The spirit of the late reggae music legend, Bob Marley, seems to have been revived through the emergence of the unstoppable reggae sensation, Humbulani Ramagwedzha, whose prominence in music circles is emerging with a mighty sound.

A hairdresser by profession, Humbulani successfully alternates his roles and his musical success is a true reflection of his hard work.

Born at Lwamondo village 31 years ago, the zealous young artist with the golden voice is slowly claiming his rightful position in reggae music circles after only releasing three albums. He will always be commended for his uncompromising role of singing reggae music predominantly in Tshivenda, a move that was highly criticized by some community members at first. "People believed that reggae music could not be sung in a vernacular and I just wanted to prove them wrong. Today, my critics are eating humble pie because my music is received well by my fans and there are also other emerging artists who are following in my footsteps."

Humbulani’s music is receiving massive airplay on SABC Radio and he is confident that more is still to come. He explains that it was not bread and butter for him to attain his present musical status. He relates his uneven road to stardom: "I fell in love with reggae music from a tender age because my brother, Norman, used to play reggae music in his music center. That held a very great interest for me and I came to love the music of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Eric Donaldson, Burning Spear and Lucky Dube. I also used to listen to Colbert Mukwevho’s music from the early nineties. I then started recording vocals through a small tape recorder and everyone was impressed with my voice. That was when I realized that God had given me a singing talent."

Humbulani said he became serious about songwriting in 1994. "My interest in music grew while I was a member of the Protea Apostolic Faith Mission Church when we performed at weddings and other church events. Pressure from adoring fans forced me to rush to the studio in 2003 to record my eight-track debut album Ro da shangoni that was recorded at GTP Studios and produced by Gabriel Tshisikule. The album’s great reception by my fans encouraged me to work harder. It contained songs like Ro da shangoni, Lufu a lu shavhiwi, Ni do disola, Ni do nkhumbula, U Mudzimu, Thank God, One more time and It’s so good to see you."

In 2004, Humbulani retuned to the same studio to record his second eight-track album, Ni songo vhilaela. It contained thrilling songs like No tou tamba ngavho, Ndi kale zwo fhela, My brother, Ndi a ni funa, Papapa, A ri lali, Ni songo vhilaela and Praise. Last year he thrilled his fans by releasing Nyandano, which includes hits like Ngoho i do bvela khagala, Ngwari wa munhu, Ndi nga dzula nae, Ni si mu sale murahu, Zwila zwithu zwo thoma, Ndi khou fhingula, Nyandano, U luga ndi mini, Kha mpfune khaladzi, Mulomo a u thusi nyito, Ri langwa nga iwe and Ni dzula ni tshi sea.

He is currently busy working on a DVD of selected songs from his previous three albums, which will hit the streets at the end of February.