Grade 9 Ikageng
Xolani Khumalo was born on 13 March 2002. He is 19-years-old. He lives with his mother and his grandmother in an RDP house in Soweto. Xolani loves to sing, write and he is good at reading. His mother was proud of him because he had confidence.
He joined a school choir called, The Young Superstars. In the group, there were five girls and five boys, so they were 10 in total. Xolani was the leader because he had confidence. The choir teacher was Mrs Mkhize. She was 40-years-old and good at singing.
Every day after school he went to the school hall to practise with his friends. Xolani had three friends called Njabulo, Tisetso and Lesego. They were best friends. One day he found his mother crying and Xolani asked, “Mom, what’s wrong?”
His mom said, “Your grandmother is in hospital. She had a heart attack.” Then Xolani started to become worried. The next day he didn’t go to school and choir practice. He was at the hospital and the doctor said to them, “The operation on her heart went well,” and Xolani jumped in excitement and the next day he went to school. His friends asked him, “Why were you absent yesterday?” So he told his friends and after school, he skipped the school choir practice and went home.
His mother sent him to a spaza shop and Xolani saw a poster hanging on the spaza wall. On it was written: “Looking for singers to join the singing competition. The competition starts on 15 April and ends on 27 April. The winner will win R1 million and a free grocery voucher. To enter the competition, listen to 94.7 radio station.” Xolani didn’t even buy anything, he ran home with joy and excitement and blasted the radio volume on high without thinking. He listened carefully and his mom was stunned at his excitement. The next day they received a call from the hospital that his grandmother would be discharged. They went to the hospital and his grandmother was happy to see her family.
Then, the day of the competition arrived and Xolani entered but sadly he didn’t win. He was so sad, so he decided to focus on his school work so he could get good grades. He distanced himself from his friends because they didn’t support him.
He finished college and he wanted to start his career, then his grandmother died. It was a bad month for Xolani, so he started going to night clubs so that he could party all night.
His mother was so disappointed in Xolani’s changed behaviour. She talked to him but he never listened. Xolani realised that his behaviour was out of control and he changed. He started doing singing classes to train his voice more.
The singing classes offered a singing competition and the winner would receive a singing Scholarship. Xolani worked hard and he won the competition. He travelled to the United States to start a career and he joined a record label called Republic Records.
He released his first album called, “Stay Strong” and it topped the US chart and he won two Grammy awards for the Best Album and the Album of the Year. His mother was so proud of her son and Xolani changed his name to Milton. Today he is a successful young artist in the United States and he shares his story on radio and in interviews. His advice to people is never lose hope and never give up. Stay positive and true to yourself.