life.”
Also see: Chris Brown samples Naledi Aphiwe’s voice in his new song | Bona Magazine
