I’m gonna go ahead and expose myself, the first crush I ever had was on a boy called Percy Mukwevho. I recall one rainy day my gran and I were sitting by the fire when we heard a car pulling up outside and out of the flashy white convertible stepped out Percy’s father and a very young yet super confident Percy. There I was sitting across our very own Venda childstar feeling all giddy but knowing very well I had no chance with him because he was this superstar who seemed too mature for his age and I was just a shy and awkward looking super skinny kid who didn’t even know how to spell ‘confidence’.

Percy has been doing music since he could talk – no, really. He started performing at a very young age thanks to his family’s musical background. At the age of 8, he was already performing his own songs (written by his father) for huge crowds at fresher’s balls at the local university (University of Venda). He released his first album, ‘Here I am’ at the young age of 13, where he actually co-wrote one of the songs ‘Play reggae music’ with his uncle and the rest of the album was written by his father. Two years later, at the age of 15, Percy released his sophomore album ‘Spectacular’ and the title track became a banger- it was even included on the Miss SA soundtrack.

I recently caught up with P. Postman and took a trip down memory lane and also talked about the present and his future plans.

Who is P. Postman?

Post is a boy who comes from Venda.  He came from a musical family and started doing music since he could actually talk. He is a God loving – God fearing person and he is Rasta. Post is very passionate about music and wants to take his music to an international level.

Why did you change your name from Percy to P Postman?

P. Postman stands for Percy, the Postman. My cousin gave me this name after he saw me wearing a cap that apparently made me look like a post man. We then played around with it to find its relation to me. My music has hidden messages which some could only understand in the future… so I am the futuristic messenger.

Tell me about the musical background in your family. Where did it all begin?

My great-grandfather used to play traditional instruments but the recognition only came after my grandfather started a band with his brother, his son (my father),  and a fourth family member who played the keyboard. That’s where it all started and it got passed on to each generation.

Would you advise your kids to do music, to carry forward the ‘Mukwevho’ legacy?

I don’t think I would want my kids to do it [music], but they probably will. It is in their blood. I wouldn’t advise them to, because it’s a hectic industry. It’s not just about the talent, you have to know people. It’s a cruel industry and you can easily lose yourself just so you can appeal to the masses. But on the other side, music is a beautiful thing so I don’t know…

What happened after the release of your first album?

I started doing a lot of promotional stuff like commercials for brands like Skippy and Marmite. I also used to do a show with All Gold where I used to perform Michael Jackson’s songs. I also did a song with Mzambiya (Of love and kwaito) which gave me a lot of exposure.

All that popularity at a young age, what did you make of it?

I was a bit too young. I didn’t even know what to do with all the fame or how to act. I loved the attention I must say, but it was kind of hard for me signing autographs. I was very serious about my job and didn’t want to hurt my fans so I would stay for however long it took to sign those autographs and take pictures.

After Spectacular, you were quiet for about 5 years and people started talking; especially back home (Venda) saying you fell off. How did you deal with all that negativity?

At some point I was going through a really rough patch in my life financially and I ended up not going to school for about a year and had to leave Joburg and go back to Venda and I stayed there and didn’t do any music at all though I was writing throughout that time. This is the reason why I ended up signing a contract with the same person who had ripped off my dad behind my dad’s back and he ended up ripping me off too. I was tired of the negativity and I hated that my career was on hold ‘cause it felt like my world had kind of stopped; I missed music. The album was released in 2009 and I didn’t write any songs on that album because the recording label had its own vision and I remember I even had to record around 8 songs in 1 night.

Who are you signed to?

I am signed to Rudeboy Entertainment. It’s a great label where I’m also a director. I partnered up with them so it’s an awesome arrangement. No rip-offs.

What are you currently busy with?

My album is coming out soon and I am very excited about that. We have already released two songs from the album:  ‘I’m a Legend’ and ‘Got You All Ready’

You were featured by Lemonka and Hash One on a song called ‘Motswako State of Mind’.  How did the collaboration come about?

It all happened through Profresher KT. I met him some time ago and he is the one who introduced me to Sotho Mafia and subsequently all the Motswako artists.

What are some of the highlights of your career thus far?

*Recording a song with one of my favourite dancehall artists, Anthony B. When he was he was in the country, we opened for him and that’s how the collaboration came about.

*Getting to a point where I can write my own songs instead of singing about what other people want me to sing about.

*The progress of the VA Connect movement thus far(this is basically a bunch of young Venda up and coming musicians) being me, Mizo, Bella, T-Man Gavin, MacFam and all the other Venda artists out there.  I love this movement. Venda is finally about to have its time under the sun and it makes me happy.

*Being nominated for the SAMAs in the Best R&B category for my song Spectacular alongside people like Loyiso-he took it.

*Working with South African icons like Mdu, Yvonne Chaka Chaka on a song and being the youngest there. This track was taken abroad and I never heard what happened to it after that and didn’t get anything from that project.  The same person who ripped my dad off was the one behind this project.

*Collaborating with artists like Zeus, Ross Jack, the Maftown crew and obviously the track with Mzambiya.

Follow P Postman at Reverbnation, Facebook, @PercyPostman

Follow me on Twitter:  @Miss_Ratshi