Moe on debut single and working with ‘Idols SA’ judge JR Bogopa
BORN and raised in Tshwane, 25-yearold singer-songwriter Motswedi Modiba, aka Moe, recently dropped her breakout single, It was a vibe.
Produced and co-written by award-winning music producer and Idols SA judge JR Bogopa, the new single is taken from Moe’s coming EP, Me, Ever After.
Moe’s breakout single, released in July, has managed to accumulate more than 35 000 streams across Africa, the US and Europe.
The single has also been successful on social media platforms such as Tiktok, where the audio has been used more than 3 700 times.
Music has always been a big part of Moe’s life. She started singing at the age of 9. She released a gospel song, Babawethu, on acclaimed musician Tebs Davids’s Coming Back album. The song did well and served as her introduction to the music industry.
Moe is fluent in Mandarin, having learnt the language at a Chinese school in Pretoria. She was awarded a scholarship to study in China, where she studied Chinese and literature.
During her time in China, the singer entered several singing competitions, winning the National Pepsi Singing Contest, among others.
On her return to South Africa, Moe furthered her studies at Wits University, obtaining a Bachelor of Music and worked as a backing vocalist for platinum-selling artist Dr Tumi.
Now, Moe is at the point where she said she has finally found her sound and is introducing herself as an R&B soul artist.
Despite having a background in music, gospel and jazz, R&B is a genre that Moe said she has been able to best express herself in. It was a vibe was inspired by an experience where she had to choose to walk away from a situation that was no longer serving her.
“The song was written and recorded in a day. I think because the words were just coming out,” Moe told IOL Entertainment.
Bogopa reached out to Moe, who he found on Tiktok, to see if they could work together.
“I just felt like it was such a Godordained moment, for me to be in that situation where there is somebody with so many accolades, reach out to me and say, I see what you are doing and I think I can help. That to me is nothing short of a miracle and a blessing,” shared Moe.
The rising star is not signed to JR’S Feel Good Music label; they are working on a partnership basis.
The music executive encouraged Moe to open her own record company.
“One of the things I really love about him is that he is not trying to make me do what he wants me to do, but he listens to me. He allows me to think, he allows me to lead, he teaches me a lot about the music industry,” said Moe.
It’s no secret that platforms such as Tiktok have become the place for songs to go viral and that is the case for Moe’s single, which featured as a “top suggested sound” on Tiktok.
As a female artist, Moe believes that in the music industry a person needs to know their story; it’s important to be yourself.
“You step up and say ‘this is what I can do’, you show what you can do but don’t try to change to be who you think people want you to be,” she said.
Moe will be jetting off to New York this month on a scholarship to study at the Manhattan School of Music, where she will be working towards a Master’s degree in jazz.