Sho Madjozi Her Journey

Maya Christinah Xichavo Wegerif (born 9 May 1992), known professionally as Sho Madjozi is a South African rapper, singer, songwriter, actress and poet.

Madjozi uses the Tsonga culture through her music and public image. In 2019, Madjozi was named as one of Forbes Africa’s 30 Under 30 for her contribution in the music and entertainment sector.

💖 HER STORY – READ MORE 👇

Life and career

1992–2016: Early life and beginnings

Madjozi was born on 9 May 1992 in Shirley Village, Elim, Limpopo, the daughter of Rosemary Phaweni and Marc Wegerif who ran a non-governmental organisation which was made to assist people with their land claims. Her mother is of African descent while her father is of European descent.

After her parents divorced at an early age, she was mainly brought up by her mother. Madjozi has half-sisters from both her mother’s and father’s sides. As her father, Marc Wegerif, travelled regularly in particular regions of the continent, Madjozi had opportunities to travel with her father – she followed him to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where he worked for the charitable organisation Oxfam while she was a teenager. She also spent some time selling clothes at markets in Senegal during 2016 to provide for family.

After graduating high school at the International School of Tanganyika in Tanzania, Madjozi was offered a scholarship to Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, US, to study creative writing and African studies. While in the US, she started writing poems under the pen name of MayaThePoet.

The poems were about politics, identity and race. Madjozi returned to South Africa, where she took up a fellowship in studying at the University of South Africa, Johannesburg, and also planned songwriting for other local artists.

She began rapping and composing music under her stage name “Sho Madjozi”. Madjozi rose to fame after her collaboration with rapper Okmalumkoolkat on the track “Ngiyashisa Bhe” and the hit single “Gqi”.

Music Style

Madjozi uses a Tsonga signature style concerning her music and fashion sense. Being unapologetically proud of her culture, Tsonga, she commonly plays with the traditional wear. Madjozi usually performs the indigenous xibelani dance where she wears a skirt called a tinguvu around her waist, then shakes the waist which creates attentiveness on her performances.


Besides her culture-influenced style, Madjozi dismisses a colourful image with many elements attached. Superbalist writer Kenny Morifi-Winslow added, “I think there is an interesting transfer of energy when our favorite parts of public figures become the things that we hid from ourselves or tried to change”, commending Madjozi.

In addition to her native Tsonga, Madjozi is also fluent in Swahili language. Her songs incorporate both languages as well as English hence appealing to a wider audience.