| About killa Joe Records | BIOGRAPHY – JOE NINA JOE NINA was born Makhosini Henry Xaba in Ekurhuleni Kwa Thema on June 12th 1974. HIS FATHER – Skhuthuzi Xaba was a musician and played with a local band. He was on guitar and his mother was a backing vocalist in the same band. JOE had an early introduction to music as his parents would take him along to most of their concerts. Naturally Joe’s father encouraged him to learn about music and he began by experimenting on the Drums. Later in his career he picked up keyboards as his second instrument. He was fortunate to be taught by his uncle – Mac Mathunjwa – who is also a musician and producer. JOE’S FATHER loved music. He was, however, aware of the problems and pitfalls that can come along when you choose music as a career. Instead, Skhuthuzi encouraged Joe to pursue his school work – hoping that he would follow a career in medicine. IT was not to be. At the age of 16 – completely sold on it – he told his Dad that he had decided to look for a full-time career in music. His father was not happy but Joe persuaded him to allow him just one year to make his mark. If he failed – he would return to school and finish his matric. AND SO – it started. Initially there was little success and he got by recording demos plus supporting himself with the session fees he earned from playing keyboards on other artists’ recording sessions. HIS very first break came when he met producer Cheeseman Gerdes. He was impressed. Unfortunately the first album T-McCOOL – released in 1988 was the start of a series of flops under names such as KING RAP and NINA FREAK. 1990 would be a special year. Joe met Arthur Mafokate and they joined forces. They entered The Coca Cola Full Blast competition – and won. This lead to a successful working relationship with Arthur and both careers took off. South Joe’s first hit – MARIA PODESTA (DING DONG) was released in 1994 and became a chart topper. HE began to branch out and while he continued with his own projects, he also started producing. This opened the way for other new artists including his sister, Nhlanhla Xaba (Nina Sister) and Nina Bros – a group made up of his brother and cousins. This collaboration produced the smash hit – SGHUBU – which was a platinum seller (50,000 plus copies). During this time he also helped to launch the careers of groups like TWINS, BLACK LIST and LAFANCY. He worked in many different music genres from Kwaito to House to instrumental dance projects such as the highly successful BOSS OF THE ROAD. THE word spread. He was soon being approached by the majors with offers to produce big name established artists – many of whom were his idols. One of these was memorable as he was asked by Brenda Fassie – at the peak of her career – to produce her album ABANTU BAYAKHULUMA. He went on to produce for diverse names such as Patricia Majalisa and The African Jazz Pioneers and started writing for several top names. IN 1995 he got together with the legendary Ray Phiri of Stimela fame to form a new label – Killa Jo. Careers were launched on this label for new groups – LUV, CYDER and D-STYLE. He also found a rap group from Swaziland – XY CHROMOSONES who featured on the successful track KILLA JO IS ON THE SHOW. IN THE middle to late 90’s Joe came to a crossroad in his career and business relationships suffered. He took a break, went home with his musical instruments and did a lot of thinking and re-assessing. He was determined to break back – but on his terms. JOE was a survivor so once again he packed his bags and headed back to the streets of Jozi. He eased back into session work and landed a new contract with Gallo Records. An effort to get back into the Kwaito market with the 1998 album EGOGOGWENI was not a success. However something strong came out of it. Joe’s jazz collaboration track with Fana Zulu on bass titled BUT NOT OUR SOULS. The duet with Steve Kekana lead to them teaming up on his ‘live’ shows. STEVE KEKANA had been out of music mix for many years – but his talent remained. He asked Joe to produce a new album and the result was – AFRICAN LADY. BETWEEN 2000 and 2001 Joe recorded two successful albums. First MABABAZA which included the hits SBALI, ZODWA, PHUMA KIMI and THANK YOU MY LOVE. This was followed by NOMTHANDAZO with the hit track TWISTER. IT WAS the turn of the century and Joe had been gradually honing his musical skills. It would lead him on the path to true brilliance. for more details visit www.joenina.net |
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