Label of the Month: Sound African Recordings

Upon sitting down with Katlego Malatji, Sound African Recordings’ Director of South African Repertoire, it was clear that this conversation would be less about the music itself and more about the why behind it; why we build, why we nurture, and why African excellence has been and will continue to be the foundation for the future of global music evolution.

Sound African Recordings, a subsidiary of Sony Music Africa, was founded in 2014 “as a creature of necessity,” as Katlego put it. “We felt that we needed a more local-facing label – one that would focus inward, on South Africa’s own sound.” That clarity of purpose still guides the label’s philosophy today: preserve, develop, and export the African sound with integrity, intelligence, and intention.

Katlego’s grounding in law sits at the heart of Sound African’s strength. Before entering the music industry, he trained and worked as a lawyer, specialising in contract negotiation, intellectual property and entertainment law; all skills that anchor the label’s approach to artist care and rights protection. His work connects two forces that have often been kept apart: culture and legality. That connection matters deeply in South Africa, where the history of recorded music is entangled with ownership struggles. Under apartheid, many Black musicians signed exploitative contracts with record labels that controlled their masters, withheld royalties, and profited from their creativity without recognition or compensation. 

Artists such as Brenda Fassie, Hugh Masekela and even Ladysmith Black Mambazo fought (and sometimes lost) battles over authorship and earnings, while their global success often benefited companies outside their communities. Against that backdrop, Malatji’s presence at the helm of Sound African signals a shift in power and principle. His insistence on education and legal literacy among artists helps rebuild the trust that apartheid-era exploitation dismantled, creating a space where Black musicians can own their work, define their legacy, and benefit from it fully.

“We needed something that would foster the local space, because South Africa’s music offering is incredibly rich. It just needed a bit more focus and attention.” 

When Sound African began, gqom, Afro-pop, and South African hip-hop were riding high. But in the midst of this momentum, something new was bubbling under: amapiano. Katlego recalls, “It was a difficult transition because everyone believed gqom would be the export product.” Yet, the team at Sound African chose to trust their tastemakers, who helped them understand the potential of a genre that fused house, Afro-pop, hip hop and kwaito into something entirely new. At the time, amapiano was seen as music for lower classes, with major labels, radio stations and the media blind to the appeal until demand from the public forced them to act, or risk staying out of touch. 

Between 2019 and 2022, the label’s catalog reflected a defining moment in amapiano’s golden years; a period shaped by the rhythm of township life, the multifaceted approaches of South African house, and a growing sense of global curiosity and affluence. During that time, vocalists such as award-winning Zimbabwean singer-songwriter Sha Sha came to the fore, with the likes of Samthing Soweto, Daliwonga, Aymos and Young Stunna, to name just a few. 

“Culture must always lead commerce. When commerce tries to lead culture, that’s when we have a conundrum.”

As the sound expanded, Sound African became an important link between South Africa’s local music scenes and international audiences. Its releases during this era reflected a balance of collaboration and cultural confidence, showing how the label viewed amapiano as part of a broader conversation about the future of African music on the global stage. That lesson (letting the people, not the market, dictate the music) became Sound African’s signature. The decision to back amapiano wasn’t driven by data or trends but by the very human touch that their carefully curated roster and staff bring. Their first and greatest sense of validation came with MFR Souls’ “Love You Tonight”, followed by Scorpion Kings’ “Once Upon a Time in Lockdown” as landmark moments confirming that they were on the right track. Reworks of classics such as Sade’s “No Ordinary Love” and Moloko’s “Sing it Back” stood side by side with new classics in “Tender Love” and “Woza,” in Sha Sha’s hands, ushering in a new era for African house music’s global appeal.

Sound African’s story is also one about Black ownership in both name and in practice. Katlego speaks often about revenue justice: keeping the wealth, creativity, and leadership of African music within Africa. “We need more Africans running the African music business,” Katlego said plainly. “We need more control, more equity, more participation, more autonomy.”

This isn’t just rhetoric. Within the label, Sound African is cultivating a pipeline of young Black professionals – executives, marketers, lawyers, and producers who understand and respect the culture they’re shaping. Katlego describes the team as “people who live it, who breathe it,” ensuring that deals are culturally intelligent and contextually relevant. A good example of this is the enlisting of Madododwa Miya, whose physical and professional presence as a commentator of amapiano culture made him the perfect hire for a label looking to carry authenticity throughout their ventures.
 

“We spend a lot of time outside the office. In studios, in cultural hubs, in the spaces where the music is actually being made.” 

In an age when virality can make or break a career overnight, Sound African takes a different approach. Katlego shared that they’ve learned to “take a step back from chasing the charts” to focus on developing fuller artist propositions. Artists who can sustain long careers, and choose patience and power over fleeting fame. This modus worked out well for the label, whose tracks stayed in the public consciousness for weeks and months at a time. While this is a great achievement, Katlego wanted to make sure that they didn’t fall into the trap of making formulaic music that would end up becoming a crutch. “While it was great to have 50 of the top 100 songs charting, at what cost are we doing this? If we keep it that way, we lose the essence of our identity as a record label that aims to evolve.”

Sound African’s artists reflect an attention to detail that goes beyond the stage. Katlego described the recent Scorpion Kings Live show at Loftus Versfeld Stadium as one of those “you picked the right one” moments; proof that African excellence sells itself when done right.

Even as South Africa’s sound dominates dance floors across the world, Katlego cautions against a romanticized view of independence. “Globalization is expensive,” he says. “Everyone wants a Tyla moment, but not everyone wants to be Tyla… to take the time, travel, rehearse, learn, and invest in international presence.”

Katlego continues to say that unlike West African artists, who often license their work to global labels to share costs and reach to their benefit, many South African artists insist on doing it all themselves. “It’s exciting, but the truth is, most don't have the resources or the expertise to globalize independently.” The result? Social media becomes the default marketing plan, which can be seen as “a great equalizer,” but also a ceiling when infrastructure and funding are missing.

Madododwa adds, “It goes both ways. Professionals need to share what they know, and artists need to keep innovating. Otherwise, we’ll keep losing the moment to others who are simply just more organized.”

Katlego often thinks about how much African music has done for the world; how house, amapiano, and Afrobeats have shaped global pop and yet how little infrastructure has been built at home to sustain it. The brain drain Africa is experiencing is a concern, and Katlego aims to make Sound African a place to house those who believe in their own power enough to commit to rectifying this. The continent is sitting on a goldmine of talent, but as Katlego put it, “we’ve become too comfortable with the status quo.” There’s a need for more students of the music business, more executives reading music law instead of headlines and more media spaces owned and run by Africans working to high standards, to tell our own stories with context and pride. 

“We need more Africans running the African music business. We need to stop leaving, to stay, teach, and build. This is the only way that ten years from now, Sound African will still be here, telling the story of how African music changed the world… but this time, on its own terms.”

It’s this worldview that extends Sound African’s presence beyond label services. It is a classroom, a collective, and a compass for where African music might go next. The people behind it are shaping the structures that allow creativity to thrive under a Black leadership never seen before in the country’s music ecosystem. Every meeting, every release, every new artist carries the weight of an older dream; one where the brilliance of African musicians and professionals is recognised, compensated, and remembered. In a landscape still healing from uneven opportunity, Sound African stands as both archive and experiment – a living testament to what happens when Black imagination, discipline, and ownership converge around the sound of a continent in motion.