Thabang Kgotso Kganakgawa, popularly known as Masterpiece YVK, was born in Mpumalanga and raised in Tembisa, Gauteng. He started venturing into the industry as an MC doing gigs around Gauteng and after some time, caught the attention of Leehleza and Kabza De Small. His musical career began in 2018 where he worked alongside multiplatinum-selling artist Kabza De Small on an unreleased project. The multi award-winning artist has worked with various artists such as Dj Stokie, Kabza De Small, Busta 929, Mr JazziQ, and many more. Masterpiece YVK continues to be an inspiration to the youth and paves the way forward for young artists in the industry.
The lead single ‘Konnichiwa’ to his upcoming project ‘Son Of A King’ is set around the idea of courting a girl who keeps ignoring him. Masterpiece uses the Japanese greeting to get her attention and figure out which language she speaks. The track is an upbeat Amapiano song made up of other multiple South African greetings. It also acts as a greeting to the industry for the upcoming artists; Ntsika, Tnk Musiq, Malum, Hypeman and Ultra Soft.
This project is dedicated to Masterpiece’s legacy, King of Amapiano, Kabza De Small and his new-born son which are the two people that motivate him to keep going. The musician is one of Kabza De Small’s prodigies and dubs himself the ‘son of a king’ in this music industry and father to a future king.
‘Son Of A King’ is about Masterpiece realizing his purpose, his role and what legacy and mark he is destined to leave in the music industry.
The realization of Masterpiece’s power and purpose comes from the core theme from the film, ‘The Lion King’. The narrative of Simba being an outcast for allegedly killing his father which was false. This narrative speaks to Masterpiece’s story in the music industry where he felt like an outcast as a result of hanging around the wrong people and taking bad advices, which led to him distancing himself from the entire industry. This album stating that he is the ‘Son Of A King’ means he finally understands his strengths and weakness and his role in the industry. He says he is not just an artist, but a “son of a king” in the music industry. The birth of his son further drove his passion as he is the next son of a king to continue his legacy as his heir.
Stream Masterpiece YVK’s lead single ‘Konnichiwa’ from ‘Son Of A King’ below:
