Born Bonginkosi Dlamani on the 24 April 1977 in Zola, Soweto. The young Bonginkosi had a rough upbringing living with his single mother in a crime ridden and violent ghetto; he ended up serving time in prison as a juvenile for car theft before turning 18 years old.

He was not well known in the music circles in the late 90’s but rather he was famously known for his role as “Papa Action” on the popular Drama series, Yizo Yizo.

He was also featured in the first South African Oscar winning film Tsotsi and also played in another film, Drum directed by Zola Maseko starring Taye Diggs, Jason Flemyng etc.

Zola got introduced to the South African music scene through “Ghetto Fabulous” a song which was released as part of the soundtrack for Yizo Yizo 2.

On the 1st May 2000, he released his debut album, Umdlwembe produced by Kaybee. He released the album under the alias, Zola, which is the name of the ghetto he grew up in. The album went on to attain platinum status and win multiple awards. Zola has released up to eight albums since then.

Originally, Zola was not a fan of Kwaito music, because it “had no message.” He took it upon himself to change this, viewing himself as a role model. He added raps to his chants and choruses, justifying the improvement:

I want to inspire a guy from the ghetto so he can stop hanging around in the corner begging and try to get some life.

This led to Kwaito now having a similar structure to that of Hip Hop a lot, to an extend that some critics have categorized his music as Hip Hop.

Zola has dedicated his life to philanthropy in various ways benefiting the needy and disadvantaged around South Africa and the African continent.