He is winning at this life thing! He is a successful amapiano DJ and travels the world through his music. He owns multiple businesses, including Views On Main- a restaurant and club in Johannesburg. He has a solid partnership with clothing brand. Tumelo Manyoni, also known as Mr. JazziQ, says despite him being "smart", he wasn’t always the most hardworking kid growing up. But with all the mistakes, he wishes he had believed in his music dream sooner.

THE MUSIC BUSINESS

He is currently the cover star of GQ South Africa’s August/September issue. He never once in his life imagined he would grace the cover of such a prestigious brand. "It really means a lot to me. Where I started to where I am now, shows growth," he gushes. He has always been DJing, at every family gathering and friends meet-ups. He would be the one selecting the playlist but it was only later that he decided to focus on music as a career. 

A YOUNG JAZZIQ

Growing up in Alexandra and in a strict home of academics, he didn’t like school much, and he would be punished by his uncle and made to read when he did wrong or was in trouble. "My uncle would give us a book. At the front he saw Che Guevera meanwhile I was reading a magazine," he says. The name Mr JazziQ came about in high school where he played mellow, jazzy sounds. "They always saw me as a groetman and that music calms me down. They first called me Jazzy, I added the IQ later." As a teenager, JazziQ wasn’t much of an academic, his passions were elsewhere. "I failed Grade 11 twice. It’s not a secret. On the second year, my Maths Literacy teacher told me I was the smartest kid in the class, but I hated school. I would get beatings all the time at home. But I knew, I didn’t want to be there. I was a lazy kid and teen. I needed to find a way to avoid the beatings and having my allowance taken from me." He had to find what his passion was. "My love for music came from the diversity in Alexandra. My dad was a DJ and had a music hiring company. I would steal his CDs."

FAILING AND WINNING

He attributes his success to his parents, his mentors and his team. "I am not alone, I am just the face. I feed off the energy out of everyone else," he says. JazziQ says he has always had the vision for a very long time of one-day making amapiano international. "After I dropped out of school. I enrolled at Boston Media House and also studied Fashion Media at LISOF the same year. When I got my results, I called my mom and told her I want to do things differently. I told her that I can’t do school anymore. I had other plans," he says. He had no option but to fight to make his dream work. "My family is well educated and doing this music thing is totally out of what was expected. It took me a few years to convince them," she adds. "As JazziQ, I always believed in the amapiano becoming the biggest thing in the world. I believe that this thing has to be heard by not only South Africans." So, he fought hard to make a success of it. "Not being able to succeed, was going to make me depressed because I gave up everything for this. I had to push with everything I had and prove to people that I could do this." Throughout the years, he has had ups and downs. "But I’ve had to pick myself up because I had no other option."

NO REGRETS

Looking back, he wishes he believed in himself earlier in his career and he would have been far. "I have no regrets. Everything that I have been through has made me the person I am today. All the lessons and mistakes have brought me here," he says. "I wish I believed in myself back then as much as I do right now. But, I wouldn’t change anything in my life or the past," he says. JazziQ advises young aspiring artists that life has no boundaries. The father of twins says his babies have been his biggest achievement thus far.