Nathaniel Ramakuwela, an emerging amapiano musician known as NathyOG, was nominated for Best Upcoming Artist of the Year at the Golden Art & Media Awards (GAMA). The 22-year-old artist from Maungani village will come up against 12 other nominees from the Limpopo Province when the award ceremony takes place at the Carousel Casino in Polokwane in January next year.
NathyOG's nomination follows the release of his second EP, a six-track album titled Piano Wave, in July this year. The EP comprises melodic piano chords, simple yet infectious beats and vibrant vocals. The hit song on the album, Hendrick Makuya, really took the amapiano fraternity by storm.
The artist said last week that he was very excited to be counted among the GAMA nominees. "I feel so blessed to be one of the nominees for this GAMA award. That on its own shows that my music journey is coming from nothing to something. I am hopeful to win this award," he said.
NathyOG started his music career in 2010, when he was a mere boy in primary school. "I used to sing freestyles with some of my friends. They always called me 'the beast of freestyle', and that's where I realized my passion for music," he said.
Amapiano was not NathyOG's first choice of music when he started out, though. He was initially more into hip-hop, but as his music journey progressed, he started to realise that the amapiano genre worked better for him, and so he collaborated with amapiano producer KingX to get his first EP, Ngoma Dza Venda, off the ground. This gained him a considerable fan base.
"I met KingX last year and helped him to put vocals on one of his songs, which was well received by his fans, and that's where my piano journey began," he said.
NathyOG's music is available on all online platforms, such as YouTube and Spotify.