APIWE BUBU TO OPEN LA STUDIO
South African songwriter, producer and music creative Apiwe Bubu is making waves on the international music scene.
Apiwe is currently based in the United States of America.
He is a music producer and has worked with the renowned mix engineer Tony Maserati under his umbrella production/studio company Mirrorball Entertainment.
During his time with Maserati, Apiwe has made contributions to Grammy-award winning/nominated albums such as Beyonce's Lemonade, Keith Urban's Ripcord and Gallant's Ology. He also worked alongside giants such as Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Robin Thicke.
Apiwe was born in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, but grew up in three different cities in Mzansi. “I was known in our town as Michael Jackson, because I loved him so much and moonwalked every chance I could get,” he said of his childhood.
Apiwe began his musical journey when he enrolled for classical piano training while he was in boarding school at St Barnabas College in Johannesburg at the tender of age 12. He then completed a Sound Engineering and Audio Training Certificate at the Inhouse Audio Training Institute in Johannesburg. When asked about Apiwe, Bakithi Kumalo, who is a bassist to the legendary Paul Simon said: "His value to the past, current and future of South African music writing and production cannot be overstated. He has a stunningly fresh approach, sound and style." Apiwe says he has chosen to focus on Pop, HipHop and RnB music with an influence of Afro inflections and sound.
The budding artist says that he got into the music industry because he genuinely loves it. “Upon realizing that I had a gift and ability to create melodies and pair them with lyrics-I decided to make use of that gift. I committed to pursuing the understanding of song craft, music production and engineering,” he told the People’s Paper.
His first break came when he was given the opportunity to be an in-house composer and engineer for Urban Brew studios, which is responsible for some of Mzansi’s biggest television productions, including the music show, Live. “With my understanding of melodic and harmonic cadences unique to South Africa, I find myself approached and of value to those with whom I work and those who seek to work with me internationally because of this unique sound that they themselves cannot reproduce or create. I infuse our strong vocal and harmonic stylistics,” he said. Apiwe says that the highlight of his career thus far has been working with Tony Maserati and working on some of 2016’s most significant albums including the Grammy winning Lemonade by Beyonce.
He says that he is currently working on opening a studio in Los Angeles, Hollywood, which includes a large control room, live room and vocal booth. “I’ll be doing professional recordings, production and engineering for a range of clients. I’m doing this in collaboration with Brian Soko,” he revealed. Apiwe will be coming to SA towards the end of the year for some collaborative work.