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M. SETH: A MASTER OF SIMPLICITY
By Thandeka Khoza
MBABANE—The beauty of art is often found in the simple things. It really does not take much to create a masterpiece in many instances if you actually think about it. Case in point: the producer/rapper, Master Seth (or M. Seth for short). A huge proponent of “stick to what you know”! He goes about his creation process in the most basic way but still comes out with the most sonically pleasing productions, and its safe to say that this approach has served him well over the years.
Having started his music-making journey all way back in 2009 after completing high school, M. Seth, born Manqoba Dlamini, was known even back then for his quality beatmaking skills. “People would hear my music and then they would say ‘I like your stuff, I like his production, I wanna go there” he recalls. This would be as a result of him finally learning how to make original compositions on FL Studio (known as ‘Fruity Loops’ at the time). Prior to that, M. Seth had only been making intro mixes for dance battles on that software. A friend of his introduced him to the concept of making beats and from then on, Seth applied himself to perfecting that skill. Making original music garnered Seth the right amount of attention in his neighbourhood. Many aspiring rappers at the time would work with him, which included the likes of LK Baba and Lyrikal Busta, who would go on to become prominent figures in music within in the country.
M. Seth’s weapon of choice when is comes to creating is mainly a keen ear for music. “Music is all about the ear,” he says, “If it sounds nice, it sounds nice”. This very sentiment is how Seth even landed on the name ‘Eardrumzz Studios’ for his recording space to begin with. “My trademark was the bass. The baseline—it’s more like—it hits the eardrum,” he says, which is quite evident to anyone who listens to his music, as he is mainly a hip-hop and RnB producer—two genres of music known to be bass-heavy. From just that, he is able to make some of the cleanest and well-mastered songs in the local music industry. According to Seth, “Quality is key to everything you do. If you selling something, you have to sell quality and quality brings you more customers…I just give myself time in whatever that I do. I dedicate myself to it”.
With the landscape of music being the way that it is, it is comforting to know that there are still those capable of evolving while still maintaining the core of what makes them who they are. Seth, being the versatile artist that he is, he has been able to incorporate the newer sounds of the era like the ‘logdrum’ that is found in Amapiano beats. These are the sounds of his surroundings, seeing that he is in the Southern African region and a Skom native at that. It’s not a stretch for him to make those kind of beats or use elements found in that type of music in his own sound of RnB/Hip-hop. His awareness of the environment has even helped him detect and determine the rising trend of producers reverting to the older sounds. He notes, “We going back to the basics. That’s what I’m seeing now. We’re starting afresh”, and that is why, for him, trend-hopping is not something he would ever encourage. “As a producer or as an artist you have to stick to what you know. Yah, don’t try to flow the trends. New trends—yah—you have to master what you are well known of”, he says.
By Thandeka Khoza
MBABANE—The beauty of art is often found in the simple things. It really does not take much to create a masterpiece in many instances if you actually think about it. Case in point: the producer/rapper, Master Seth (or M. Seth for short). A huge proponent of “stick to what you know”! He goes about his creation process in the most basic way but still comes out with the most sonically pleasing productions, and its safe to say that this approach has served him well over the years.
Having started his music-making journey all way back in 2009 after completing high school, M. Seth, born Manqoba Dlamini, was known even back then for his quality beatmaking skills. “People would hear my music and then they would say ‘I like your stuff, I like his production, I wanna go there” he recalls. This would be as a result of him finally learning how to make original compositions on FL Studio (known as ‘Fruity Loops’ at the time). Prior to that, M. Seth had only been making intro mixes for dance battles on that software. A friend of his introduced him to the concept of making beats and from then on, Seth applied himself to perfecting that skill. Making original music garnered Seth the right amount of attention in his neighbourhood. Many aspiring rappers at the time would work with him, which included the likes of LK Baba and Lyrikal Busta, who would go on to become prominent figures in music within in the country.
