Mashudu Nematoka (40) has been cut from a rare breed of recording artists who strongly believe that a man will always be considered incomplete until he has taken a woman for a wife. In his world, marriage and family life are two sacred assets which give meaning to life.

Nematoka says that he has chosen to chisel his singing abilities and direct all his energy into creating the kind of music which impacts positively on marriages in today’s society. “Each one of us – whether a woman or man – wants to see their marriage working out and breeding good results,” the successful wedding singer says.

His latest album, metaphorically titled A huna Damu li Sina Ngwena, testifies to the prowess of his voice and meaningful lyrics when he reminds listeners that every marriage or family has problems of its own. “But we need to defeat all these problems through understanding and loving one another within the family,” he says.

In the song Litshani u vetana, he advises all married couples to stop quarreling now and start respecting each other; by doing that, the couple will also earn respect of their children. “I know about these things because I am a family man,” he chuckles.

This artist is walking a tiresome path which many musicians and singers dread to embrace, that of becoming a full-time musician who survives on performances at weddings and live shows arranged by music organisers. “Piracy has hit many singers in a bad way and they have lost hope that their talents will earn them some reward,” he reflects.

For a musician who has been dubbed the marriage counseller and king of the Venda wedding song, Nematoka says that the biggest challenge he has ever faced as a musician was when some pessimists declared his fall because the kind of sound or music he played had no background or category. “I came up with my own sound and I call that originality,” he states. “What else now?”

Nematoka has four otheralbums and a DVD, and some samples of his music are available on YouTube. “I started playing the keyboard at a very young age,” he recalls. “My father bought the keyboard for me.”

Born at Mudzidzidzi village in Ha-Tshivhasa, Nematoka is happily married and the marriage is blessed with two children.