Ihhashi Elimhlophe

Ihashi Elimhlophe is a household name in South African maskandi traditional Zulu music. Leader Bheki Ngcobo, the brains behind the group, first recorded in 1986. He has never looked back since. In 1976 Bheki Ngcobo left his small village of KwaBiyela in KwaZulu-Natal for Johannesburg, in search of opportunities in the big city of gold.

He started his music career as bass guitarist for the legendary Soul Brothers. They noticed his great talent and made him lead singer for their junior group, Imitshotshovu. After recording a successful album 'Icala', Bheki decided to pursue a career as solo artist. That is when he gave himself the name ‘Ihhashi Elimhlophe’ (the White Horse). He became known as a guitar maestro on his rare 14-string guitar. His first album 'Hololo' was soon followed by a long string of successful releases. To date he has recorded 28 studio albums as Ihhashi Elimhlophe.

The Ihhashi family expands as follows: Amaponi featuring Ihhashi's four children, and his wife Linah Khama (aka Ebony), one of South Africa's leading female artists who carved a niche in the local music industry during the 80s and early 90s. To add to Ihashi’s successes, he recorded collaborative albums with two other well-respected maskandi artists, Phuzekhemisi and Mfazi Omnyma, who called themselves Izinqunqulu Zomhlaba, a group that brought great recorgnition to maskandi music.

Ihhashi is a celebrated music icon and personality possibly the maskandi artist with the most collaborations with other genres such as kwaito, hip hop, jazz, Afro-pop, House, boeremusiek, gospel, choral, urban pop etc. He has performed in over 25 countries around the world. He is an electrifying performer with a live act that leaves audiences in awe!