M. Seth’s weapon of choice when is comes to creating is mainly a keen ear for music. “Music is all about the ear,” he says, “If it sounds nice, it sounds nice”. This very sentiment is how Seth even landed on the name ‘Eardrumzz Studios’ for his recording space to begin with. “My trademark was the bass. The baseline—it’s more like—it hits the eardrum,” he says, which is quite evident to anyone who listens to his music, as he is mainly a hip-hop and RnB producer—two genres of music known to be bass-heavy. From just that, he is able to make some of the cleanest and well-mastered songs in the local music industry. According to Seth, “Quality is key to everything you do. If you selling something, you have to sell quality and quality brings you more customers…I just give myself time in whatever that I do. I dedicate myself to it”.
With the landscape of music being the way that it is, it is comforting to know that there are still those capable of evolving while still maintaining the core of what makes them who they are. Seth, being the versatile artist that he is, he has been able to incorporate the newer sounds of the era like the ‘logdrum’ that is found in Amapiano beats. These are the sounds of his surroundings, seeing that he is in the Southern African region and a Skom native at that. It’s not a stretch for him to make those kind of beats or use elements found in that type of music in his own sound of RnB/Hip-hop. His awareness of the environment has even helped him detect and determine the rising trend of producers reverting to the older sounds. He notes, “We going back to the basics. That’s what I’m seeing now. We’re starting afresh”, and that is why, for him, trend-hopping is not something he would ever encourage. “As a producer or as an artist you have to stick to what you know. Yah, don’t try to flow the trends. New trends—yah—you have to master what you are well known of”, he says.
M. SETH: A MASTER OF SIMPLICITY
By Thandeka Khoza
MBABANE—The beauty of art is often found in the simple things. It really does not take much to create a masterpiece in many instances if you actually think about it. Case in point: the producer/rapper, Master Seth (or M. Seth for short). A huge proponent of “stick to what you know”! He goes about his creation process in the most basic way but still comes out with the most sonically pleasing productions, and its safe to say that this approach has served him well over the years.
Having started his music-making journey all way back in 2009 after completing high school, M. Seth, born Manqoba Dlamini, was known even back then for his quality beatmaking skills. “People would hear my music and then they would say ‘I like your stuff, I like his production, I wanna go there” he recalls. This would be as a result of him finally learning how to make original compositions on FL Studio (known as ‘Fruity Loops’ at the time). Prior to that, M. Seth had only been making intro mixes for dance battles on that software. A friend of his introduced him to the concept of making beats and from then on, Seth applied himself to perfecting that skill. Making original music garnered Seth the right amount of attention in his neighbourhood. Many aspiring rappers at the time would work with him, which included the likes of LK Baba and Lyrikal Busta, who would go on to become prominent figures in music within in the country.
M. Seth’s weapon of choice when is comes to creating is mainly a keen ear for music. “Music is all about the ear,” he says, “If it sounds nice, it sounds nice”. This very sentiment is how Seth even landed on the name ‘Eardrumzz Studios’ for his recording space to begin with. “My trademark was the bass. The baseline—it’s more like—it hits the eardrum,” he says, which is quite evident to anyone who listens to his music, as he is mainly a hip-hop and RnB producer—two genres of music known to be bass-heavy. From just that, he is able to make some of the cleanest and well-mastered songs in the local music industry. According to Seth, “Quality is key to everything you do. If you selling something, you have to sell quality and quality brings you more customers…I just give myself time in whatever that I do. I dedicate myself to it”.
With the landscape of music being the way that it is, it is comforting to know that there are still those capable of evolving while still maintaining the core of what makes them who they are. Seth, being the versatile artist that he is, he has been able to incorporate the newer sounds of the era like the ‘logdrum’ that is found in Amapiano beats. These are the sounds of his surroundings, seeing that he is in the Southern African region and a Skom native at that. It’s not a stretch for him to make those kind of beats or use elements found in that type of music in his own sound of RnB/Hip-hop. His awareness of the environment has even helped him detect and determine the rising trend of producers reverting to the older sounds. He notes, “We going back to the basics. That’s what I’m seeing now. We’re starting afresh”, and that is why, for him, trend-hopping is not something he would ever encourage. “As a producer or as an artist you have to stick to what you know. Yah, don’t try to flow the trends. New trends—yah—you have to master what you are well known of”, he says.
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