When soccer player Hlogi Mash is not showing off her dribbling skills on the pitch, she is out pursuing her love for music, which has been on a steady rise with the release of a total of 11 songs to date.
The 22-year-old Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies Squad left-wing player officially launched her music career in 2020.
“[It is great] to see how far my life has come from the streets of Mamelodi, growing up with financial challenges that would sometimes hinder me attending training. Today, I am living a dream that I somehow knew I would live,” she said.
Hlogi, real name Lehlogonolo Mashigo, plans to release her second EP in July that will celebrate her 23rd birthday and all her achievements thus far.
But before pursuing this budding career in music, Hlogi has successfully cemented herself as a solid left-wing star as early as 17 years old, starting off her career while living with her mother, uncle and her two younger brothers.
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“I was inspired by my aunt to love soccer; she played it so well but because there weren’t enough opportunities back in her day, it remained only a dream. But she pushed me towards it at every chance she got. Even when I tried trading it for tennis – honestly it was because of peer pressure – I found my way back to it,” she said.
But the love for dance and music has always been there.
“You know in the townships we live music, we breathe music. During our time, we used to have these cliques who would compete with different things. Not like izikhothane,” she said laughing.
“In one of the Mamelodi multipurpose halls we used to host dance battles every Friday and the entrance was charged at R5 to come watch. My clique was known as the BBGB – which means Bad Broken Girls and Boys, and I was the star of the girls group because I used to dance a lot,” she said.
Those two worlds collided when she posted a video of herself dancing after a match in Polokwane, Limpopo, when she was part of Mamelodi Sundowns’ U17 team.
“That video blew up but I still didn’t take it to heart. With a lot of time on my hands during hard lockdown, I posted a dance video playing one of Moonchild’s songs and again it blew up.
“So much so that Moonchild invited me to come dance with her, as a backup dancer I guess. But then I realised that I could actually make my own music and dance to it, and that was the beginning of it all,” she said.
Her chosen genre is amapiano, “because I love dancing” and her music is inspired by a myriad of topics.
“My favourite song that I have released up to now has to be Jersey No.7, which is my jersey number. I got to talk about my love for soccer using my other [love], which is music. It’s all a dream,” she said.
Juggling both balls has required her to be extra disciplined, with the end goal in mind – playing for an international team at some point and furthering her music on bigger stages.
“I am very fortunate to have started my career with soccer before venturing into music and dance. Soccer has taught me discipline and how to manage my time because it does get really busy.
“The female soccer fraternity is a really small one and the competition is rife. You cannot afford to miss a step but you have to continuously build yourself up to be better than the rest. I know so many other women from the township who wish to go professional, so you always have to keep your standards up,” she said.
The star has been off the pitch for four months now since her surgery in January but is already back in training to ready herself for her busy life.
“It is no secret that being a female soccer player in SA is a completely different ball game, compared to male soccer. It really becomes enjoyable when it is coupled with passion because it isn’t easy.
“As a female I must always have a second option to fall back on and for additional income. And that is where my music comes in. I am just blessed to do two things that I really love,” she said.
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