A few years ago, he made a return to the music industry, after taking a short hiatus to deal with mental health issues. Rapper, Sphamandla Mhlongo, stage name Maraza has since made a solid return, this time on a podcast titled MaraZ which deals with musicians' ups and downs.

DEPRESSION AND GENERATIONAL CURSES

Maraza discovered he had depression in 2015, shortly before he got married. He was constantly sad and unable to execute everyday tasks.

He admits that although his dad died in 1992, he is still haunted by generational curses that have affected his life, particularly when it comes to love.

Maraza says when he wanted to get married he paid lobola for his partner but could not complete the traditional ceremonies as he had planned.

"I love traditional activities. I am married. I paid lobola and finished," he says, adding that he went through some of the traditional Zulu stops one does when taking a wife but could not complete all. "That was my plan. I wanted to take every single step and not do it all in one day and rush. I wanted to show my son how it's done and show my daughter what she deserves."

FAMILY DYNAMICS

He says his plans came to a halt because of his grandfather. "He told me that I couldn't complete one of the steps (ukuthela inyongo) when his father had not done that to his mom while he was alive," Maraza says, adding that, "Suffering for other people's sins is not good, especially people we did not enjoy." He then agreed to do it on his father's behalf so he could continue with his life, however, his mother is not welcome at his grandfather's home. "As a result, I am married but I cannot complete the ceremonies I wanted to do."