Early this year a client hosted an awards ceremony/gala dinner at the Sandton Convention Centre. During the event, while breakfast was being served the DJ took the opportunity to play some hot house tunes. One of the tunes he played was a wonderful house concoction of soul and dance that had me nodding my head in appreciation. But, one of the problems about being self-proclaimed house aficionados like myself, is that you cannot allow a house track to pleasure you without knowing who produced it and where he is from. We are like those snotty so-called wine lovers whose pallet demands knowledge of the grape and its’ farm of origin and the farmer’s family history: a weakness and strength at the same time.

I had to get off my chair and head straight to the DJ’s booth to enquire where he unearthed this wonderful gem.

“Whose song is this?” I probed

I was never ready for the answer, “It’s ‘City Rains’ by Mobi Dixon.” He replied.

“Mobi Dixon? Are you serious?” with a look of minor disbelief.

“Yeah” he confirmed with a bit of confusion to my disbelief.

I walked back to my breakfast table, not knowing what had just hit me.

The Mobi Dixon he spoke of was a guy I met in 2009 when I moved in to Unit 438, at 100 Jorrissen in Braamfontein. He lived in the unit opposite me.

The fellow I knew, was an upcoming hustling DJ that was the resident DJ at the not-so-glamorous Bliss Corner on the Corner of Jorrissen and Biccard Street in Braamfontein, making money on the side while he tried to get his name out there.

The fellow I knew was a less famous, producer/DJ who would disturb my Audit and Tax study sessions, as he attempted to piece melodies together, trying to create soulful masterpieces.

I remember one track in particular where he featured Sthembiso Khoza (now actor of Ayeye), (yes the brother can pull off a note or 2).

I don’t remember much about the track and words, all I can recall is that it was a midweek evening, I was trying to complete a Financial Accounting tutorial and my ear caught bits and pieces of a soulful voice being fused into an equally soulful melody. You could tell with the many stops and starts that the fellow in the room across was still doing some serious construction.

So I waited until the next day and begged him to allow me to listen to something that I was sure was going to propel this fellow into the heights he envisaged.

I never heard that track anywhere other than the gigs I tagged along with and his unit. He didn’t even want to give me the completed one because of copyright issues, talk about “Trusting thy Neighbour, ha?”

The last time I saw Mobi was sometime in 2010 when the brother moved out of our building to live in Midrand.

5 years later, when I found out that City Rains was his production I did some more digging. In 2012 he scored a licensing deal with Mahoota, where one of his tracks, “Wezintsizwa” was part of the double platinum selling album. In 2013, he signed a deal with Soul Candi to release his debut digital EP “Tribal Soul” and in 2014 he released his full Album under Soul Candi.

Add to that the unprecedented airplay of “City Rains” on radio, coupled with the more than 500 000 downloads and you have yourself one of the rising stars in the South African house music scene at the moment.

Since that awards ceremony I have heard “City Rains” more than a dozen times on radio and on random outings and everytime I hear it, it both inspires me and fills my heart with joy, primarily because I know the story behind the man. It is not just a song to me but a testimony that hardwork, determination, passion and perseverance can, in fact, bring a dream to life.