Mpho Skeef (pronounced /mpʰo skʲɪəf/, born ), known by her stage name of Mpho, is a South African-born British singer-songwriter based in London.

Early and personal life

Skeef was born during the apartheid regime in South Africa to

Sipho Mabuse Sipho Cecil Peter Mabuse (born 2 November 1951), known professionally as Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse, is a South African singer-songwriter. Mabuse grew up in Soweto. His mother was Zulu people, Zulu and his father was Tswana people, Tswana. Sipho a ...

and Mary Edwards. Her first name is a

SeSotho Sotho (), also known as ''Sesotho'' (), Southern Sotho, or ''Sesotho sa Borwa'' is a Southern Bantu languages, Southern Bantu language spoken in Lesotho as its national language and South Africa where it is an official language. Like all Ba ...

word meaning "gift". Mpho spent her first birthday imprisoned in Caledon Square, Cape Town with her mother who was an anti-apartheid campaigner. Daily Record �
Rising star MPHO could be Britain's answer to Beyonce
25 June 2009 By Bev Lyons She moved to the United Kingdom at the age of four and was brought up in

Stockwell Stockwell is a district located in South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is situated south of Charing Cross. History The name Stockwell is likely to have originated from a local well, with "stoc" being Old Englis ...

Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...

and

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

by her mother and her stepfather, Eugene Skeef. She attended the

BRIT School BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology is a British performing and creative arts school located in Selhurst, Croydon, England, with a mandate to provide education and vocational training for the performing arts, music, music technology, ...

in Croydon.

Career

Mpho began working in the music industry in 2004, initially as a backing vocalist for artists such as Ms Dynamite,

Natasha Bedingfield Natasha Anne Bedingfield (born 26 November 1981) is a British and New Zealand singer, songwriter and record producer. She released her debut album, '' Unwritten'', in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R& ...

, Ty, Terri Walker,

Skinnyman Skinnyman (born Alexander Graham Holland, 9 November 1974) is a British rapping, rapper who was born in Chapeltown, West Yorkshire, Chapeltown Leeds, Yorkshire and moved to Finsbury Park (area), Finsbury Park, London at a young age. He is best ...

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, and Spacek. She was a lead vocalist on the

Bugz in the Attic Bugz in the Attic is a collective of DJs and producers based in West London, who are prominent in broken beat. The collective includes Orin Walters (Afronaut), Paul Dolby (Seiji), Kaidi Tatham, Daz-I-Kue, Alex Phountzi (Neon Phusion), Cliff Sco ...

single "Booty La La", which reached number 44 on the UK Singles Chart. She signed to the

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

-funded record label Documented Records and, in 2005, released her debut single, "Comin' for Ya", and the four-track EP ''Don't Like You''. By late 2006, Mpho had joined

PIAS Recordings PIAS Recordings (formerly Play It Again Sam) is a Belgian record label founded in 1982 by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot, In September 2024, the company was acquired by Universal Music Group. Play It Again Sam expanded along with other European i ...

Wall of Sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session m ...

on the strength of ''Don't Like You'', and was preparing an electro-influenced album titled ''To Spite My Face'' with producers including Spacek, dBridge, and Yan Murawski. She also sang on the track "This Island Earth" on

Coldcut Coldcut are an English electronic music duo composed of Matt Black and Jonathan More. Credited as pioneers for pop sampling in the 1980s, Coldcut are also considered the first stars of UK electronic dance music due to their innovative style, ...

's 2006 album '' Sound Mirrors'', and released a second solo single, "What You Waiting For?", the same year. By 2009, sessions for the album — now titled ''Pop Art'' — had gone into a heavily pop music direction with producers such as Future Cut,

Rick Nowels Richard Wright Nowels Jr. (born March 16, 1954) is an American songwriter and record producer. He has co-written and co-produced over 90 hit singles with multiple artists,Switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type o ...

. As such, Mpho issued the mixtape ''Mpho & the Art of Pop'' in January 2009 with DJ Beware. To fund extensive promotion of the album ''Pop Art'', Wall of Sound brokered Mpho a five-album deal with

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

subsidiary. Mpho's first single on Parlophone, the Switch-produced "Box N Locks" (which samples

Martha and the Muffins Martha and the Muffins are a Canadian rock band, active from 1977 to the present. Although they only had one major international hit single "Echo Beach" under their original band name, they had a number of hits in their native Canada, and the ...

' "

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"), was released in July 2009, but did not enter the UK Singles Chart. ''Pop Art'' was scheduled to follow in October 2009, but following minimal airplay of second single "See Me Now" (featuring rapper Wale), the album was shelved. Mpho subsequently announced via Twitter that Parlophone had dropped her due to creative differences. Also in October, Mpho featured on the charity single " I Got Soul" with artists such as

Frankmusik Vincent James Turner (born 9 October 1985), better known by his stage name Frankmusik ( ) (and between 2011 and 2012, by the name Vincent Did It), is an English synth-pop musician. Since 2010 he is based in Los Angeles as remixer and producer. ...

and VV Brown under the group name Young Soul Rebels; the single reached number ten in the UK, and proceeds went to War Child UK. In 2010, Mpho opened a vintage tea shop in Brixton with her sister. In 2012, she performed a one-off gig at London's

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

gallery as part of an event celebrating the South London Black Music Archive.

Artistry

Mpho's influences include

André 3000 André Lauren Benjamin (born May 27, 1975), known professionally as André 3000, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he was one half of the hip-hop duo Outkast along with rapper Big Boi, which the two formed in 1992. Benj ...

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, Soul II Soul, and

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

—artists, she says, "who are creative and don't just follow a clear and obvious formula". She frequently includes a cover of Bush's "

Running Up That Hill "Running Up That Hill" (also titled "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)") is a song by the English singer-songwriter Kate Bush. It was released in the UK as the lead single from Bush's fifth studio album, '' Hounds of Love'', on 5 August 19 ...

" in her live set lists. More generally, Mpho has cited music of the 1970s and 1980s as an inspiration.

Discography

EPs

*''Don't Like You'' (EP, 2005)

Singles

* 2004: "Booty La La" (with

) – UK No. 44 * 2005: "Comin' for Ya" * 2005: "Holla" (with Baby J.) * 2006: "What You Waiting For?" * 2009: " Box N Locks" * 2009: "See Me Now" (feat. Wale)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mpho South African pop singers South African women pop singers 1980s births Living people People educated at the BRIT School South African emigrants to the United Kingdom South African singer-songwriters Singers from the London Borough of Camden 21st-century Black British women singers 21st-century British women singers English women singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers Parlophone artists PIAS Recordings artists People from Stockwell People from Brixton English-language singers from South Africa Year of birth missing (living people)