Untitled Basement Presents: Ndabezinhle Mntungwa — Ubude Abuphangwa

Sunday 18 October | Quicket R300 | Door R350 | Doors 17H00 | Show 19H00

Untitled Basement presents Ndabezinhle Mntungwa, a Durban-based singer, songwriter and vocalist whose music sits at the intersection of soulful songwriting, contemporary African music and deeply personal storytelling.

Ubude Abuphangwa — “length cannot be rushed” — speaks to the journey of becoming. It is a sentiment that feels particularly fitting for an artist whose music has continued to evolve through experience, collaboration and an increasingly assured voice of his own.

At the centre of Mntungwa’s music is a voice that carries feeling. His songwriting explores love, loss, longing, vulnerability and human connection, transforming intimate experiences into songs that feel both deeply personal and universally familiar. Sung predominantly in isiZulu, his music creates space for emotion to breathe — allowing stories to unfold at their own pace.

Mntungwa first captured wider attention with his breakout single Emoyeni , a poignant meditation on love, loss and longing. The song introduced audiences to an artist with a distinctive ability to make the personal feel universal, while establishing a musical language rooted in warmth, soulful vocals and honest storytelling.

His journey has since extended into some of South Africa’s most exciting contemporary collaborations. Emoyeni caught the attention of celebrated rapper Kwesta, leading to Mntungwa’s appearance on Nyawo Zami, featured on Kwesta’s album The Big Bro Theory. He has continued to build an impressive collaborative catalogue, including Nomfundo Moh, appearing on Ngizwele from her 2026 album Farm Julia, as well as work with WAVEE, Mxchael Blue and Kwazi Nsele.

But Ubude Abuphangwa is ultimately about Mntungwa’s own journey.

It is about allowing an artist, a voice and a body of work to develop without forcing the destination. About understanding that some stories need time before they can be sung, and that some voices become more powerful the longer they are allowed to grow.

For his Untitled Basement performance, Mntungwa brings these elements together in an intimate live setting — soulful music, powerful vocals and emotionally rich storytelling. The performance will move through the different chapters of his musical journey, from the songs that first introduced him to audiences to the collaborations and experiences that have shaped the artist he is becoming.

In the intimacy of Untitled Basement, the songs can be heard differently: not simply as recordings, but as lived experiences carried by a voice, a room and a moment.

Ubude Abuphangwa is an invitation to slow down and listen — to an artist in motion, to stories still unfolding, and to a voice finding its full length in its own time.

Some journeys cannot be rushed. They have to be lived.