The post Toya Delazy Accuses SA Music Media Of Blocking Her Music For Over A Decade appeared first on SA Hip Hop Mag.
Toya Delazy Accuses SA Music Media Of Blocking Her Music For Over A Decade. Award-winning singer and producer Toya Delazy has publicly detailed what she describes as a long-standing pattern of “silent exclusion” within South Africa’s music industry, claiming that for more than a decade her work has been repeatedly rejected by key platforms despite significant investment and critical acclaim.
The London-based artist, born Latoya Nontokozo Buthelezi, is known for founding the Afrorave movement and for blending classical piano foundations with gqom, techno and Zulu musical influences. A SAMA winner and granddaughter of anti-apartheid leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Toya Delazy took to social media this week to question whether she has been systematically sidelined.
“This isn’t one incident. It’s happened across stations, music video platforms, and media outlets,” she wrote, responding to a question about whether her career had been sabotaged even in SA Hip hop.
According to Delazy, she has invested more than R100,000 into music videos that were declined by television channels because they “don’t fit the format.” She says she has accumulated hundreds of rejection emails over the years and claims that some management teams have been reluctant to represent her due to perceptions that she is being blackballed.
She also criticised sections of the media, alleging that certain publications are quick to publish negative or sensational headlines but slow to offer accountability when challenged.
In addition, she also revealed that her first gqom collaboration with Durban-based artist Mfumfanakagogo, also known as MFU, was also rejected for airplay. The track, part of the Gqom Couturè project, was submitted to Gagasi FM’s gqom segment after a presenter reportedly encouraged the submission. Seven days later, the song was declined. The reason given in an email response was that it did not fit the station’s radio format.
Delazy maintains that the timing of the rejection raises questions. She alleges that the decision followed confirmation of her feature on the track. She shared a screenshot of the email response along with an audio snippet of the song, inviting the public to judge for themselves. “This is what I mean when I speak about silent exclusion,” she wrote. “Nothing public. No announcement. Just closed doors.”
She further warned that the situation had a broader impact, stating that collaborators became hesitant to work with her out of concern that it might affect their own radio play or industry opportunities.
“We invested in the music video. We’ve sent it to platforms. Kodwa, the silence continues,” she added, expressing frustration at what she perceives as ongoing resistance.
Delazy insists her remarks are not intended as an attack but rather as documentation of a recurring experience. Once celebrated as a pop newcomer and later recognised internationally for her genre-defying sound, she said she now feels as though she is operating in “forced exile” from her home industry.
Her career has spanned early piano training in EMahlabathini, SAMA recognition, international festival stages including Glastonbury, and a presence within London’s underground rave scene. She argues that the same industry that once embraced her innovation now appears resistant to her return to her musical roots.
The post Toya Delazy Accuses SA Music Media Of Blocking Her Music For Over A Decade appeared first on SA Hip Hop Mag.
The post Toya Delazy Accuses SA Music Media Of Blocking Her Music For Over A Decade appeared first on SA Hip Hop Mag.
Toya Delazy Accuses SA Music Media Of Blocking Her Music For Over A Decade. Award-winning singer and producer Toya Delazy has publicly detailed what she describes as a long-standing pattern of “silent exclusion” within South Africa’s music industry, claiming that for more than a decade her work has been repeatedly rejected by key platforms despite …
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